- John Rooney
John Rooney (born 1954) is an American
sportscaster , currently best known for his role as aradio broadcaster forMajor League Baseball 'sSt. Louis Cardinals .Early career
A
Richmond, Missouri native, Rooney began his broadcast career in the 1970s, doing a number of assignments for various radio stations in Missouri andOklahoma . In 1980, he began callingplay-by-play for the Oklahoma City 89ers, a minor league baseball team, as well asIndianapolis football and basketball. He broadcast for theLouisville Redbirds beginning in 1983.Major League Baseball career
Rooney broadcast for the
Minnesota Twins in the mid-1980s. In 1988, he joined theChicago White Sox 'television crew; the following year he switched to the team's radio booth, where he teamed withWayne Hagin (1989-1991) andEd Farmer (1992-2005).In September 2005 it was announced that Rooney would be leaving the White Sox' radio crew, due to a salary dispute with their new flagship station. His final broadcast with the team was Game 4 of the
2005 World Series , which ended in the White Sox' first Series championship since 1917. The following season he joined the Cardinals' radio crew on KTRS, teaming with former player and veteran broadcasterMike Shannon .National work
Rooney worked for CBS Radio from 1984 to 2003, nationally broadcasting various sports events including Major League Baseball, the National Football League,
college football , andcollege basketball . He called Saturday baseball telecasts for Fox Sports from 1996 to 1998, and postseason Division Series games for ESPN Radio in 2003 and 2004. In 2004, he was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.Rooney continues to work the occasional baseball broadcast for ESPN Radio, and is also a play-by-play announcer for NFL coverage on the
Sports USA Radio Network .Catchphrases
Rooney typically punctuates team victories with
catchphrase s, such as "That's a Cardinals/White Sox winner!" His signature home run call is "It's a goner!".
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