Dodgers announce five new names to 2022 broadcast team
The Dodgers’ latest blockbuster moves come off the field.
The organization announced five new members of the broadcast team — a Dodger All-Star, a Dodger legend, the son of a former Dodger legend, a trailblazer and a former Rookie of the Year and two-time All-Star pitcher. Those five additions are Adrián González, Eric Karros, Jose Mota, Jessica Mendoza and Dontrelle Willis, who will serve various roles for the 2022 Spectrum SportsNet LA broadcast and studio teams, the AM 570 LA Sports radio broadcast and the Spanish broadcast on KTNQ 1020 AM.
González will serve as an analyst on SportsNet LA’s live studio programs, LeadOff-LA and Access SportsNet: Dodgers pregame and postgame shows. The five-time All-Star and four-time Rawling Gold Glove Award winner played for the Dodgers from 2012–17 and hit 101 homers in 735 games as the club’s primary first baseman. He officially retired from professional baseball earlier this month.
“I’m so excited to be working on the pregame and postgame broadcasts this year,” said Gonzalez. “I can’t wait to reconnect with all of the great Dodger fans.”
Karros, the Dodgers’ all-time home run leader and 1992 National League Rookie of the Year, is in his 19th year of broadcasting. For the last 16, he has provided color commentary and in-studio analysis for Fox. He will continue to work for the media company, but adds the role of analyst for Dodger game broadcasts. He will call select home and road games alongside Joe Davis while also appearing on LeadOff-LA and the Access SportsNet: Dodgers pregame and postgame shows.
“As a kid from Southern California, I could never have imagined playing for the Dodgers, let alone having the opportunity to ‘call’ Dodger baseball,” Karros said. “I can’t wait to get back to work at Dodger Stadium.”
Mota, the son of Dodger great Manny Mota, comes to the Dodgers after 20 seasons with the Angels TV and radio broadcast teams serving in multiple English and Spanish roles. This is a return for the two-time Emmy winner and former Major League second baseman. Mota played in the Dodger minor league system in 1987 and 1988 and got his broadcasting career start pinch-hitting for Jaime Jarrín on Dodgers Spanish Radio in 2001. Mota will call select games for both the Dodgers’ Spanish and English radio broadcasts.
In 2021, Mota became the first Latin-born former player to be a full-time English TV broadcaster for a Major League team. On Aug. 19–20, 2017, Mota became the first MLB broadcaster to have called play-by-play on a team’s English radio/TV broadcasts and Spanish radio/TV broadcasts, as well as working as a color analyst on both platforms. Mota was Vladimir Guerrero’s translator for the 2018 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown, becoming the first translator in the HOF ceremony’s history.
Mota has also worked for Fox, MLB Network, ESPN, TBS, Bally Sports, MLB Radio, DirecTV Latin America and Yahoo Sports.
“I am really excited for this opportunity to join the Dodgers and their world-class, globally-recognized organization,” said Mota. “I am so blessed to be able to follow in the footsteps of my father and I look forward to connecting with the Dodger fan base in Los Angeles and around the world in both English and Spanish in my new broadcast role.”
Mendoza will be in the analyst chair and call select road games alongside Davis on SNLA. Mendoza has been one of the most recognizable baseball voices on TV having served as a color commentator for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball from 2016–2020. A groundbreaker in broadcasting, Mendoza became the first woman to serve as an analyst for nationally-televised MLB games in 2015 with ESPN. Also in 2015, Mendoza became the first female analyst for a nationally-televised MLB postseason game, calling the American League Wild Card Game on ESPN. That year, she also became the first female analyst for a Men’s College World Series telecast.
On Sept. 29, 2021, Mendoza along with Melanie Newman became the first all-female team to broadcast a game for ESPN when they called the Dodgers vs. Padres game at Dodger Stadium. Mendoza, who will continue to work with ESPN, is a two-time Olympic medalist in softball, having won gold in Athens (2004) and silver in Beijing (2008) for Team USA. She was also a four-time first team All-American outfielder for Stanford.
“To broadcast games for the Los Angeles Dodgers is a dream-come-true,” Mendoza said. “I grew up here and have spent a great deal of my life in this park, which was like a second backyard when I was a kid. “I’m honored to join this great organization and am excited to get to work with such an amazing team of talented broadcasters.”
Willis, who played nine big leagues seasons from 2003–2011, will call select road games on SNLA alongside Davis. He is one of three left-handed pitchers all time to be an All-Star and win the Rookie of the Year in the same season, joining Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Herb Score (1955). Willis was also the NL Cy Young Award runner-up in 2005 when he led the Major Leagues in victories.
Willis worked as a special assistant in the Dodgers player development department in 2021. He is an Emmy Award-winning baseball analyst, beginning his work with Fox in 2015. In 2020, he worked with NBC Sports California, the hometown TV station of the Oakland A’s.
“I’m honored to be a part of one of the best organizations in sports,” Willis said. “I truly feel blessed to be surrounded by the best in the business.”
The five new members will join the current broadcast lineup, which includes Davis, Hall of Famer Jaime Jarrín, Orel Hershiser, Fernando Valenzuela, Charley Steiner, Rick Monday, Nomar Garciaparra, Pepe Yñiguez, Jerry Hairston Jr., John Hartung, Tim Neverett and Kirsten Watson.
