Longtime baseball play-by-play voice, ESPN alum, announces retirement

Bob Carpenter, the television voice of the Washington Nationals for 19 of the team's 20 seasons, announced his retirement Monday, effective at the end of the season.

“I've got a new deal working for next year as a full-time husband, dad and grandpa,” he said, via MASN. “My objective is to, all season long, thank you Nats fans for the way you've been to my wife, Debbie, and I and our family over these 19 years previously. Let's make No. 20 a lot of fun.”

Carpenter, 72, will be working his 42nd season in MLB this year. He came to Washington in 2006 after 10 years on TV and radio with the St. Louis Cardinals and 16 seasons of MLB on ESPN.

The St. Louis native is a two-time St. Louis /Mid-America Emmy winner (1996, 1997) and won another regional emmy in 2008 for his work on MASN, the Nationals' regional sports network.

Carpenter appeared on TV in the 1980s and 1990s, calling MLB games with the Rangers, Mets and Twins. He announced MLB, college basketball, and college football during 18 seasons of play-by-play with ESPN from 1988-2005, and, as a reporter, was in Denver and Phoenix for two major league Expansion Drafts.

Carpenter has worked a reduced schedule in recent years, with Dan Kolko sometimes stepping in alongside Kevin Frandsen on the Nationals' broadcasts.

According to MASN, that arrangement will continue this year before Carpenter steps down as the lead play-by-play announcer, though he hopes to continue a relationship with the organization in 2026 and beyond.

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