The Colorado Rockies are not in a good place as a franchise at the moment.
The Rockies lost 119 games last season, tied for the third most in modern MLB history. They haven’t had a winning season since 2018. And now they find themselves without a one of their longtime radio voices as their flagship station is getting caught in a national wave of layoffs to hit the radio industry.
On Tuesday, the Denver Post reported that Rockies radio announcer Jerry Schemmel was caught up in layoffs by iHeartMedia. The media conglomerate has been in the midst of layoffs across the country in different markets and categories, including sports.
However, it’s an especially tough blow for Schimmel and the Rockies because it’s the second time the veteran announcer has been a part of iHeart layoffs in the last five years. In January 2020, he was cut by the company in a separate round of layoffs after calling Colorado Rockies games on the radio for ten years. He was then re-hired just two years later for the 2022 season. In addition to his work with the Rockies, Schemmel also called Denver Nuggets games on the radio for 18 years.
And in a comment given to the Denver Post, Schemmel remarked that his salary was only one-quarter of what it was the first time he was laid off.
“I wasn’t completely shocked by the phone call, as I knew other layoffs were happening in Denver,” the 65-year-old Schemmel told the Post. “But a little surprised because I was making only 25% of the salary I was making when they let me go the first time.”
He also commented on how he saw the move as “unfair.”
“It seems incredibly unfair,” he said. “I gave my heart and soul to those broadcasts and felt like I was completely prepared every night, and hopefully sounded OK.
“But I know life is unfair. It’s unfair for the others who got laid off, both in Denver and across the country. Like I tell people in my motivational speaking, ‘When you get knocked down, you gotta get back up.’ Which I will do.”
At the moment, flagship station KOA in Denver has not announced a plan to replace Schemmel, if they choose to do so at all. He has been partners in the Colorado Rockies radio broadcast booth with Jack Corrigan, who has called games with the team for 23 years.
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