Michael Araujo Gives the Angels’ PA Booth a Voice of His Own
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Latino players now make up roughly 30 percent of Major League Baseball, but Latino representation in stadium public address booths remains far lower. Across the league’s 30 stadiums, only about 10 percent of public address announcers are Latino. Michael Araujo, the 54-year-old voice of the Los Angeles Angels, is one of only three Latino PA announcers in the majors, alongside Marysol Castro of the New York Mets and Frank Fernandez of the Miami Marlins.
As the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season draws to a close, Araujo is completing his 14th season in Anaheim. He surpassed 1,000 games announced for the Angels last month, during a difficult season for a franchise facing the prospect of its first 100-loss year. Angels director of entertainment and production Davin Maske has praised Araujo’s consistency and preparation, noting that he has maintained an exceptionally clean record and avoided the high-profile on-air mistakes that often draw scrutiny to public address announcers.
Araujo’s connection to the team began long before he took its microphone. A former Angels season-ticket holder who grew up attending games at the stadium, he considers calling games for his childhood team a professional highlight. During Hispanic Heritage Month, his position carries additional significance.
Raised in a middle-class household in La Verne, California, Araujo grew up hearing his parents speak Spanish at home. His father worked as a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, while his mother was a registered nurse. When he is not behind the microphone in Anaheim, Araujo works full-time as a teacher at an alternative-education high school in La Puente, California, where he hopes his high-profile sports career shows his students what is possible.
His route into sports announcing began outside baseball. In 1996, during Major League Soccer’s inaugural season, Araujo joined the Los Angeles Galaxy in various game-day support roles. He eventually became an assistant game-day producer at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where the Galaxy played before relocating to Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson.
The microphone became Araujo’s responsibility in 2002, after the Galaxy’s regular announcer, Victor Villalba, left in mid-season to join the Spanish-language radio broadcast team for the Dallas Cowboys. Araujo was asked to fill the vacancy, and the temporary assignment became permanent. The 2026 MLS season marks his 25th year with the Galaxy.
His soccer portfolio later expanded beyond domestic league play. Araujo has voiced matches for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the Copa América, eight FIFA World Cup games, and the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup final.
The Angels opportunity followed the sudden death of David Courtney in November 2012. Courtney, who was 56, had been the Angels’ public address announcer since 1994 and was also a prominent Southern California sports voice as the long-time PA announcer for the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers. Ahead of the 2013 baseball season, the Angels’ production department sought recommendations and repeatedly heard Araujo’s name. After a multi-candidate audition process during spring training in Tempe, Arizona, the team hired him.
Araujo entered a Southern California announcing tradition shaped for decades by John Ramsey, who died in 1990. Ramsey had served as the public address announcer for the Angels, Dodgers, Lakers, Kings, Rams, Raiders, and USC Trojans football. His booming baritone and signature delivery, including deliberate stadium echoes during the national anthem introduction, created the authoritative, disembodied presence associated with the traditional stadium experience.
Araujo took another route, developing an energetic, conversational lilt instead of imitating Ramsey’s deep delivery. The Angels placed his workspace in an open-air booth on the club level behind home plate. Television and radio broadcasters work in enclosed, glass-fronted booths; Araujo’s booth remains open to the stadium bowl, allowing him to interact with and feed off the crowd’s energy.
His game-day routine starts about two and a half hours before first pitch. After parking at Angel Stadium, Araujo changes into an Angels cap and jersey. Following a baseball tradition, he wears the same jersey the next day if the team wins. If the team loses, he rotates through his red, white, gray, and City Connect jerseys.
A laptop loaded with a custom interactive software program that Araujo designed helps him track rosters and lineups. He uses pronunciation guides and sometimes consults visiting team radio broadcasters to make sure player names are pronounced correctly. He also avoids carbonated beverages before and during games to prevent on-air interruptions, and carries assorted cough drops, including honey-based varieties, in his equipment bag.
Stadium announcing is rarely a primary source of income, even at the major league level. Most public address announcers across Major League Baseball earn between $100 and $500 per game. Araujo’s wife, Kathryn Casey, is also a teacher and serves as the stadium clock operator for LA Galaxy matches. She calls the earnings “fun money,” which the couple reserves for travel.
