Washington Nationals Broadcasters

2024 marks Charlie Slowes’ 20^th season behind a Nationals’ play-by-play microphone. Having called the first pitch in club history through Daniel Hudson’s historic strikeout to secure the club’s 2019 World Championship, Slowes has called some of the biggest moments in Nationals history. Slowes became the original voice of the Nationals on February 24, 2005, in time for the team’s inaugural Spring Training. His trademark taglines— “BANG, ZOOM go the fireworks!” and “A Curly W is in the books!”—after Nationals victories soon became part of the Beltway baseball lexicon. Joined by long-time partner Jageler in 2006, Slowes is calling his 27th consecutive year of Major League Baseball, and 32nd overall.

When baseball returned to Washington, DC in 2005, so did Slowes, after seven seasons as an original voice of the Tampa Bay Rays. Slowes’ first came to the Nation’s Capital in 1986, beginning an 11-year stint as the radio voice of the NBA’s Washington Bullets. Slowes had previously called baseball for the New York Mets (1988 & 1991) on WFAN-AM, the Baltimore Orioles (1989-90) on WBAL-AM, and nationally for NBC-TV and CBS Radio. Slowes also called Triple-A baseball for the Tidewater Tides on radio and TV in 1986, 1988, 1991 and 1992. Slowes is among the many (starting with legendary Ford Frick Award-winner Vin Scully) to enter sports broadcasting after graduating from Fordham University in his native New York City and honed his skills on the airwaves of Fordham’s 50,000-watt blowtorch, WFUV 90.7 FM. Not long after graduation, Slowes moved to St. Louis and KMOX Radio, where for three years he was exposed to Hall of Fame broadcasters, the late Jack Buck and Bob Costas. Slowes was involved in broadcasts of Cardinals baseball, Cardinals football, Blues hockey and play-by-play for St. Louis University basketball. He has also called boxing for ESPN, MISL soccer for the New York Arrows (1983), college basketball for the University of South Florida and has been a correspondent for MLB Network. Slowes called play-by-play for his third Washington pro sports team when he filled in for John Walton on Washington Capitals radio during the Caps run to their first Stanley Cup Championship in February of 2018. Charlie and his wife, Tina, have two adult sons, Jim and Alex, with homes in Alexandria, Va. and Palm Harbor, FL.

Dave Jageler enters his 19th season with the Nationals, teaming with Charlie Slowes since 2006 to form the longest-running radio play-by-play duo in the district. Jageler has been at the mic for the Nationals’ historic run to the 2019 World Series championship, plus four NL East championships, three no-hitters and Max Scherzer’s MLB record-tying 20-strikeout performance. In addition to his work with the Nationals, Jageler calls select MLB games on ESPN Radio. In 2020 and 2023, he was honored by the National Sports Media Association as Washington D.C.’s Sportscaster of the year. Jageler joined the Nationals after spending the 2005 campaign as the radio and TV voice of the Pawtucket Red Sox of the Triple-A International League. Prior to joining Pawtucket, he worked in Boston co-hosting an afternoon talk show and serving in various capacities with the Boston Celtics radio network, including fill-in play-by-play. Jageler spent six years in Charlotte, N.C. as the voice of UNC-Charlotte basketball and co-hosting a morning drive talk show. While in Charlotte, he built his baseball resume with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights in the 1995, 1996 and 2001 seasons doing play-by-play. Jageler’s voice was also heard in D.C., as he served as a host on the Virginia Tech Sports Network during the 1993-94 basketball season. He has also served as the studio host for Westwood One’s NHL Game of the Week, the Florida State and Texas Longhorns football networks, and has done fill-in play-by-play for both the Seminoles and Longhorns. The Windsor, Conn. native is a graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, where he began his play-by-play career broadcasting Syracuse football and basketball games on WAER, and baseball for the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs on Time Warner Cable and the Empire Sports Network. Dave and his wife, Jennifer, have two children: Jared (24) and Sarah (20).

Bob Carpenter is in his 19th season with MASN and the Nationals, and his 41st in Major League Baseball. After earning a Radio-TV-Film degree with honors from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1975, Carpenter began his broadcasting career in 1976 on radio baseball play-by-play with the Tulsa Oilers. Carpenter came to Washington in 2006 after 10 years on TV and radio with the St. Louis Cardinals and 16 seasons of MLB on ESPN. During the spring of 2017, Carpenter retired from calling college basketball games after 40 years, the last 15 with the University of Oklahoma, and many with ESPN and USA Network. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in March 2017. A St. Louis native, Carpenter’s MLB debut came in 1984 with Cardinals baseball on Sportstime Cable Network, and he returned in 1995 on KPLR-TV and KMOX Radio. Carpenter was nominated for four St. Louis/Mid-America Emmys, winning twice (1996 and 1997), and a National Capital/Chesapeake Bay Emmy in 2008 for his Nationals’ play-by-play. Carpenter was also named co-D.C. Sportscaster of the Year in 2014 by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. 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 MLB Expansion Drafts. Carpenter has broadcast baseball playoffs, five Triple-A All-Star Games, NCAA/NIT Basketball Tournaments and college football bowl games. His studio work includes “College Gameday” and “College Football Scoreboard” shows. Carpenter announced the 2005 NCAA Basketball Final Four in his hometown of St. Louis for NCAA International TV, one of the seven NCAA tournaments he has called. Before joining ESPN, Carpenter handled a variety of sports for USA Network, including professional soccer, college basketball and football, PGA Golf (including The Masters) and professional tennis (including the U.S. Open). Carpenter announced numerous soccer matches at RFK Stadium, starting as the TV voice of U.S. Soccer Team America in 1983, and worked several matches in D.C. during the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Bob and his wife of 44 years, Debbie, have two daughters, a son-in-law and two grandsons: Katie, Allison and Ryan, James, and Ben.

Pete Medhurst returns for his fifth year on the Nationals Radio Network. Medhurst is the lead play-by-play voice for the Naval Academy Radio Network and has been calling Navy games now in his 26th season. Medhurst was previously the longtime morning sports anchor for the Nationals Flagship station 106.7 The Fan. Medhurst has called multiple NCAA Baseball Regionals that Navy has participated in and calls college lacrosse on the Big Ten Network and Next Level Sports. The Harwood, Maryland native is a graduate of Southern High and resides in Churchton, Maryland with his Wife Brenda and Daughter Kelly (15). The couple has two sons, Ryan a college basketball coach and Cody a project manager for a local engineering firm.

Craig Heist graduated from Salisbury University in 1983. He began his broadcasting career at WKHI in Ocean City, Maryland, covering local college and high school sports including play-by-play and color for Salisbury football. Over the past 30 years, he has covered Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA, NHL and college basketball for several national networks including ESPN Radio, Sirius NFL Network, SBNation, CBS Sports Radio, AP and Metro Networks. Craig has appeared on MASN as a guest panelist and occasional host of Nats Talk. He worked for WTOP for 14 years before moving to 106.7 The Fan in October of 2013. He is a three-time winner of the Maryland Sportscaster of the Year, voted on by his peers.