Chihuahuas Chatter presented by Budweiser Select Features Former El Paso Diablos & Current Oakland Athletics Radio Broadcaster Vince Cotroneo

With the start of the 2020 Major League Baseball season just a few weeks away, former El Paso Diablos and current Oakland Athletics radio broadcaster Vince Cotroneo will appear on Chihuahuas Chatter presented by Budweiser Select on Thursday, July 16 at 4 p.m. MDT, hosted by the voice of the Chihuahuas Tim Hagerty.

“I hope it happens safely because so much has happened in our world, everybody has a story whether you work in baseball or not,” said Cotroneo in his pre-taped interview.

“We’ve all been affected by this. You’re trying to find ways to realistically, safely and fairly, to get back to doing whatever you do. Whether it is opening your restaurant, or running your gym, or working for a baseball team; to do the things that are as close to normal that you’re accustom to. I’m hopeful that this will start and we’ll get going and maybe we can get what this season will be put together and there will be some storylines worth following that will capture the imaginations of fans across the country.”

The 2020 MLB season will be Vince Cotroneo’s 15th year in the booth for Oakland A’s games, alongside broadcast partner Ken Korach. He had prior big league experience before joining the A’s, he spent six years with the Texas Rangers, calling their games from 1998 to 2003, and before with the Houston Astros from 1991 to 1997.

In the minor leagues, he was recognized as the top Minor League broadcaster, winning the National Association’s Minor League Announcer of the Year award in 1988 for his work in his only year with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs.

Even with thousands of games under his belt, he still loves to talk about his time in El Paso from 1985 to 1987, when he was the voice of the Double-A El Paso Diablos, an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.

“Three of my most memorable years in the sport were there [in El Paso],” said Cotroneo. “I hold El Paso near and dear to my heart, they were some of the best times I ever had at and around the sport.”

During his three years, the Diablos never finished out of first place, and won the Texas League Championship in 1986.

“I really felt like I was in a place that was special and a place that, while not the major leagues, the team to this community like it was their Yankees, or their Red Sox, or Dodgers. The team means so much to the community.”

Beyond the game itself, it is the relationships that matter the most to him from his time in El Paso.

“The great thing about my time in El Paso is all the wonderful memories and all the friendships that I made.”

In his interview, Cotroneo also talks about how he got to El Paso, his relationships with players and others from El Paso still to this day, his fondest memories of El Paso games, the upcoming 2020 60-game season, and much more. You can catch Vince Cotroneo on Chihuahuas Chatter presented by Budweiser Select on Thursday, July 16 at 4 p.m. MDT, hosted by the voice of the Chihuahuas Tim Hagerty.