Team
2009 marks the 12th consecutive season and 16th overall calling Major League Baseball for Slowes, the original play-by-play voice of the Nationals. Slowes joined the Nationals on February 24, 2005, and it did not take long for his trademark "Bang Zoom go the Fireworks," followed by, "A Curly 'W' is in the Books" tag lines after Nationals victories to become part of Beltway lexicon.
His post with the Nationals was a return to the Washington, DC area for Charlie, who became the Radio Voice of the Washington Bullets in 1986 at just 25 years of age. He went on to broadcast Bullets game for 11 seasons (1986-87-1996-97). He went on to broadcast Bullets game for 11 seasons (1986-87-1996-97), the longest run in franchise history until equaled by current voice Dave Johnson. Included in that time were two years of TV-radio simulcasts. Slowes made the switch to MLB full-time, becoming an original voice of the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998, calling Rays games for their first seven seasons.
Slowes is among the many, including Hall-of-Famer Vin Scully, to enter sports broadcasting after graduating from Fordham University in New York and having honed his craft on Fordham's 50,000-FM blowtorch, WFUV 90.7 FM. Shortly after graduation, Charlie's first career job was with KMOX Radio in St. Louis, where for three years (1984-86), he was exposed to the likes of broadcasting greats Bob Costas and the late Jack Buck. Slowes worked in a variety of on-air functions for broadcasts of St. Louis Cardinals Baseball, St. Louis Cardinals Football, St. Louis Blues Hockey and St. Louis University Basketball play-by-play as well as sportscasts and sports talk shows. Charlie broadcast Tidewater Tides Triple-A baseball for parts of four seasons from 1986-92. He has also broadcast at the national network level with NBC-TV and CBS Radio for their MLB Game of the Week. Slowes has also called baseball for the Baltimore Orioles (1989-1990) and the New York Mets (1988, 1991). He's also dabbled in bowling and boxing for ESPN and MISL soccer (play-by-play with New York Arrows in 1983) in two-plus decades as a play-by-play broadcaster. During the 2007-2008 off-season Charlie returned courtside for some college basketball play-by-play, filling in on the University of South Florida-ISP Sports Network.
Slowes and his wife, Christina, celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in June, 2008. The couple has two sons, Jimmy (4/6/94) and Alex (10/11/97), and split time between homes in Alexandria, VA and Palm Harbor, FL.
Jageler enters his 4th season with the Nationals after spending the 2005 campaign as the radio and TV voice of the Pawtucket Red Sox of the Triple-A International League. Jageler joined Gary Cohen (Mets), Don Orsillo (Red Sox), Dave Flemming (Giants) and Andy Freed (Devil Rays) as Pawtucket products who have graduated to the major leagues in recent years. Prior to joining Pawtucket, Jageler worked in Boston co-hosting an afternoon talk show as well as serving in various capacities with the Boston Celtics radio network, including fill in play-by-play. Jageler spent six years in Charlotte as the voice of UNC-Charlotte basketball and co-hosting a morning drive talk show. While in Charlotte , he built his baseball resume with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights in the 1995, 1996 and 2001 seasons doing play-by-play.
Jageler's voice may sound familiar to some in the D.C.-area, as he served as a host on the Virginia Tech Sports Network during the 1993-94 basketball season. He has also served as the studio host for Westwood One's NHL Game of the Week, the Florida State and Texas Longhorns football networks and has done fill-in play-by-play for both the Seminoles and Longhorns. The Windsor , CT native is a graduate of Syracuse University 's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, where he began his play-by-play career broadcasting Syracuse football and basketball games on WAER and baseball for the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs on Time Warner Cable and Empire Sports Network.
Dave and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, Jared (9) and Sarah (5).
Carpenter is in his fourth year in the Nationals' broadcast booth. He joined MASN as the play-by-play announcer after 10 years in the TV booth of the St. Louis Cardinals and more than 20 in the major leagues. The St. Louis native debuted in 1984 with Cardinals baseball on the Sportstime Cable Network, then returned in '95 on KPLR-TV and KMOX Radio. He has been nominated for 4 St. Louis/Mid-America Emmys, winning twice in '96 and '97. His signature home run call, "See ... you ... later!" got local and national recognition during Mark McGwire's record-setting home run chase in '98. Carpenter also appeared on TV in the '80s and '90s with the Texas Rangers, New York Mets and Minnesota Twins.
