It was around 9:20 PM when I received a call I had been expecting. The call was from soon to be retiring Nationals broadcaster Bob Carpenter. My heart was racing, eager to get started asking questions. However, Bob gave me a heads up before we got going. His wife Debbie would be calling him at some point. He would have to get off the call because he wanted to talk to her before she went to bed.
So, 15 minutes into our conversation, Bob said it was time to take a pause so he could talk to his wife.
About 20 minutes later, he called me back and we resumed our conversation. Honestly, this sort of charm is on brand for the Nationals long time announcer. That wholesome, familial vibe he has on the broadcast comes through even more when you talk to him in person. You can tell a lot about a person from their priorities, and Bob Carpenter has his priorities straight.
Surrounded by Sports
Growing up in St. Louis Carpenter was surrounded by sports. When asked, Carpenter said, “I just grew up in an environment where there was always sports to watch, to listen to on the radio or to play”. Having grown up in a house on the grounds of his parish, there was always something for a young Bob Carpenter to do.
However, Carpenter got his start in the baseball world due to his older sister Judy. She worked with the Cardinals for over 50 years and her little brother idolizes her. Carpenter said that his sister was a “baseball mentor” to him. He said that Judy helped him get a grasp of the inner workings of a front office, which helped him understand the game at a deeper level. Carpenter told me that he is very proud that he and his sister will have combined for 94 years in the big leagues.
Eventually, he would get a job at the ballpark. However, his young mind was set on bigger and better things. He told me that “during the breaks, I used to go on the ramp in center field where nobody could see me and stand there for 15 or 20 minutes and announce the game out loud to myself and pretend I was Jack Buck”.
Working with his Idols and living the Dream
As fate would have it, Carpenter would be working with his hero 15 years later. On Opening Day of 1984, Carpenter called his first MLB game. The Dodgers were playing the Cardinals and the 31 year old Carpenter was surrounded by legends. As he put it, “It was a beautiful day at Dodgers Stadium, 56,000 people there. Jack Buck is sitting 20 feet to my left and I’ve got Vin Scully sitting on the other side of the wall to my right. I am 31 years old and I am sitting there thinking “what the hell am I doing here with these guys”.
Carpenter actually kept the scorebook from that game and was nice enough to share a picture of it with me. The Cardinals ended up winning the game 11-7. It was the start of what became a long and prosperous career for Bob Carpenter.
If you have followed Bob for long enough, his passion for the scorebook has become a big part of his identity. Carpenter told me this passion for scorekeeping came from his father, who took him to see Cardinals games.
However, as he rose through the ranks, the softball scorebooks he was using just were not getting the job done. He felt like he needed to act and create a better scorebook. Carpenter told me that after a couple months of his first season, he went to Whitey Herzog’s office and asked for a lineup card. From there, he went to his hotel room and laid out the grid that would become the signature Bob Carpenter scorebook.
Bob Carpenter stayed on the broadcast scene for a while after that. He was not just a baseball guy though. One of the things Carpenter said he was most proud of in his career was the fact he “did a lot of sports at the major league level”. In addition to baseball, Carpenter broadcasted two World Cups, NFL games, March Madness games, the Masters and the US Open in Tennis. That is a lot to do in one career!
However, baseball has always been his true love. Throughout the call, Bob was adamant about how intelligent baseball fans are. He told me, “You cannot fool baseball fans. There’s thousands of announcers out there that can call a pretty good football game or basketball game”. Carpenter added that, “Baseball is so different from those other sports because you have these long down times and then you have these bursts of action. In football, something happens every 30 seconds”.
Baseball has always meant something a bit extra to Bob and you can tell that when you talk to him. He loves all the other sports, but he truly honors the game of baseball. That leads us right into his time with the Nats.
The Voice of a New Club
When the Washington Nationals came to DC in 2005, Bob Carpenter was not the play-by-play guy yet. However, he came shortly after in 2006. He had bounced around a lot in the last few years before coming, so he wanted to settle down.
As he put it, “The Nationals gave me an opportunity in 2006 to really sink my teeth into a city, into the city’s team, get to know people in the organization and really see what it was like to work some place other than St. Louis”. It has been an experience that Carpenter has loved, calling it “fantastic”.
In his time with the Nats, he has become a mainstay inside the homes of countless people across the DMV, including my own. However, as you would expect if you have ever listened to him, Bob has a much more grounded perspective. He does not see himself as some sort of hero.
When he talked about the recognition he would receive on the 27th, he said, “Whatever happens on the 27th, whether it lasts half an hour or two minutes, I will be the happiest guy in town. It is so nice of them to recognize me, and it is kind of weird because I am being recognized for doing my job”.
Carpenter quickly pointed out that there are people in DC doing much more important work than he is. That is just the kind of guy Bob is. He is immensely proud of his achievements and does not downplay them to be humble, but he also just has a midwest humility to him as well.
Bob called so many memorable Nationals games, so I had to ask him what some of the most memorable ones were. He pointed to the no-hitters as the ones he will always remember, as well as Stephen Strasburg’s debut.
While that answer was predictable, his answer about the World Series team surprised me. Carpenter did not see the 2019 run coming at all. When I asked him if he saw the World Series coming, Carpenter told me, “In 2019, I don’t think I thought about the World Series until we were on the plane to the World Series”.
He added that, “To be honest with you, I never thought about the World Series at all until we won game 4 against the Cardinals. I was like, “Holy crap we are going to the World Series and I am going to get a ring because you get a ring whether you win the World Series or not”. That caught me off guard and made me chuckle because I figured there would be a moment earlier on when he thought this was a team of destiny.
Wrapping Up
As Carpenter wraps up his career that has lasted over 40 years, he is full of pride. He was very happy and thankful to the organization that he could go out on his own terms. Carpenter is acutely aware that this is not always how it ends. He had been laid off before and has had plenty of friends in the industry that have as well.
He told me that he had “joked about the fact I had done my last game for a network, but didn’t know it was my last game”. This time it truly is Bob Carpenter’s last game. For that, he is very grateful to the Nats organization. He said that going out like this is exactly what he and his wife had dreamed about.
As Bob Carpenter signs off for one last time this weekend, Nationals fans should be eternally grateful. Not only for the broadcaster, but the man. After doing this call, I was struck by Bob’s kindness and thoughtful nature. He is truly a legend in this town. See you later Bob!
