Dewayne anchors the Emmy Award-winning FOX Sports Sun telecast this year, his 43rd season broadcasting major league baseball and 22nd with the Rays. Dewayne has also handled play-by-play for FOX Sports national baseball coverage. He celebrated his 5,000th MLB broadcast in 2010. Before joining the Rays, he spent three years calling play-by-play for ESPN in a variety of sports, including MLB, NCAA baseball, basketball and football. He began his major league play-by-play career as the radio and TV voice of the Astros from 1977-84, then called radio and TV action for the Cubs from 1985-89. He was the lead play-by-play announcer for the Yankees from 1990-94, and spent the 1994-95 seasons calling the action for The Baseball Network (ABC/NBC). Dewayne began his career as a sports reporter for WSIE Radio while a student at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and began his baseball career as the radio voice of the Oklahoma City 89ers (1973-74). In 1975-76 he was sports director at KPLR TV in St. Louis and received an Emmy. A 1975 graduate of SIU-Edwardsville, Dewayne earned Distinguished Alumnus of the Year honors in 1987 and was inducted into its Alumni Hall of Fame in 2010. Dewayne was named a finalist for the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, in 2012, 2013 and 2016. He was also named the 2013 Florida Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, and is a member of the Tampa Bay Sports Club Hall of Fame. In 2015, Dewayne authored Position to Win: A Look at Baseball and Life From the Best Seat in the House, which chronicles his life and career in sports broadcasting. He and his wife, Carla, support Quantum Leap Farm and Military Veterans Retreats. He has two daughters, Stephanie Wheeler and Alexandra Gherardini, and three grandchildren: Gabriel, 13; Zachary, 10; and Evie, 7.
Brian enters his ninth season as full-time television color analyst on FOX Sports Sun and his 11th season as part of the Rays broadcast. Brian previously served on the major league staff as assistant to the pitching coach, working under Jim Hickey from March 2008 through the 2009 season. He also filled in as broadcaster for the Indians on Sports Time Ohio and hosted a weekly highlights show while recovering from injury in 2007. Brian played college baseball at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio from 1991 to 1993 where he was named the both the Conference Player and Conference Pitcher of the year for the 1992 season, and was also a 3rd Team All-American. In 1993, he again earned the title of Conference Pitcher of the Year, was named a 1st Team All-American and a 1st Team Academic All-American, and was also a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award. Brian spent 13 seasons pitching in the majors with the Angels, Indians and Royals, and was a member of the 2001 World Champion Diamondbacks. He was taken third overall by the Angels in the 1993 June Draft and the following season was named the Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year. He was also selected by the Diamondbacks as their first pick in the 1997 Expansion Draft. Brian was inducted to the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame on Sep 30, 2015 and made his acceptance speech by phone during the Rays-Marlins broadcast. He and his wife, Jessica Marie, reside in St. Petersburg. Brian has four children: Rylyn Mae, 14; Jackson James, 12; Harper Marie, 2; and Baker James, 3 months.
Orestes begins his eighth season as a pre- and postgame host for the RAYS LIVE! show and an in-game sideline analyst for select Rays home games. In addition to his role with FOX Sports Sun, he enters his second season as director of baseball and community outreach with the Rays. In 2017, Orestes and his FOX Sports Sun crew won a Suncoast Sports Emmy Award for "Demo Day," a one-time special program that aired during a Rays home game. Prior to joining the Rays broadcast, Orestes worked for ESPN as a host on Baseball Tonight and an analyst for the Little League World Series for five years. He also hosted live weekday radio sports talk shows on XM Radio and ESPN Radio, in addition to making several appearances on ESPN Deportes' TV and radio programs. Orestes covered the 2014 and 2015 World Series for Univision Deportes as their lead studio analyst. Orestes spent 15 seasons in pro baseball with the Yankees, Pirates, Seibu Lions of the Japanese Pacific League and the Marlins as a designated hitter, first baseman and outfielder. He led both the Japanese Central and Pacific Leagues in home runs for three consecutive seasons (1990-92) and was named Most Valuable Player of the 1990 Japan Series. He was a member of the Marlins inaugural 1993 season, leading the team with 20 HR and 87 RBI. Born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Orestes and his family immigrated to Miami in 1968 when he was six years old. He and his wife, Drisana, reside in Tampa. Orestes has four children: Danielle, 30; Devin, 26; Armando, 13; and Bella, 10.
