Victor Manuel Rojas (born February 3, 1968) is an American broadcaster, current college baseball coach, and former baseball executive. He formerly served as general manager of the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

prior to embarking on his

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

broadcasting career and later as president and general manager of the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. Based in Frisco, Texas, the team is named aft ...

. Rojas is best known for his time with the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

as their play-by-play broadcaster from 2010 to 2020.Victor Rojas Official Bio on Los Angeles Angels Site
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Playing career

Rojas is the son of former major-league player and manager

Cookie Rojas Octavio Víctor "Cookie" Rojas Rivas (born March 6, 1939), is a Cuban-American former professional baseball player, coach, manager and current television sports presenter. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman and outfielder fro ...

. Born in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and raised in

Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the largest city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and the List of cities in Kansas#Highest population listing, second-most populous city in the state of Kansas. It is one of four principal city, principal cities in ...

, Rojas graduated from Blue Valley High School and later attended and played college baseball as a pitcher at Piedmont College (1988) Demorest, Georgia. Rojas played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

and

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

at the

College of the Desert College of the Desert (COD) is a public community college in Palm Desert, California. COD enrolls about 12,500 students, of which around one third attend college full-time. It serves the Coachella Valley of Riverside County. The college is feder ...

Palm Desert, California Palm Desert is a city in the Coachella Valley region of Riverside County, California. The city is located in the Colorado Desert arm of the Sonoran Desert, about east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The popula ...

, and Lewis-Clark State College in

Lewiston, Idaho Lewiston is a city and the county seat of Nez Perce County, Idaho, United States, in the state's North Central Idaho, north central region. It is the third-largest city in the Idaho Panhandle, northern Idaho region, behind Post Falls, Idaho, Pos ...

. He pitched in the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

minor league system in the early 1990s.

Coaching career

He was a member of the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

baseball staff in 1993 serving as the bullpen catcher during the inaugural season. He was the pitching coach for the Rio Grande Valley White Wings of the independent

Texas–Louisiana League The Central Baseball League, formerly the Texas–Louisiana League, was an independent baseball league whose member teams were not affiliated with any Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises. In 1991, potential owners, Dallas businessman Byron ...

in 1994. Rojas was hired as Assistant Head Baseball Coach and Recruiting Coordinator for Ottawa University in

Surprise, Arizona Surprise is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. The population was 143,148 at the 2020 census, up from 117,517 in 2010 and just 30,848 in 2000. Surprise is the spring training location of the Kansas City Royals and the ...

in August of 2024. Rojas oversees the offense and catchers for the entire program. In May of 2025, Rojas was named Head Baseball Coach at Hastings College.

Broadcasting career

Early jobs

Rojas was a radio and television announcer for the

of the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Atlantic League for two years, and also served as the franchise's general manager. He worked as a broadcaster for MLB Radio in 2002 and 2003 on the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

and the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

. He moved up to the radio booth for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

in 2003.

Texas Rangers

He joined the Rangers in 2004, replacing

Vince Cotroneo Vince Cotroneo is a radio play-by-play announcer who last broadcast for the Oakland Athletics. He signed a two-year contract with the A's on January 13, 2006 to fill a void in the broadcast booth left by the sudden death of longtime lead announcer ...

(now with the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

). Rojas worked with lead announcer

Eric Nadel Eric Nadel (born May 16, 1951) is an American sports announcer on radio broadcasts for the Texas Rangers baseball organization. In 2014, he was honored with the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence by the National Baseball Hall of ...

on all regular-season games and a number of

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

games. He did

play-by-play In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

for two pairs of the middle innings (3–4 and 6–7) and provided

color commentary A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for Nadel during the other innings. He has worked multiple Rangers games on television as a fill-in announcer for regular play-by-play man

Josh Lewin Josh Lewin (born ) is an American sportscaster who works as a play-by-play announcer for the UCLA Bruins football and basketball teams. Early life and education Lewin was born and raised in Rochester, New York. He attended Brighton High Scho ...

or color commentator

Tom Grieve Thomas Alan Grieve (born March 4, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball from 1970 to 1979 for the Washington Senators / Texas Rangers, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. He was nickna ...

, and he has also appeared on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

MLB Network

Rojas was the first personality to appear on camera when

MLB Network MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with TNT Sports (United States), TNT Sports, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Communications h ...

launched on January 1, 2009, serving as the first host on ''

Hot Stove ''Hot Stove'' is an offseason baseball talk show that airs on MLB Network and is simulcast on MLB Network Radio. The show offers the coverage of offseason activities including trades, free agent signings, and rumors. It is taped live in "Studi ...

'' (the Network's off-season studio show). Along with ''Hot Stove'', he appeared on ''

MLB Tonight ''MLB Tonight'' is the signature program that airs on MLB Network and is simulcast on MLB Network Radio. The show offers complete coverage of all Major League Baseball games from 6pm ET – 1am ET during the regular season, and gives news from al ...