Bob was one of ESPN's busiest announcers over a 20-year career as play-by-play announcer for MLB, college basketball and college football. He has broadcast baseball playoffs, AAA All-Star games, NCAA and NIT basketball tournaments, and college football bowl games. Studio work included College Gameday and College Football Scoreboard shows. His baseball work with ESPN paired him with former major leaguers Buck Martinez, Joe Morgan, Jim Palmer, Ray Knight, Jerry Reuss, Frank Viola and many others. On the basketball side, he worked with Dick Vitale, Bill Raftery, Larry Conley, Jim Valvano and many others.
Bob announced the 2005 NCAA Basketball Final Four in St. Louis for NCAA International TV. He handled 2 NCAA Tournaments for CBS, paired with Billy Packer, and has been courtside for 7 NCAAs overall.
Prior to ESPN, Bob handled a variety of sports for USA Network, including college basketball and football, pro golf (including The Masters) and pro tennis (including the U.S. Open).
Carpenter started his broadcasting career in 1976 as baseball play-by-play announcer for the Tulsa Oilers, the Cardinals' AAA affiliate. In over 30 years of broadcasting, he has called dozens of sports, anchored studio shows, hosted radio sports talk and covered news. He is a popular public speaker and emcee.
Carpenter is a 1971 graduate of McBride High School in St. Louis and earned a Radio-TV-Film degree with honors from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1975. Bob and Debbie, his wife of 30 years, have 2 daughters, Katie and Allison.
Rob Dibble joins MASN for the 2009 season as color commentator for Washington Nationals broadcasts.
Prior to joining MASN, Dibble was a baseball analyst for MLB on Fox, and a contributor to FoxSports.com's baseball coverage. Additionally, Rob serves as a co-host (along with Fox's Kevin Kennedy) of The Show, MLB Home Plate's afternoon drive-time baseball talk show on XM Radio.
Dibble worked with ESPN from 1998-2004, as a co-host of The Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio, as well as on the network's Saturday Gameday coverage. He also appeared on Baseball Tonight, and served as analyst on select Major League Baseball games on ESPN Radio and TV. A full-time panelist on Fox Sports Net's Best Damn Sports Show Period from 2005-2008, Dibble made his television debut in 1997 as a studio analyst for National Sports Report on Fox Sports Net.
Rob was a seven-year Major League Baseball veteran; a right-handed pitcher, he retired from baseball in 1995. He had a 27-25 record with 89 saves and a 2.98 ERA with the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers.
He struck out 645 batters in 477 career innings. Dibble combined with Norm Charlton and Randy Myers to form the "Nasty Boys" bullpen which helped Cincinnati win the 1990 World Series. Dibble tossed 4-2/3 scoreless innings in three appearances during that World Series against the Oakland A's. In the playoffs that season, he was named co-MVP of the National League Championship Series for hurling five scoreless innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out 10 and picking up a save. Dibble had his finest major league season in 1991 when he saved 31 games for the Reds. He was named to the National League All-Star team in 1990 and 1991.
Rob enjoys many outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing and playing golf. His other hobbies include Tang Su Do, a form of Karate, and playing the drums. Rob has a daughter, Ashley and a son, Ryan.
Debbi Taylor comes to MASN from Sun Sports/FSN, where she was a sideline reporter for the Orlando-based Regional Sports Network. She was also a sports anchor and reporter for the Fox and CBS affiliates in Orlando where she covered the Daytona 500 and Super Bowl
Debbi got her start in sports broadcasting from spending 6 years at the New England Sports Network (NESN) in Boston, where she hosted the morning show, as well as doing feature interviews and reporting for the Red Sox pre and post-game shows.
Debbi has won two local Emmys and a national Emmy for her trip to Cuba and "The Friendship Games." She was honored by Red Sox legend Ted Williams by being one of only two women included in the broadcast wing of the "Hitters Hall of Fame" (the other was longtime Red Sox owner Jean Yawkey).
Taylor is a native of Nashua, NH and grew up attending baseball games at Fenway Park with her four siblings.
One of the finest play-by-play announcers in the country, Johnny Holliday returns for his third year with MASN as the co-host of Nats Xtra, the exclusive pre-game and post-game show. In addition to his baseball duties, Holliday has spent 29 years as the "Voice of the Terrapins." In addition to calling the action for the Maryland football and basketball teams, Holliday hosts the Ralph Friedgen and Gary Williams television shows. As the Terps' director of broadcasting, he also handles a myriad of speaking duties within the athletics department, ranging from banquets to golf outings.