Rich enters his sixth season as the Pre- and Postgame host for the RAYS LIVE! Shows on Fox Sports Sun. During the baseball offseason, he handles play-by-play duties for college basketball on ESPN. Rich began his broadcast career as a sports anchor with the ABC affiliate in Great Falls, Mont. in 1995, before moving to the Tampa Bay area, which he's called home since. He served as the sports director with Time Warner Cable (now Spectrum Sports) in Clearwater from 1995-97, where he received a CableACE award for the best local sports program. Rich has also served as host of "H.S. Sports Extra" for WTVT FOX-13 from 1996-98, the in-arena voice for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Storm from 1999-2002 and a host for a variety of other regional sports and lifestyle programs. A New Jersey native, Rich earned a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University in 1993. He and his wife, Jill, reside in St. Petersburg with their three children: Jason, 15; Lindsey, 13; and Bryan, 9.
Tricia joins the Rays on-air roster for the 2019 season serving the role of lead in-game reporter on Rays television broadcasts. Whitaker comes to FOX Sports Sun from CBS4 WTTV-TV in Indianapolis, Ind., where she spent the past four years as a sports anchor and reporter. Whitaker's on-air experience extends beyond CBS4 WTTV-TV having started her career as web reporter with the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever. Following her time as web reporter, Whitaker spent two years covering the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers and more as a sports anchor and reporter at ABC2 WBAY in Green Bay, Wis. A Stuart, Fla. native, Whitaker graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Communications.
Doug begins his fifth season providing in-depth pitching analysis as a member of FOX Sports Sun's RAYS LIVE! pre- and postgame shows. In 2017, Doug and his FOX Sports Sun crew won a Suncoast Sports Emmy Award for "Demo Day," a one-time special program that aired during a Rays home game. Doug is a St. Petersburg native and graduate of Northeast High School. Prior to being selected out of high school by the Devil Rays in the third round of the 1999 June Draft, he had signed a letter of intent to play football at the University of South Florida. With his 2003 debut, he became the first St. Petersburg native to play for the Rays. He remains one of two Rays players born in St. Petersburg, along with Casey Kotchman. In his first major league start, on Sep 3, 2003 at Tropicana Field, Doug pitched a 2-hit, CG SHO against the Mariners. He spent six years in the majors with the Devil Rays, Marlins and Royals and 11 seasons overall in professional baseball. Doug coaches his two children, Kaden (10) and Karsyn (8), in baseball and softball, and is an active realtor in the Tampa Bay area. In 2004, he was presented a key to the city of St. Petersburg by Mayor Rick Baker. Doug and his wife, Kristin, reside in St. Petersburg with their children.
Andy returns to the booth for his 15th season with the Rays broadcast team. He joined the Rays after serving as the voice of the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox for four seasons. Andy was also the voice of the Double-A Trenton Thunder (Red Sox) for five seasons (1996-2000). He began his play-by-play career with the St. Lucie Mets of the Class-A Florida State League in 1994-95. Andy began his baseball radio career as a broadcast assistant with the Orioles flagship station WBAL conducting postgame interviews for all home games during the 1990-93 seasons. His other play-by-play experience includes college basketball for ESPN Regional (2004-present), Providence College (2003-05) and Rider University (1996-2001). He also broadcast for The College of New Jersey football and Baltimore Spirit soccer. Freed is a graduate of Towson State (Md.) University, where he called action for basketball, football and lacrosse during his time at school. Andy was named 2015 Florida Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He enthusiastically works with the ALS Association. In addition to reciting Lou Gehrig's famous speech at Tropicana Field every year on "ALS Night," he emcees various local events, including their annual "Ride to Defeat ALS." He and his wife, Amy, reside in Parrish, Fla., with their daughter Sarah, 16, and twins Casey and Maddie, 9.
