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When Oscar Manuel Soria Noriega takes the microphone, he doesn’t just describe baseball. He lives it, feels it, and shares it with a passion that has crossed borders, generations, and radio stations.
Soria has been the official Spanish-language voice of the Diamondbacks since 1998, broadcasting more than 150 games a year on 100.3 FM in Phoenix and the MLB.tv app. While his distinctive style is now synonymous with the game, his story is much more than that: it’s that of a man who dared to leave his safety behind for what made him happy.
While born in Tijuana in 1970, Oscar was raised in Hermosillo, Sonora due to a “work-related accident” involving his father—former broadcaster Gilberto Soria Larrea. He has no memory of his birth in Baja California, but he does remember his travels across the state of Sonora, between Guaymas, Empalme, and finally, the capital of Sonora, where he put down roots.
The family was always on the move, and he grew up with that spirit of adaptation. His father worked in radio, selling advertising space and narrating. The vocation seemed to be a given, but Oscar took a different path: he graduated as a public accountant from the Universidad del Noroeste in 1995.
“I liked accounting, I still like numbers,” he says today, in a calm tone. But his true love was baseball.
And not just as a fan: Oscar wanted to be where the action was, in the stadium, close to the action. He dreamed of being a commentator. That duality followed him throughout his studies: in the morning he did audits and balance sheets at the family business, and in the afternoon he took the microphone, narrating games for the Naranjeros de Hermosillo.
A leap into the unknown with a full soul
The decision came in 1992. Television called him. Winter baseball seduced him. And although he had a clear path as an accountant for the family business, he decided to follow his calling.
“My uncle Horacio, who supported me a lot, just said, ‘Think it through.’ He was very proud afterward,” he recalled with a firm voice.
That same year, Oscar left accounting to embrace the media. Since then, he hasn’t stopped. His voice became an essential part of winter in the Caribbean Series and in Sonora, narrating play by play games of the Naranjeros and the Mexican national team, until one day, the dream of the Major Leagues knocked on his door.
The road to Arizona
The Arizona Diamondbacks appeared on the map in 1998. It was a new franchise, with a strong interest in connecting with Latino fans in the southern United States and northern Mexico.
Oscar, already experienced as a broadcaster, sent his resume with videos and recordings. He was not selected the first year, which he believes was partly due to immigration issues. But in 1999, the team sought him out. “It was a fabulous day,” he said of that meeting in Hermosillo with Richard Saenz, who oversaw the Arizona club’s Hispanic division at the time and with whom he now shares the microphone.
That’s how the process of obtaining his work visa began, which years later made him a permanent resident and, a few months ago, an American citizen.
In 1999, he narrated his first game with the D-backs, although he was still unable to get paid because his visa was still being processed, so he appeared only as a guest. “It was an experience I remember perfectly. It was the home opener against the Dodgers,” Oscar recalled with nostalgia and joy.
The Spanish voice of the D-backs
Since then, Oscar Soria has been the official Spanish voice of the Diamondbacks, broadcasting over 150 games a year. He is part of a team of broadcasters that travel to every state and has documented the franchise’s greatest moments.
“It makes me laugh when they say I’m the official Spanish voice of the D-backs, because I wonder, ‘Who’s the unofficial one?’” he joked.
He precisely recalls the historic games he has broadcast live: Randy Johnson’s perfect game, the four consecutive home runs in Milwaukee in 2010, JD Martínez’s home run at Dodger Stadium in 2017. He also remembers the more personal moments.
“My wife, Bienvenida Aguilar Preciado, accompanied me to that first game I called in 1999 against the Dodgers at home. That night we talked at length at the hotel after eating something at a Circle K. It was very special,” Oscar recalled.
The family sacrifice behind the microphone
Commentating on 150 games a year means missing out on things. Oscar acknowledges this with humility and gratitude.
“I’ve missed birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, school activities. But I have a wonderful partner. She’s been both mom and dad when I haven’t been able to be there. All the credit goes to her,” said Oscar.
His three children—Paula, Oscar Gilberto, and María Nicole—grew up knowing that their father was on the air when everyone else was resting.
“They say they understand, although maybe they don’t…if it hurt them, they’ve hidden it very well,” said the broadcaster sincerely.
This October, Oscar and Bienvenida will celebrate 30 years of marriage. Three decades of complicity, sacrifice, and a love that has withstood distance, schedules, and long seasons.
A career recognized on both sides of the border
His work has not gone unnoticed. He was inducted into the Mexican Sports Commentator Hall of Fame, and in Hermosillo, the broadcast booth at Fernando Valenzuela Stadium is named after him. However, for the commentator, his greatest reward is something else.
“The highest recognition I consider is the opportunity to work for the Diamondbacks, in the Caribbean Series, and for the Naranjeros,” he said.
The excitement, always present
Oscar narrates from the heart. He admits it without shame. “Sometimes I go overboard,” he said with a laugh. But in the immediacy of baseball, there are no rehearsals; everything is live.
“It’s not like you prepare yourself to see what you have to say. Everything happens in the present. You have to react and let yourself go,” he explained.
A couple of games ago, a throw to home plate by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. surprised him so much that he couldn’t help but shout.
“It was a spontaneous shout. That’s how it is,” he said.
A life without regrets
Today, more than three decades after choosing the microphone over accounting, Oscar Soria has no regrets.
“Maybe I would have had more time with my family with an office job, but this is what I love. There’s nothing better than being where you want to be,” he said.
And although he divides his time between Ahwatukee, Arizona, and Hermosillo, Sonora, Oscar lives connected through his voice, through baseball. He crosses the border every day, with every word, with every swing he narrates. His voice — heard by so many who don’t know his story — doesn’t just call games; it tells dreams. His own, and those of others who dared to follow their passion.
Comuníquese con la reportera Nadia Cantú por correo electrónico nadia.cantu@lavozarizona.com o por X, antes Twitter, @Nadia_Cantu.