Marysol Castro Became The First Latina PA Announcer For The MLB
Nothing gets me more excited than seeing Latinas breaking boundaries, stirring change and making history
Photo: Unsplash/@rbbnbl
Nothing gets me more excited than seeing Latinas breaking boundaries, stirring change and making history. Marysol Castro recently did that by becoming the first Latina public address (PA) announcer in Major Leagues Baseball and the first female announcer for the New York Mets. This has officially made my week!
It’s a great time for Latinas in sports. Earlier this year, Julia Morales, a sports reporter and host for AT&T SportsNet Southwest was making waves as the field reporter for the World Series Champions, the Houston Astros. And now this week with Castro—the timing is great.
“This month has been incredible,” Castro told NBC News. “The Minute I open this door and look at this view, I realize how incredibly fortunate I am.”
The Bronx-born Puerto Rican has previously worked as a reporter on ESPN, was a weather anchor on ABC’s Good Morning America, “The Early Show” at CBS, and has also worked in local TV news. She has close to two-decades of experience. And to no one’s surprise, most of her jobs involved her being the only woman of color in the room.
“In almost every job I’ve had, I’ve been the only Latino,” she said. “We have to reflect the eyeballs the watch us.”
This job is particularly important to her because it allows her to “be a bridge builder for other Latinos. This is especially significantt not just because Latinos are a huge percentage of the baseball viewing audience but also because of a lot of the politics that are currently impacting the Latino community in the states right now.
Castro’s new position is significant for a number of reasons but representation is crucial. The sports world has always been dominated primarily of men. Having a woman of color—a Latina PA—not only sends a very important message out to the world but it also shows young brown and black girls that yes they can aim for careers like this too. With that said, there’s still more work to be done and Castro herself knows that.
“I never settle in any area of my life,” she says. “We’ve come far, but we have a long journey ahead of us.”
Here’s to more WOC taking roles like this!