His long list of credits includes ABC's coverage of the 2000 and 1996 Summer Olympics and the Winter and Summer Olympics in 1984, 1988 and 1994. In addition, he has covered championship boxing, The Masters, and the Liberty and Aloha bowls.
Holliday's announcing career allows him to lay claim as Washington's most versatile broadcaster, and among the best nationally. Whether in radio, where he was named America's No. 1 disc jockey during his rock 'n roll deejay days, or his public address duties with the Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders, and Golden State Warriors, to his work in Washington television for the Senators and Bullets, Holliday makes a complicated business look easy.
A native of Miami, Fla., Holliday began his broadcasting career in Perry, Ga., and through the years has worked in four of the nation's prime radio markets: Cleveland, New York, San Francisco and Washington. Washingtonian magazine honored him as a Washingtonian of the Year for his many civic activities. His basketball and softball teams, the Radio Wonders, have raised more than $1 million for charity. In October 2003, he was inducted into the Radio-Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
Two-time MLB All-Star Ray Knight will return for his third season as the co-host of Nats Xtra, MASN's pre- and post- game show.
Few baseball players garner as much respect as Ray Knight. In the twilight of his playing years, Knight mustered one of his best seasons to triumphantly lead the New York Mets to a World Series Championship. It was the team's first title in 17 years. His play earned him the Most Valuable Player honor for the 1986 World Series and he was named the National League Comeback Player of the Year by The Sporting News.
The Albany, Georgia native played professional baseball for 17 years; 13 of those were spent in the Major Leagues as an infielder with the Cincinnati Reds, the Houston Astros, the New York Mets, the Baltimore Orioles and the Detroit Tigers. Knight retired from baseball in 1989 and moved on to become an ESPN broadcaster. In 1993, he returned to the Major Leagues to work as a coach for Cincinnati. He ascended to manager of the Reds in October 1995 and maintained the position until July 1997.
Kerr returns to MASN as a fill-in anchor for Nats Xtra and as the fill-in sideline reporter. He is the Host of the Nats Insider weekly magazine show and Nats Talk Live post game call-in show heard on the Nationals Radio Network. Kerr is the award-winning mid-day sports anchor for WTOP Radio in Washington, D.C. and is the voice of George Washington University men's basketball.
Kerr called George Mason University basketball for 11 seasons and was the voice of the WNBA Washington Mystics for six seasons. He also was the television play-by-play for the Mystics in 2007. Kerr called games for the NBA Washington Wizards, college football and basketball games nationally on Westwood One and MLS Soccer for D.C. United. Kerr was the play-by-play voice for Westwood One's national radio coverage of the 2005 Kansas City and 2006 Albuquerque NCAA Women's Tournament Regional Finals. Kerr was the television play-by-play announcer for 2008 Capital Classic All-Star game on MASN and has appeared on Comcast Sports Net, Sunshine Network, NBA TV, Newschannel 8 and WJLA ABC 7 covering baseball, soccer and basketball since 1993.
He has covered major league baseball in the National Capital Area since 1990 and has been on location covering the American League Championship Series for USA TODAY Sky Radio and Mutual Radio. Kerr has been the public address announcer for the NBA's Washington Wizards and select ACC and CAA baseball games.
Kerr is a graduate of the University of Virginia.
A native Washingtonian, Phil Wood has spent his entire career in the D.C.-Baltimore area. Throughout the years he's hosted radio sports talk shows in both markets with a decided emphasis on baseball, and has also performed on-air duties on and around broadcasts of the Washington Bullets and Capitals; Baltimore Orioles, Colts, Ravens, and Skipjacks (AHL); and Bowie Baysox.
Phil's a past winner of the NSSA Maryland Sportscaster of the Year Award, a "Best of Baltimore" Award from Baltimore Magazine, a "Best of Washington" Award from the Washington City Paper, and was the 1982-83 James H. Ellery Award winner (broadcaster-of-the-year) in the American Hockey League. His book "Nationals on Parade" was published in 2005, and he's been a columnist for the Washington Examiner since its inception.
Phil can also be seen on MASN's "Hot Stove Baseball" during the off-season, and co-hosts "Talkin' Baseball," network radio's only year-round show dedicated to baseball, on Radio America. He's a graduate of Austin Peay State University, the same school that produced Orioles' relievers George Sherrill and Jamie Walker.
Phil and his wife and two daughters reside in Reisterstown, MD.
