LAMAMIMET

René Cárdenas was born on February 6, 1930, in Managua, Nicaragua, into a family with deep baseball roots. He began writing about the sport as a teenager for local newspapers and called games on Radio Mundial, establishing his reputation as a knowledgeable commentator. In 1958 he joined the Los Angeles Dodgers, becoming the first full‑time Spanish‑language announcer in Major League Baseball. He called the 1959 World Series and the 1961 All‑Star Game in Spanish, and later served as the inaugural Spanish broadcaster for the Houston Colt .45s (later the Astros) and the Texas Rangers, pioneering international radio networks that reached Central and South America. Cárdenas returned to the Dodgers for a two‑decade stint from 1982 to 1998, and later contributed to the Astros’ Spanish‑language website and Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa. His contributions were recognized with inductions into the Nicaragua Baseball Hall of Fame, the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame, and the Astros Baseball Media Wall of Honor. He died on May 10, 2026, at his home in Houston, Texas, at the age of 96, leaving a legacy as a trailblazer who opened Major League Baseball to Spanish‑speaking audiences worldwide.