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Tonight we talk to a changemaker who makes our community a better place.

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From Los Angeles.

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With Angela Williamson, an innovation, Arts, education and public affairs program.

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And now your host, doctor Angela Williamson.

It is our honor to interview Hymie Herring.

Hymie, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you very much indeed.

I am very, very pleased to be here.

Thank you for the invitation.

I appreciate that very much.

It is indeed our honor.

I mean, you are an institution here and now that you're retired, we definitely had to get you on the show.

So thank you so much.

That's fine.

Thank you for the invitation.

Oh, absolutely.

You know what was really interesting to me was that before you started announcing for the Dodgers, you did not know anything about baseball.

Nothing about baseball, nothing about sports.

Because I was a newsman rated newsman the first.

My first job in radio was when I was 16 years old, in 1951.

Back home in Quito, Ecuador.

And, since that day, I have been on radio for almost 71 years in a role without stopping.

So.

But first, I was a newsman.

I was very fortunate to be working with a commercial radio station, like.

Like this channel in Ecuador.

No commercials, no nothing.

Just the news and the special events.

So I started when I was 15 years old, and little by little, I went up, up, up, up.

Then I was for three years as the official announcer for the Senate of the National Congress of Ecuador.

I was only 17 years old in.

And, then I decided to come here in 1955 because I was the announcer of the number one program on Archie's age, Cjb the voice of the Andes.

And, it was a program on Saturday nights, not Sunday.

I'm sorry.

Sunday nights with would life audience.

And the American Council used to come to watch the program almost every week.

So we became friends on one day, having suffered have serious health healing, I told him I would like to go to the United States, and he thought that he was trying to come as a tourist on vacation.

Oh no problem.

On the visa for 30 days, six months a year.

What?

What do you want?

I said, no, no, no, no, I want to go there as an immigrant, as a resident of the United States.

And he told me, come and see me, Monday or Tuesday.

So I went to the American embassy in Quito on Tuesday, and he said, are you sure that you want to live?

So he is.

And I knew three visas because my wife, I was already married and my son was just a few few weeks old.

So I said I need free visas.

I said, no problem.

In 24 hours I have those three visas.

And I was ready to come to the United States 1955.

So.

Oh, so you're coming to the United States in 1955 with your wife and young son.

Now there you stay there because it was because I came with without any, any job promises, nothing like that.

So it was very difficult to come, all of us, at the same time.

They said, let me go first and they will bring you a book.

So I came in June and my family, George and my wife Blanca, join me in December of 55.

How did you decide to come to California?

Because I was going to go to New York also.

I was interested in getting my my commercial pilot's license.

So I when I was going to go to the Border School over and out because in new Jersey.

But then I start thinking, well, I should I go to the aviation or should I go to radio?

So I said, no, I should continue on radio.

Then I was reading, I was thinking of going to Chicago, so by then there I was reading that the Southern California, has a great growing number of Spanish speaking people.

So I said, that's the place where I should go.

And I came to Los Angeles.

And I'm so glad you did, because we would not want you in Chicago doing broadcast for them for over 60 years.

And so you but you came out here, so you left your son, your young son and your wife back home.

And you came out here, you say to California, did you just walk into a radio station and say, I'm here, hire me?

How did you do that?

Yes, there was only one Spanish speaking radio station in those days.

Only KW.

so I came and right away, they were in Pasadena, so I had to ask my friends to take me there because they didn't have a car.

Yes.

So they took me there and I applied for a job.

There was no openings there.

So, but they said, no, I have to work.

They have to work on radio.

So I started going back there to going back there, going back there until finally in December 1955, they can me my first job a few hours on a weekend on KW, kW.

And that's just how you start out.

You start out on the weekends now.

Did you have a good time or did you have to do overnights?

it was very tough at the beginning.

Yes, because they told me that I was too young to be a newscaster.

They said no, we need somebody, you know, older than you.

And there was no shortages.

Excuses.

I think of the beginning.

Then they said, no, you you have to learn more English.

Because even though this state, this station is a Spanish speaking radio station, but you have to talk English to, to deal with it with the sales people and with the management.

So I went to, to to school to learn English, come to the school here in downtown Los Angeles.

So I went there in the morning and they were working in the factory in the afternoon.

So that's when finally they gave me the chance in December of 55.

Wow.

And I mean, it was you were there very long before you went to the Dodgers, right?

No, no, no, I you stay there.

Yeah.

I was able to combine that because in like yes.

By 1958 when the Dodgers came to the West Coast.

Yes.

He was already the news on the sports director of GW.

You know, then I got the job without applying for the job, I never look for the job.

The thing is that the station got the rights to the the games and the Spanish.

And Mr. William Beeton, who was the general manager and owner of KW, kW one, they called all the announcers to his office to give us a great news about signing the Dodgers.

