Dewayne anchors Rays TV this year, his 51st season broadcasting major league baseball and 29th with the Rays. Dewayne has also handled play-by-play for FOX Sports national baseball coverage. He has broadcast more than 7,000 MLB games in his career, including 10 no-hitters. Before joining the Rays, he spent three years calling play-by-play for a variety of ESPN sports broadcasts. He began his major league play-by-play career on the radio and TV for the Astros from 1977-84, then for the Cubs from 1985-89. He was the lead play-by-play announcer for the Yankees from 1990-94, and spent the 1994-95 seasons calling the action for The Baseball Network (ABC/NBC). Dewayne began his baseball career as the radio voice of the Oklahoma City 89ers (1973-74). In 1975-76 he won an Emmy Award as the sports director at KPLR TV in St. Louis. Dewayne began his sports career with WSIE Radio before graduating from SIU-Edwardsville in 1975. He earned Distinguished Alumnus of the Year honors in 1987 and was inducted into its Alumni Hall of Fame in 2010. Dewayne was named a finalist for the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2019. He was named the 2013 Florida Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. In 2015, Dewayne authored Position to Win: A Look at Baseball and Life From the Best Seat in the House, which chronicles his life and career in sports broadcasting. In 2018, Dewayne was inducted into the Tampa Bay Sports Club Hall of Fame, and he received a Suncoast Sports Emmy Award in 2021. He and his wife, Carla, support a number of causes, including military combat veterans via their 501(c)(3) charity W.A.R. (Warriors at Rest). He has two daughters, Stephanie Wheeler and Alexandra, and three grandchildren: Gabriel, Zachary, and Evie.
Tampa Bay Rays Broadcasters
Television
Dewayne Staats

Brian Anderson

Brian enters his 18th season as the full-time television color analyst on Rays TV. Brian previously served on the major league staff as assistant to the pitching coach, working under Jim Hickey from March 2008 through the 2009 season. He also filled in as a broadcaster for Cleveland on Sports Time Ohio and hosted a weekly highlights show while recovering from injury in 2007. Brian spent 13 seasons pitching in the majors with the Angels, Cleveland, Royals and Diamondbacks, and was a member of the latter’s 2001 World Champion team. He was selected third overall by the Angels in the 1993 First-Year Player Draft and the following season was named the Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year. He was also selected by the Diamondbacks as their first pick in the 1997 Expansion Draft. Brian was inducted to the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame on September 30, 2015 and made his acceptance speech by phone during the Rays broadcast. He is a member of the inaugural class of the Summit League Conference Hall of Fame, as well as a member of the Wright State Hall of Fame, where he had his number 34 retired. He was most recently inducted into the Buffalo Bisons (Triple-A affiliate of Toronto Blue Jays) Hall of Fame in 2025. In 2021, he received a Suncoast Sports Emmy Award for his work on the Rays broadcast. He resides in Tampa. Brian has four children: Rylyn Mae, Jackson James, Harper Marie and Baker James.
Rich Hollenberg

Rich enters his 13th season covering the Rays on television with the Rays TV broadcast team. He is a four-time Emmy Award recipient, including in 2024 when he and his crew were recognized for their roles in the Rays Live pregame show. In 1995, he began his broadcasting career as a sports anchor with the ABC affiliate in Great Falls, Mont. From 1995-97, he served as the sports director with Time Warner Cable (now Spectrum Sports) in Clearwater, where he received a CableACE award for the best local sports program. Rich was also host of “H.S. Sports Extra” for WTVT FOX-13 from 1996-98, the in-arena voice for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Storm from 1999–2002 and a host for a variety of other regional programs. He spent a number of years as a national reporter for NFL Network as well. During the baseball offseason, Rich handles college basketball play-by-play duties on ESPN Networks. Rich earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University in 1993. A New Jersey native, Rich has called the Tampa Bay area home for 30 years. He and his wife, Jill, reside in St. Petersburg with their three children: Jason, Lindsey, and Bryan.
Ryan Bass

Ryan enters his fifth season with the Rays TV broadcast team, serving as the club’s in-game reporter and pre- and postgame host. A familiar presence in Tampa Bay sports for nearly a decade, he previously served as sports director and lead anchor at CBS affiliate WTSP-TV, and as a reporter, host, and play-by-play broadcaster with Bright House Sports Network, telling the stories of teams across the region.
In addition to his role with the Rays, Ryan is also a national correspondent for NewsNation, where he covers major stories spanning news, politics, weather, and sports. He also serves as the Media Director for Otter PR and freelances for CBS Sports HQ, the Tampa Bay Sports Commission and other major networks. Before returning to Tampa Bay in 2016, he hosted national programs for CBS Sports in Fort Lauderdale, anchoring popular shows including Fantasy Football Today and Daily Fantasy Live.
Originally from Miami, Ryan has strong ties to Tampa Bay — his father, Steve, attended St. Petersburg High School — and he is a proud UCF Knight, earning his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Central Florida.
Kendra Douglas

