Some careers are carefully mapped out. Others start because you needed gas.

In this episode of Your Dark Companion, Mike Rhyner and Grubes sit down with Matt Hicks, the longtime radio voice of the Texas Rangers, to trace a broadcasting journey that took more than two decades, dozens of towns, and one perfectly timed phone call to finally reach the major leagues.

Hicks walks through his path from a childhood spent reenacting games on a cassette recorder, to college radio at Maryland, to grinding it out for 23½ years in the minor leagues — often for little pay, fewer guarantees, and no clear finish line. Along the way, he explains how a chance encounter at a gas station launched his career, why hockey was actually his first love, and how baseball slowly became the thing that stuck.

The conversation turns emotional when Hicks revisits the Rangers’ 2023 World Series run, the discipline required to keep your voice steady in the biggest moments, and what it meant to share that call alongside Eric Nadel after everything the franchise — and its fans — had endured. There are also detours into Hollywood (yes, Major League 2), unforgettable meetings with Bob Uecker, and the quiet realization that sometimes the longest route is the only one that actually works.

It’s a reminder that broadcasting careers aren’t built overnight — they’re built by showing up, saying yes, and being ready when luck finally decides to notice you.

Chapters

00:00:00 – Welcome in and meeting Matt Hicks