And I said, I need two announcers.

And he said, hey, they want you to be one of the two announcers.

And I wasn't ready.

And I told Mr. Whitten, thank you.

Thank you very much.

I was doing boxing from the Olympic Auditorium then, but, I said, I'm sorry, I don't I know something about baseball now because I was going for three years on weekends to watch the game, inspired by the 2888 teams that we have here.

Yes, the Hollywood the Stars.

And then in Los Angeles Angels, they used to play on the Gilmore field.

I know they really field in South Central Los Angeles, so I was going there on weekends just because I wanted to learn about this new, new sport to me, because I grew up with soccer in South America.

So I so grasping about baseball.

So three years later, did I just come to New West and the station asked me to be one of the two, and I said, thank you, but I am not ready to be in front of my microphone relaying what's going on on the baseball field.

So Mr. Beachum, like me very much, I was 22, 23 years old.

You're the hammer.

You have a great future in baseball.

I'm going to give you one year.

Prepare yourself and I want you there.

So that first year of 58, I was listening to every broadcast television that help me because, in those days, they televise only one game a week, Saturday night.

That's it.

And so I had to read a lot newspapers for many series, the series that I used to travel and magazines and everything.

We didn't have the the what we have now, all the, the technology.

Where you just go to put it.

In your, team, the internet, you know, so it was difficult.

But, by the following year, 1959, means to be ready and said, okay, I am ready.

So that's how you started, Mr. Cardinals, who was the number one guy that was going to.

So I was with him there until he left in 1962.

He moved to Houston, and he stayed there as a second in the booth because he recommended, no, they were play by play announcer from Nicaragua, Jose Garcia.

So he was with him, but he suddenly passed away.

And in the winter of 1972, and then I became the number one in the booth.

And we had another person to to work with me.

Well, you know, it's so interesting that you tell me this story because we talk about there's no technology.

And in the second segment, you are actually going to answer some questions for some journalism students at our local community college.

But what I love is that it's almost as if you had to do like your own high self-education of baseball, and you only had 12 months.

Now, they weren't playing 12 months.

No, on a six months.

So you really had to do this in six months?

Yes, yes.

Did you lose any confidence or you just said, I just have to do it?

So, I have been very positive all my life.

And I said, no, this is what I wanted to do.

but I thought that at the beginning that, I will stay with the Dodgers probably five, six years of nothing more than a move to something else.

You.

Spanish television was just coming up.

Channel 52.

I mean, Shannon, 34, came on in 19 1962, so I thought that television would be my next step.

Yes, eventually.

I worked on television for Telemundo for eight years.

I was the sports director of channel 52, The Raimundo.

But to be honest with you, I didn't like television.

I have always been Radio Man because in television you have so many, so many problems inside because of the time.

I used to be on the big news at 6 p.m. doing this in the sports segment, and they will give me 2.5 minutes for for sports.

Something will happen to come mean you have only one minute and a half.

I have only one minute.

I said, what are you doing?

One minute given this course will take me more than one minute.

So that's why you didn't like.

I didn't enjoy television much.

But you stay with the Dodgers.

And on radio.

I have always been a radio person.

Well, and also too, with radio, you can let your audience know they fill your personality.

And it's almost as if you're talking to a mass audience.

It's almost as if you're talking one.

Yes, yes, that's the that's the beauty of of radio and radio.

You project your personality in radio, you are there and you have the chance to to to describe everything that is going around you.

Television.

You have to follow the director and the these and without them, no radio is fabulous, right?

Radio is magnificent.

I have always thought that I was like I was dealing with only you, with only one person.

So I tried to communicate like I am doing now to you.

But at the same time, I had in my mind the fact that millions of people were listening to me, probably.

So I had to be very careful because the microphone is a very, very special, thing.

It is, it is.

It almost becomes almost like your whatever hand you write with, but it becomes that hand.

I mean, it's that hand that allows you to broadcast yourself and give yourself to people and so.

Well, can you believe it?

We're almost done with this segment.

When we come back, I would love for you to answer some questions for some aspiring broadcast journalist.

That is immediately when they heard I was interviewing you, I had attention in the classroom immediately.

So I know they are going to love to hear.

It will be my pleasure.

Thank you so much for hanging right there.

Oh, right.

That and come back as we continue our conversation with Hymie.

Kareen.

Welcome back.

We have questions from Rio Hondo Community College.

Journalism students for me.

I know you're in retirement, but we want you to be a little bit of an educator for a few minutes.

Do you mind?

No, no, no, please go ahead.

So this comes from a journalism student and, journalism class 2020. he is Noah Segovia.

And he says, because it's interesting, because in the beginning he said, oh, I thought I worked for the Dodgers for five years and be done.