Kendra Douglas is a two-time Edward R. Murrow Award winner and team reporter and host for the Orlando Magic on FanDuel Sports Network. She also leads coverage through a podcast and pregame show across the team’s digital platforms and serves as a fill-in in-game reporter for the Tampa Bay Rays. In addition, Kendra has worked as a sideline reporter for ESPN’s college football coverage on the ACC Network. Previously, Kendra was the weekend sports anchor and reporter at WESH 2 News in Orlando, where she covered Tom Brady’s Super Bowl run with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Orlando Magic’s journey from the NBA bubble to Paolo Banchero’s Rookie of the Year season, and a wide range of Central Florida sports. Her reporting earned a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for a feature on former NFL player HaHa Clinton-Dix and his hometown of Eatonville. Before moving to Florida, Kendra was the weekday sports anchor at KSN News 3 in Wichita, Kansas, covering the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl season and award-winning high school football coverage. She began her career in Wilmington, North Carolina, reporting on high school athletics and UNC Wilmington’s NCAA basketball tournament run. In 2016, she worked as a flash quote reporter for the Olympic News Service at the Rio Olympic Games. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in Media and Journalism, Kendra has been recognized with an NABJ Sports Reporting Award and was honored by the Governor of Kansas in a 2025 proclamation recognizing women in sports broadcasting.
Doug Waechter

Doug begins his 12th season providing in-depth pitching analysis as a member of the Rays TV pre- and postgame shows. He is a four-time Emmy Award recipient, including in 2022 when he and his crew were recognized for their roles in the Rays Live pregame show. Doug is a St. Petersburg native and graduate of Northeast High School. Prior to being selected by the Devil Rays in the 1999 First-Year Player Draft, he had signed a letter of intent to play football at the University of South Florida. With his 2003 debut, he became the first St. Petersburg native to play for the Rays. He remains one of three Rays players born in St. Petersburg, along with Casey Kotchman and Ryan Weber. In his first major league start, on Sept. 3, 2003 at Tropicana Field, he pitched a 2-hit shutout against the Mariners. He spent 11 years in professional baseball, six of which came in the majors with the Devil Rays, Marlins and Royals. In 2004, he was presented a key to the city of St. Petersburg by Mayor Rick Baker. Doug resides in St. Petersburg with his wife, Kristin, and two children, Kaden and Karsyn.
Grant Balfour

A star reliever during the Rays run to the World Series in 2008, Grant returns in 2026 as an analyst on pregame and postgame coverage, his 2nd season with Rays TV. The Sydney, Australia, native came to the United States when he signed with the Twins organization in 1997, and he pitched 12 seasons in the big leagues for the Rays, Athletics, Twins and Brewers. Grant calls the 2007 trade that brought him to Tampa Bay “the greatest thing for my career.” He posted a career-best 1.54 ERA during the 2008 pennant season. After three years with the Rays, Grant spent three seasons in Oakland, pitching his way to the All-Star Game in 2013 and setting an A’s record by converting 44 consecutive saves. He finished his career with two more seasons in Tampa Bay and now lives in the area with his wife Katie and daughters Raegan and Rielyn.
Radio
Andy Freed

Andy returns to the booth for his 22nd season with the Rays Radio Network. From 2005-22, he shared play-by-play and analyst duties with then-broadcast partner Dave Wills, and the broadcast team was voted best in the American League in 2020 by subscribers of The Athletic. In 2023, he was inducted into the Sports Club of Tampa Bay Hall of Fame. He also joins the television broadcast as the Rays TV play-by-play announcer for a select number of games throughout the season. Andy joined the Rays after serving as the voice of the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox for four seasons. He was also the voice of the Double-A Trenton Thunder (Red Sox) for five seasons (1996–2000) and was inducted into the Trenton Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018. He began his play-by-play career with the Class-A St. Lucie Mets in 1994-95. His baseball radio career began as a broadcast assistant with the Orioles, conducting postgame interviews for home games during the 1990-93 seasons. His other play-by-play experience includes college basketball for ESPN Regional, Providence College (2003-05) and Rider University (1996–2001). He also broadcast for The College of New Jersey football and Baltimore Spirit soccer. Freed is a graduate of Towson (Md.) University, where he called basketball, football and lacrosse during his time at school. Andy was named 2015 Florida Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He enthusiastically works with the ALS Association. In addition to reciting Lou Gehrig’s famous speech at Tropicana Field every year on “ALS Night,” he emcees various local events, including their annual “Ride to Defeat ALS.” He and his wife, Amy, reside in Bradenton, Fla. with their daughter Sarah, twins Casey and Maddie, and rescue dog, Charlie.
Neil Solondz