'', the network's signature nightly studio program. Rojas also called play-by-play for some of MLB Network's '' Thursday Night Baseball'' telecasts.

Los Angeles Angels

On March 3, 2010, Rojas was named the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

's TV play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports West, succeeding Rory Markas who died in January and TV play-by-play announcer

Steve Physioc Steven Howard Physioc (; born December 28, 1954) is a retired American sportscaster who has called play-by-play for various baseball, basketball, and football teams. He retired while working with the Kansas City Royals, whom he had worked with si ...

and former Major League Baseball player and game analyst

Rex Hudler Rex Allen Hudler (born September 2, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball utility player and color commentator for the Kansas City Royals. He played a total of 14 seasons after being a first round draft pick of the New York Yankees in ...

, whose contracts expired after the 2009 season. He partnered with color commentator Mark Gubicza on the broadcasts. Rojas was hired by TBS to handle play-by-play duties for the 2011 NLDS featuring the

and the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. In 2019, Rojas and Gubicza won a

Los Angeles Emmy Award The Los Angeles Emmy Awards are presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) in recognition of excellence in the local programming of the Greater Los Angeles area. They are the only regional Emmys presented directly by the ATAS; ...

for their broadcast of

Albert Pujols José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (, ; born December 11, 1985) is a Dominicans, Dominican professional baseball Manager (baseball), manager and former first baseman and designated hitter who is the manager of the Leones del Escogido of the Domin ...

' 3000th hit. In November 2020, Rojas revealed that he had interviewed with the Los Angeles Angels for their vacant general manager position. The job eventually went to former

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

assistant general manager

Perry Minasian Perry Minasian (born April 1980) is an American professional baseball executive. He is the general manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball. He previously served as a scout and assistant general manager in the Toronto Blue Jays ...

. On January 9, 2021, Rojas announced via Twitter that he would be stepping away from broadcasting to focus on his family and apparel company.

Matt Vasgersian Matt Vasgersian (né Vasgerdsian; '; September 28, 1967) is an American sportscaster and television host. Vasgersian is the alternative play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels, as well as a studio host for MLB Network and Major Leagu ...

would take Rojas' spot.

ESPN (College Baseball)

Since early 2022, Rojas has served as play-by-play announcer for ESPN’s coverage of Division I Baseball across all platforms. He has called regular season games in the ACC, SEC, and Big XII. In addition to his regular season duties, Rojas has served as play-by-play announcer for the Big XII Baseball Tournament the last two years and has worked prominent Regional and Super-Regionals for the network.

Play calls

* "Oppo taco": Opposite field

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

* "Three-run jimmy jack": Three-run home run * "Big fly": A home run * "Light that baby up!": The call at the final out of an Angels win, referring to the halo on the 230-foot tall A outside of

Angel Stadium Angel Stadium is a ballpark in Anaheim, California, United States. Since its opening in 1966, it has been the home venue of the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB), who relocated from Los Angeles to Anaheim following the 1965 seas ...

that lights up when the Angels win. * "Drive home safely!": When the Angels have a walk-off win. *"Grand salami time!": When the Angels hit a grand slam. *”Big fly, Ohtani-san!”: Home run call for Japanese player

Shohei Ohtani is a Japanese professional baseball designated hitter and pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Shotime", he has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Angels and in Nippon Professional Basebal ...

, making use of the

Japanese honorific The Japanese language makes use of a system of honorific speech, called , which includes honorific suffixes and prefixes when talking to, or referring to others in a conversation. Suffixes are often gender-specific at the end of names, while ...

"''san''"

Executive career

Rojas served as Assistant General Manager and later General Manager of the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League from 2001-2002. In addition to his front office duties, Rojas served as the play-by-play announcer for Bears games which aired on Seton Hall University’s radio station. On January 11, 2021, after 18 years as an MLB announcer, it was announced that Rojas had been hired by Texas Rangers Double-A affiliate

as their president and general manager, a position he held until September 2022.

Personal life

Rojas and his wife, Kim have three children. He and his family started a baseball apparel business in 2019 calle
Big Fly Gear
His father

Cookie A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...

was an MLB player for 16 seasons and a manager for two. His brother Mike is a long time Minor and Major league manager and coach across many different levels and is currently coaching in Mexico. Rojas and his family currently reside in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

References

External links

Victor Rojas
Los Angeles Angels Official Bio {{DEFAULTSORT:Rojas, Victor 1968 births Living people American people of Cuban descent American television sports announcers Arizona Diamondbacks announcers Lewis–Clark State Warriors baseball players Los Angeles Angels announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters Minor League Baseball broadcasters Minor league baseball players MLB Network personalities Mass media people from Miami People from Overland Park, Kansas Texas Rangers (baseball) announcers