Rays Radio Man a Former Falcon

For the first time in the team’s history, people are talking about the Tampa Bay Rays…with enthusiasm. The heretofore perennial losers are now playing in the World Series, and the buzz has infiltrated the Florida College campus, where athletic director Kenny Moorer ’78 sends out excited emails announcing victories and several students are sporting the official team haircut, the “rayhawk.”

But there is one man who was talking about the Rays long before they hit their stride. Enrique “Henry” Oliu is the color commentator at every game on the Spanish AM radio station Genesis 680. What few people know is that he got his start calling games at Florida College.

He’s also blind.

Oliu was born in Nicaragua and grew up in Florida. He attended the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine (the same school where singer Ray Charles went). When his uncle suggested that he attend a little college in Temple Terrace, he resisted. His parents urged him to give Florida College a chance, thinking a small school would help prepare him for a larger university.

Oliu attended Florida College from 1981 to 1984, and it was at FC that he found his faith. He especially credits Dr. Phil Roberts ’67 for being a spiritual mentor, but considers the friendships forged with fellow students and other staff and faculty members to have laid the foundation of his Christianity.

After FC, Oliu went to USF where he received his bachelor’s in communications.

Now—in addition to calling Rays games—he works for the public defender’s office, delivers motivational speeches, raises funds for different charitable organizations, and fights blindness.

“What am I not doing?” he joked.

Oliu has also called games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tampa Bay Storm. “I tried to do hockey,” he said, “but it was too much.”

He began his work with the Rays in 1998, but his first role as commentator was at Florida College.

“I wanted to be a computer whiz going into college,” Oliu admitted, but his parents told him he did not fit the mold. Oliu loved baseball since childhood, and calling games was one of his dreams. “My parents always said, ‘If you want to do it, and you have a plan, we’ll help you,’” he remembers.

When he got to FC, baseball coach Dave Scott asked him to be the public address announcer. “And that’s where it all started,” Oliu said. “I figured I could really do this; I could really go for it.”

On being swept up in the World Series fever, Oliu said, “It’s great. It’s crazy.” He has been to several Series games as a fan, but it is a completely different experience to be a part of it himself. “Everyone wants a piece of you,” he said. “It becomes a little intense, a little much. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”