DEWAYNE STAATS

Media

Position: Play-By-Play
Born: August 8, 1952; Advance, Missouri
Broadcast For: Houston Astros (1977-1984), Chicago Cubs (1985-1989), New York Yankees (1990-1994), Tampa Bay Rays (1998-Present)

By Steve Porter 

The broadcast booth serves as the friendly confines for Dewayne Staats. The East Alton native has made a striking career of calling Major League Baseball for nearly five decades. 

“I enjoy what I’m doing because it’s exactly what I wanted to do when I was a kid,” said Staats, a 1970 East Alton-Wood River High School and 1975 Southern Illinois University Edwardsville graduate. “I really love the game. At the end of the day – how can you complain?” 

Nobody is complaining about Staats’ television and radio work in broadcasting. He anchors the Emmy Awards-winning Bally Sports telecast during his 48th season calling MLB games. He has served as the Tampa Bay Rays play-by-play broadcaster since their inception 26 years ago.

He has called more than 7,000 games, including nine no-hitters. Staats has also worked for the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees and ESPN, plus authored a book – “Position to Win” — in an extraordinary career. 

And now, the Clearwater. Fla., resident is a member of the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024. He was inducted into the SIUE Alumni Hall of Fame in 2006 and its Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.

“No question, this is special,” he said of the St. Louis enshrinement. “You never know how to feel about being honored, but I’ve been blessed. St. Louis is a big market and when I grew up, one of the things I wanted to shoot for was broadcasting baseball. “ He quipped, “Broadcasting seemed like the next best thing at the time and it turned out to be the best thing.” 

It proved to be a long way from George Street in East Alton to the Big Show, but Staats exhibited ample amounts of determination, dedication and perseverance to carve out a name for himself. 

“We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but discovered I loved listening to baseball on the radio with Harry Caray and Jack Buck in St. Louis. And I was able to listen to the Houston Colt .45s games, too. It was an exotic experience to listen to games that far away.”  

The Colts, an expansion team, joined the National League in 1962. By 1977, Staats would be broadcasting their games after they changed their names to the Astros in 1965. Before that, he worked at the SIUE radio station, WSIE-FM, WOKZ radio in Alton, Triple A-Oklahoma City, Okla. and KPLR-TV in St. Louis. 

“I tried to get as much experience as I could and absolutely my biggest break was getting an audition with the Astros. I had a connection with Astros announcer Gene Elston. He was a mentor to me.” 

Staats worked for Houston from 1977-84, then on to Chicago and the Cubs from 1985-89. New York was his next stop from 1990-94, a stint at ESPN and on to the Rays. “It’s hard to think how it could have been any better,” Staats said. 

In Chicago, he learned first-hand it was like to work with the legendary Caray. “He was Mr. Personality. He had an unmatched zest for the game,” Staats said. 

Staats cherishes wife, Carla, plus daughters, Stephanie and Alexandra, along with their three grandchildren. His first wife, Dee, died of cancer in 2005. “I’ve been married to two of the greatest women you can have,” Staats said.