But he says in his question, and your 60 plus seasons with the legendary Los Angeles Dodgers franchise, who was the most influential person in broadcasting at that time for you?

Very easy to answer that question.

It was Mr. Vin Scully.

He was my mentor.

He was my teacher.

He was my friend.

He was everything to me.

I think he was the architect of my of my profession.

I owe him so much.

He was the number one person that, that, was behind me all the way.

he would just have to take a moment there, because that says a lot.

This is a lot about who he was as a man.

But this is a lot about the relationship the two of you had.

I think I was the person that spent more time with him than anybody else because, they just stadium.

We always had dinner together, on the road, always together.

He would call me to my room in the city and they would say, hey, man, please be ready.

Meet you in the lobby of the hotel at 7:00.

We are going out for dinner.

That was.

He was unbelievable.

Yeah, well, Noah has another question, but actually, Lorenzo has one that's similar and it's more in depth.

So let's go with Lorenzo Gaytan.

he says, what advice would you give to someone who wants to broadcast not only in English but in Spanish as well?

Well, first of all, I think a person has to be really, really believing in what he wants to be.

You have to really choose exactly who are you want to be.

Because I have seen so many, so many people that hate what they do.

And that must be miserable.

In my case, probably my longevity is because I love what I do.

So first of all, you have to choose really what you want to be.

You want to be a doctor.

Do you want to be a lawyer?

You want to be a carpenter.

You want to be, whatever.

What is a radar that should be sure that you want to be that.

Then you have to sacrifice yourself and put 110% of your efforts into that.

Well, you gave that example of how you had to do that in learning.

You know, the baseball.

I mean, now, you probably can talk about it backwards in four years, but for that six months, you had to immerse yourself in learning something new.

Regarding the second part of the.

Equation, yes.

I am a champion of the bilingualism.

Yes, I think everybody should be bilingual.

When I used to go to Montreal, I was in Haven because in Montreal, to me look like everybody's spoke French and English.

Unbelievable, unbelievable.

So I think it is an asset to speak to.

If you going to speak three languages, much, much better.

Yes.

The State Department will have you a job for you, right?

Yes, I know so.

And also this this country needs bilingual people because, if you are bilingual, you, you have, a second personality inside you and you can really help and you can really do.

Well, I, I talk about the experience because my English, should be perfect because I have been in this country so many years.

But you have to isolate for your language if you want to learn another language.

But in my case, I also speak in Spanish all day long at work.

When I got home, I spoke with my wife, also in Spanish, because I wanted my children to be bilingual and thank God they are and been bilingual has been really very good to them.

They have got good jobs, better pay and everything.

So if you can become bilingual, also in in baseball, yes.

nowadays more and more organizations are realizing how important the Latino community is, how important the Latino, is for baseball.

The Dodgers has been number one in many, many, many regards in regard to baseball.

And they have opened the doors to some other organizations.

We have been very successful creating new baseball fans, because I remember when I you studied with the Dodgers, the Latinos coming through the revolution, they didn't fit in the 50s and early 60s was a 10%.

Now that you see 46% Latinos coming.

So the Latino fan base for the Dodgers is tremendous.

those organizations, finally, they are open the eyes.

Yeah, yeah.

They, in Missouri, for instance, the Cardinals started to try and broadcasting in Spanish with a good friend of mine, Paulo Asensio, and they have been very successful.

And some of the organizations are realizing that if they want to increase the, the, the attendance to the ballparks, they have to appeal to Latinos, because Latinos are very, very sports minded people.

Well, and you're saying something that's really interesting to me because you've had this career for over 60 plus years, and there are still some organizations that haven't learned the value of expanding community by broadcasting games in different languages.

And that that's just now happening.

Is it across the board or is it do we have broadcast, bilingual broadcast?

all of our in baseball, right.

Oh no no no.

No, we still don't.

Live stream any organization that don't have, the Spanish coverage of the games.

I can tell you some Francisco, Oakland, the Dodgers, the intruders, the Padres, Diamondbacks, Houston Marlins, and now San Luis.

They have dual coverage.

The others don't.

Don't have it.

Into what you have just done right now by telling us this, is that you have told these journalism students that, want to go into sports broadcasting, definitely strengthen your bilingual communication also because there's openings there.

Yes.

Also, if you're bilingual, you can really do a better job because times will come on.

You will have to to interview somebody in Spanish or somebody in English.

If you can do that, it's fantastic.

It's fantastic.

Your, your your radius of action will expand it a lot.

Fantastic answer.

I'm a little bit disheartened to hear that we don't have a bilingual broadcast for the angels, but you think you're right down the street.

They do, they do?

Yeah.

Good.

But, they they do a very poor job.

