{"id":48407,"date":"2025-05-23T10:10:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T10:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/48407\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T10:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T10:10:10","slug":"eric-nadel-on-his-rangers-radio-call-hed-ask-rhett-miller-to-turn-into-a-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/48407\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Nadel on his Rangers radio call he\u2019d ask Rhett Miller to turn into a song"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Eric Nadel<\/a> hadn\u2019t become a sports announcer, he\u2019d have been a great concert promoter. Or a record label talent scout. Or even a music critic.<\/p>\n

The longtime radio broadcaster for the Texas Rangers is a serious music hound, traveling to concerts and festivals during the offseason and sharing discoveries with friends. He still gets emotional talking about a 2011 gig by Lake Street Dive, a band he\u2019s now seen in the double-digits.<\/p>\n

On May 29, he\u2019ll host the 13th annual Eric Nadel Birthday Benefit, featuring the Austin band Shinyribs and the Alabama-based Secret Sisters. Proceeds from the show go to the Grant Halliburton Foundation<\/a>, a Dallas-based nonprofit that promotes better mental health.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a cause Nadel knows all too well. He\u2019s been vocal about his experiences with anxiety and depression, which sidelined his career during part of the Rangers\u2019 2023 championship season.<\/p>\n

News Roundups<\/p>\n

Catch up on the day’s news you need to know.<\/p>\n

I spoke with Nadel, 74, by phone from New York, where he was getting ready to broadcast a Rangers-Yankees game. Our conversation has been edited for clarity.<\/p>\n

You grew up in Brooklyn, wanting to be a sports broadcaster. But you also loved music. How did baseball win out?<\/p>\n

We had a beautiful Steinway piano in our house, and my sister took lessons, but the teacher was really strict and only let her play classical music. So when my turn came for piano lessons, I chose not to, because I\u2019d have to miss Little League practice, and I had my priorities in order: Baseball above all other things. But I was enchanted by Top 40 disc jockeys. We\u2019d wait breathlessly by the radio for Cousin Brucie to unveil his new Top 10 each week. I was a big Buddy Holly fan, too, and the first album I ever bought was The \u201cChirping\u201d Crickets. My first concert was the Four Seasons. Then my sister schooled me on Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and the Beatles.<\/p>\n

Your trademark sayings are \u201cThat ball is history!\u201d and \u201cRangers fans, you\u2019re not dreaming!\u201d Which one would you pick to be a song \u2014 and who should write it?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re Not Dreaming.\u201d And I\u2019d ask my pal Rhett Miller<\/a> (of the Old 97s) to write it. He\u2019s a huge baseball fan<\/a> who\u2019s gone through mental health issues himself. I just love the way he approaches everything with a very positive attitude \u2026 every night, it\u2019s like he\u2019s shot out of a cannon. And he has an understanding of what a Rangers fan felt like that whole day of Game 5 (in 2023), when I was walking around in a dream world, thinking \u201cThe Rangers are gonna win the World Series tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related:Rhett Miller and the Old 97\u2032s took Dallas stories and made them American classics<\/a><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been a big advocate for the pitch clock, which shortens games and gets rid of dead air. Should there be a concert equivalent that gets rid of the \u201cGood night!\u201d\/encore charade?<\/p>\n

I prefer artists like Jason Isbell, who don\u2019t do the charade. That\u2019s the way it should be. And I don\u2019t have much patience for the 20-minute versions of songs, which is why I don\u2019t go to jam band concerts. I get tired if they\u2019re taking too long.<\/p>\n

Are athletes, musicians and public figures helping erase the stigma of mental illness?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve made a lot of progress. A lot of professional athletes have made their mental health issues public, like Michael Phelps and Simone Biles. And the Grant Halliburton Foundation is so effective in teaching kids it\u2019s OK to say you\u2019re having mental health issues and it\u2019s important to check in with your friends on how they\u2019re doing. I know a lot of musicians have dealt with it in their art, where it can actually be fuel for songs. But with a professional athlete, it was always seen as a sign of weakness \u2014 society or even opposing players would perceive it as you didn\u2019t have strength. But we know now that\u2019s not right: It\u2019s an illness like anything else, where your brain chemicals are out of whack.<\/p>\n

Have certain songs or albums given you solace during a mental-health low point?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a couple. When you\u2019re going through depression, and you think you\u2019re worthless, the song I play is Todd Snider\u2019s \u201cAlright Guy.\u201d It\u2019s hilarious. It would cheer me up. But the first time I went through depression, 20 years ago, I didn\u2019t enjoy the things I used to. Even music. Someone told me to listen to Jason Mraz\u2019s album Waiting for My Rocket to Come, and it was transformational. I love his vibe and his philosophy. It was the first album I enjoyed after going through depression for a couple years. It was the album that convinced me I was going to be OK. So I\u2019ll always have a special bond with Jason Mraz.<\/p>\n

Details<\/p>\n

Eric Nadel Birthday Benefit with Shinyribs and Secret Sisters, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 29, at Longhorn Ballroom, 216 Corinth St., Dallas. $38.70 and up. Prekindle.com. Live auction details are available at www.granthalliburton.org\/ericnadel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How to get help: If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text 988 for support.<\/p>\n

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