Colorado Rockies podcast: Jerry Schemmel on the season, faith and more

By Kevin Henry | Aug 10, 2019

DENVER, CO - APRIL 25: The Denver skyline provides a backdrop for the ballpark as the field is prepared for the Pittsburgh Pirates to face the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on April 25, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. The Pirates defeated the Rockies 6-1. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

SAN DIEGO — Colorado Rockies radio broadcaster Jerry Schemmel has been calling Rockies games for 10 years. During that time, he’s seen plenty of good and not-so-good play associated with the team.

Sitting in the press box at Petco Field before the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres continue their four-game series, Schemmel sat down with me for a wide-ranging discussion on the Rockies (current season and past ones as well), some of his favorite memories, biking across the country, faith, inspiring Americans and much more.

Schemmel is also the former voice of the Denver Nuggets, calling the team’s games between 1992 and 2010. We talk about some of his favorite memories with the NBA and I ask him which is harder, calling a baseball or basketball game.

One of his new projects is called “Amazing Americans,” a radio show that profiles people who have overcome odds to succeed and impact their communities.

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Much of Schemmel’s outlook comes from not only his strong faith but also surviving the crash of United Airlines 232 in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1989. The DC-10 took off from Denver and was bound for Chicago when the tail engine exploded. Carrying 285 passengers and 11 crew members, the crash was horrific.

As it says in this article…

"Shrapnel from the blast shredded hydraulic lines. The pilots lost all flight controls. The odds of such a failure were one in a billion. The odds of survival were even worse. But an unprecedented show of skill and ingenuity by the pilots combined with a magnificently coordinated response by an army of rescue workers on the ground saved 184 of the 296 people aboard the flight."

Surviving that crash reminded Schemmel of not only the fragile nature of life but also how time should never be wasted. That driving force has helped him become an avid biker and raise money for many good causes through that activity.

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Click below to hear our wide-ranging interview and his thoughts on the Rockies. If you have trouble with the link below, click here.

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