Of course, because the Dodgers had the best.

And you're retired now, so they don't just have to figure it out.

last question.

This is from Robert humanness.

He says what type of obstacles did you face when coming up as an announcer?

We talked about the obstacle of learning baseball.

But you really you took that and you honed in on that.

Any other obstacles?

The obstacles?

are there, unfortunately, many organizations probably did.

They don't believe in in our, in our culture.

And, and, it is it is difficult to to get them know that we are equals to the to the, to the Anglos.

So with the Dodgers having great in that regard, they have treated me with respect.

everyone.

And if Scully was here, I had to be next to him.

There was no division.

There was no second class, first class, nothing like that.

In some organizations, it's difficult.

one case.

Yes.

one time I went to do the the games from Minnesota, and one time I got there for the first time, Minnesota and my union and said, hey, you, you wouldn't like the place where we are going to be.

I said, well, I went to a we can't complain.

Oh no, no, no.

So they're willing to be in right field behind the fence about 20ft.

Then I couldn't see the right fielder.

I couldn't see the center fielder.

And and they said, oh, it's only Spanish.

That hit me.

They said, it's only Spanish.

So I went through the proper channel, so I didn't complain directly to them.

I complained to the players.

I complained with them.

who was the president of the Dodgers?

Well, he was the president.

I just so I called him.

Yes.

And said they are treating us very lovely.

Hit him sir, do something because I can't accept this.

So he called him immediately the GM came to me, said Mr. Harrison, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I will give you my box.

But I have some guests tonight, so no, probably then the owner came and said, Mr. Harrison, I'm sorry, I don't know what happened here, but now you can use my box.

I said, thank you very much, but we are ready.

I'll be there.

I will difficult to move it, but tomorrow I will be in your box.

So the next day it was not so I called.

I called Jose Mota from the insurance and a lot of the hotel from the budget said, what are you?

When you were there I said, oh, they put us in right field, it's off.

And I said, you haven't complained.

They said, there's nothing we can do because I said, don't do it.

They said, no, no, no.

They're young professionals because we are not Hall of Famers like you.

What they say.

So that's that's reflects the feeling among many organizations that they think, oh, it's only Spanish.

It's only Spanish.

That's I will never accept that.

And I have been trying to fight that and helping organizations.

I have, have meetings with some of the organizations, tell them how to because they asked me, how do you do with the Dodgers?

I explained to them, it's very simple.

You just one do it.

Just do it.

now, I hired a couple of months to sell the Spanish radio, then choose the dancers and everything and go from there.

So let's talk about your foundation.

Tell me about that and how our community can help it.

Because you send you help.

Students who want to go to the CSU, you see in private schools here.

Well, I was married for 65 years to my wife, Blanca, and she passed away almost four years ago now.

She passed away February 28th.

1919 introduction.

19.

So I guess Mario 65.

Suddenly she passed away because of a heart attack while we were in Arizona.

Spring training.

And she was the the most generous person that I can remember.

So my two sons, Georgia and Mauricio, got together and they said, we have to perpetuate the memory of our mother.

Blanca said, yes, please, please do whatever you you want to do, I will behind you.

So they decided to to to form a foundation with the name of Blanca and how you make a rain foundation because we wanted to have many, many, many young kids that, like to pursue their education, to reach universities.

And it's so expensive nowadays.

So we, we are trying to help them.

So we formed a foundation and and lots of and so this, organization that we, we represent as a spokesperson for myself, they were behind us immediately.

They were they gave you the first money, $30,000 to to form the the foundation and.

Well, and you have a wonderful legacy.

It's actually very generational because young people look up to you.

Older people look up to you and it crosses it crosses color barriers too.

We we love you.

So thank you to you, the audience there of my son.

You probably will.

You will be in touch with you.

Requiring some help will be he.

That's okay.

He will be 100% working for the for the foundation.

And really on the key.

He has a great personality.

He he likes people.

And, I know that the foundation is in good hands with him.

I am I will be just helping him and my younger son Mauricio, so will be behind all the health so that we will take it well.

So you really not retired?

No no no no no, I will be retiring from the microphone.

I told the Dodgers when they offered me, they they offering me a lifetime contract.

So I told them fine, I will do anything you want me to do except microphone.

I said no more microphone when I do my, my last game, that would be my last game.

I want it to be like the boxers who retired and come back, retire and come back.

No, no, no, I want to do anything with the community.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be in charge, in touch with the community.

But, that's it.

No more microphone.

That's a perfect way to end our conversation.

You are definitely our change maker, along with your sons and what you're doing with the foundation.

And you have our support 100%.

Thank you.

Angela.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I have enjoyed very much this conversation with you.

So have I.

So have I, and thank you for joining us on everybody with Angela Williamson.

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