{"id":189962,"date":"2026-02-23T13:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/189962\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T13:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T13:41:09","slug":"how-stephen-nelson-keeps-it-in-perspective-as-dodgers-top-radio-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/189962\/","title":{"rendered":"How Stephen Nelson keeps it in perspective as Dodgers’ top radio voice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of last year\u2019s World Series<\/a>, Ernie Clement smacked a fly ball off Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a> into the left-center field gap with the bases loaded and the score tied. <\/p>\n

As Andy Pages<\/a>, just inserted into the game in center field, ran over left fielder Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> to make the catch, Dodgers play-by-play announcer Stephen Nelson<\/a> summed up the high drama unfolding in front him.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my gosh, we\u2019re going to extra innings,\u201d Nelson exclaimed on the Dodgers\u2019 radio broadcast. \u201cA Yamamoto miracle in the ninth! Rogers Centre in stunned silence!\u201d<\/p>\n

A couple of innings later, Nelson found himself calling the final outs of his second consecutive World Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBroken bat, ground ball. Betts has it, steps on the bag, the throw to first \u2014 double play! From backs against the wall to back-to-back, the Dodgers cement their dynasty!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Nelson\u2019s calls have become a part of L.A.\u2019s rich sports lore, which includes Vin Scully\u2019s call of Kirk Gibson\u2019s game-winning home run<\/a> in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series and Joe Davis\u2019 call of Freddie Freeman\u2019s walk-off grand slam<\/a> in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series \u2014 a moment Nelson called as well<\/a> on the radio side.<\/p>\n

When asked about his place in history last week during spring training at Camelback Ranch, Nelson demurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really let myself think about it,\u201d Nelson said, underscored by laughter. \u201cI don\u2019t have a very high opinion on myself or my work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nelson, who turns 37 next month, joined the Dodgers before the 2023 season to back up Davis on the club\u2019s SportsNet LA broadcast package. Prior to that, the Southern California native hosted studio shows for the MLB and NHL Networks and did play-by-play work for both leagues. <\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of feel like I fell into a fire, and now I\u2019m just trying to survive,\u201d said Nelson, who began his fourth season with the Dodgers as their lead radio play-by-play announcer as Cactus League play got underway on Saturday against the Angels<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A graduate of Marina High in Huntington Beach and Chapman University in Orange, Nelson readily understood the lineage of the booth, the standards that existed within the organization, even if he grew up rooting for the White Sox just like his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my cousins around the Southland\u2026 they all bleed Dodger blue,\u201d he said. \u201cI was coming home when I took this job in a couple of different senses.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his first year with the team, instead of being himself, he catered to what he felt the fans deserved from the person holding down the mic. His said his new position gave him a feeling of impostor syndrome. As his first season progressed, Nelson leaned on the color analysts he worked with like Eric Karros, and the rest of the SportsNet LA crew to help restore some self-confidence.<\/p>\n

Nelson still feels like he\u2019s new to the role of a play-by-play commentator. He compared his daily approach to the age-old athlete\u2019s clich\u00e9 of \u201cjust trying to get one percent better every day,\u201d with the main goal being not ruining Dodger games for fans.<\/p>\n

He started to get more comfortable with his job once he realized he doesn\u2019t have to try to be Scully.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are shoes that are impossible to fill,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cIt\u2019s actually made the job easier in a way, because I ain\u2019t touching that bar.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he prepares for the new season, Nelson visits the clubhouse during spring training, trying to get to know the new guys on the club and the prospects who are going to be the next wave. On top of that, the season previews put together by Rick Krajewski \u2014 \u201cthe doctor of research and stats,\u201d as he calls him \u2014 help him paint the picture for the fans throughout the season.<\/p>\n

Getting to call the last out on consecutive World Series wins, to be on the radios of people across L.A. during \u201cthe best game he\u2019s ever seen,\u201d and to call a game-tying home run<\/a> in the bottom of the ninth inning of a Game 7 in the World Series is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a tremendous blessing,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cThere are a thousand other broadcasters who are more experienced and certainly more talented and for whatever the reason, I\u2019m here. And so I gotta earn that blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX\u00a0\u2014\u00a0With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of last year\u2019s World Series,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[337,1883,426,11154,423,89155,4194,89154,2303,48,52,51,47,50,49,17902,1459,278,36991,89153,4470],"class_list":{"0":"post-189962","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-call","9":"tag-club","10":"tag-dodgers","11":"tag-fan","12":"tag-game","13":"tag-game-winning-home-run","14":"tag-job","15":"tag-joe-davis","16":"tag-l-a","17":"tag-la","18":"tag-la-headlines","19":"tag-la-news","20":"tag-los-angeles","21":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","22":"tag-los-angeles-news","23":"tag-ninth-inning","24":"tag-part","25":"tag-season","26":"tag-spring-training","27":"tag-stephen-nelson","28":"tag-world-series"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}