Dave enters his 15th season in the Rays radio booth. He came to the Rays having spent 11 seasons as part of the White Sox radio broadcast team hosting the pre- and postgame shows and filling in the booth when necessary. His first play-by-play action came with the Class-A Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League from 1991-95, where he was the franchise's first radio voice. Dave was the radio voice of University of Illinois-Chicago men's basketball from 1997-2005 and has also done some television play-by-play for the Flames. He also anchored the pre- and postgame shows for Notre Dame football and basketball, and served as co-host of the Kevin White Show while with ESPN Radio 1000 (Chicago). From 2000- 05, Dave did television work with Comcast's Sports Weekly high school highlight show. Dave served as the pitching coach/recruiting coordinator with Elmhurst (Ill.) College in 1989, and as interim head coach at the University of Chicago in 1990. He owns bachelor's degrees in speech communication and urban studies from Elmhurst, where he played baseball for three years. In 2016, Dave was inducted into the Irish-American Baseball Hall of Fame at Foley's Pub & Restaurant in New York City. He participates in the Hillsborough County Great American Teach-In and assists with Rays efforts in the community. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have a son, Alex, and a daughter, Michelle. They reside in Lutz.
Neil begins his eighth season on the Rays Baseball Network as host of the pre- and postgame shows, fill-in play-by-play voice, as well as This Week in Rays Baseball and the video program Prospect Spotlight. Before joining the Rays full time, Neil was the radio voice of the Triple-A Durham Bulls from 2004-11, and filled in on the Rays pre- and postgame show from 2010-11. While with Durham, he broadcast the Triple-A All-Star Game and the Triple-A National Championship Game to a nationwide audience. Before the Bulls, Neil broadcast minor league games for the Class-A Lakewood BlueClaws (Phillies) and Class-A Quad City River Bandits (Twins). He also does freelance play-by-play of college football, basketball and Olympic sports for a variety of regional networks, and has worked for the North Carolina State University, Rutgers University and Delaware State University radio networks. Neil attended Rutgers University. He and his wife, Sari, reside in Palm Harbor with their daughters, Emily, 12, and Abby, 11.
Enrique returns for his 21st season as color analyst on the Rays Spanish broadcast. He received the Alexis Arguello Award, given to the top sports figures in Nicaragua, and the Nicaraguan Sportswriters Association Award for his accomplishments in the world of sports during the 2016 season. In February 2009, Enrique was inducted into the Florida College Sports Hall of Fame for his impact on the college and in life. He is the subject of the award-winning 2009 documentary Henry O!, filmed by Boston-based Rosemont Productions during the 2007 season. Born in Nicaragua, Enrique came to the United States at age 10 and attended the St. Augustine School for the Blind. He called his first professional action in 1989 for the Jacksonville Expos, and then served as color commentator for the St. Petersburg Pelicans of the Senior Professional Baseball League. Prior to that, he was the public address announcer for seven years for Florida College baseball in Tampa. He also appeared as a regular contributor on Solamente Pelota ("Only Baseball") on SiriusXM, hosted his own show on WQBN 1300 AM and has been a guest analyst on USF Spanish broadcasts and on baseball broadcasts and talk shows in Managua, Nicaragua. He has also called action for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League (2003-05) and served as the Spanish voice for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002-03. Enrique owns a communications degree from the University of South Florida. He delivered the keynote address at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind's 100th commencement in May 2014. He and his wife, Debbie, reside in St. Petersburg.
Ricardo begins his 17th season calling play-by-play on the Rays Spanish broadcast. Taveras has 32 years of radio experience. He also serves as a sportscaster for Mira TV Tampa. Ricardo began as a sports commentator in his native Dominican Republic and was program director for HIVG 870 AM and HIVP 970 AM from 1990- 92. He also served as assistant program director for WRIV in Providence, R.I., for three years, and as a sales executive for Telemundo Tampa from 2011-13.