Neil begins his 15th season on the Rays Baseball Network and fourth as play-by-play broadcaster. The previous 11 seasons, Neil hosted the pre- and postgame shows, This Week in Rays Baseball, other team podcasts and was fill-in play-by-play voice. In 2021, he was awarded the Rays Joyce Smith Community Spirit Award, which annually recognizes one employee who makes significant societal contributions beyond their professional responsibilities. Before joining Tampa Bay, Neil was the radio voice of Triple-A Durham from 2004-11 and filled in on the Rays pre- and postgame show from 2010-11. With Durham, he broadcast the Triple-A All-Star Game and Triple-A National Championship Game to a nationwide audience. Before the Bulls, he broadcast for Class-A Lakewood (Phillies) and Class-A Quad City (Twins). He was part of the TV broadcast for the Olympic baseball qualifier Premier12 in South Korea in 2019, and he has done other freelance work for regional and college TV and radio networks. Neil graduated from Rutgers University, and in January was named to the school radio station’s (WRSU) Hall of Fame. He and his wife, Sari, reside in Palm Harbor with their daughters, Emily, who’s now at Florida State, and Abby, a high school senior.
Chris Adams-Wall

Chris begins his fourth season with the Rays Radio Network after joining the booth in June 2023 as the Rays Radio pre- and postgame show host, as well as the host of The Week in Rays Baseball and the Tampa Bay Rays podcast. He also serves as a play-by-play fill-in for select games during the season. Chris joined the major league staff after spending just over seven seasons as the voice of the Montgomery Biscuits, the Rays Double-A affiliate. In addition to his work with the Biscuits, he previously served as a sports anchor and reporter for the Alabama News Network, a play-by-play broadcaster for the Northeast Sports Network and Alabama State football, a writer for ESPN and a production assistant for FOX Sports’ NFL and college football broadcasts. Chris graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Me. with a bachelor’s degree in English/Spanish. He resides in Pinellas Park, Fla.
Spanish Radio
Enrique Oliu

Enrique returns for his 29th season as color analyst on the Rays Spanish broadcast. He received the Alexis Arguello Award, given to the top sports figures in Nicaragua, and the Nicaraguan Sportswriters Association Award for his accomplishments in the world of sports during the 2016 season. In February 2009, Enrique was inducted into the Florida College Sports Hall of Fame for his impact on the college and in life. He is the subject of the award-winning 2009 documentary Henry O!, filmed by Boston-based Rosemont Productions during the 2007 season. Born in Nicaragua, Enrique came to the United States at age 10 and attended the St. Augustine School for the Blind. He called his first professional action in 1989 for the Jacksonville Expos, and then served as color commentator for the St. Petersburg Pelicans of the Senior Professional Baseball League. Prior to that, he was the public address announcer for seven years for Florida College baseball in Tampa. He also appeared as a regular contributor on Solamente Pelota (“Only Baseball”) on SiriusXM, hosted his own show on WQBN 1300 AM and has been a guest analyst on USF Spanish broadcasts and on baseball broadcasts and talk shows in Managua, Nicaragua. He has also called action for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League (2003-05) and served as the Spanish voice for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002-03. Enrique earned a communications degree from the University of South Florida. He delivered the keynote address at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind’s 100th commencement in May 2014. His wife, Debbie, closely assists him on the broadcasts. The two reside in St. Petersburg.
Ricardo Taveras

Ricardo begins his 25th season calling play-by-play on the Rays Spanish broadcast. Taveras has more than three decades of radio experience. He has also worked locally as a sportscaster for Mira TV Tampa. Ricardo began as a sports commentator in the Dominican Republic and was program director for HIVG 870 AM and HIVP 970 AM from 1990-92. He also served as assistant program director for WRIV in Providence, R.I. for three years and as a sales executive for Telemundo Tampa from 2011-13.