Your Dark Companion Podcast

Some careers are carefully mapped out. Others start because you needed gas.
In this episode of Your Dark Companion, Mike Rhyner and Grubes sit down with Matt Hicks, the longtime radio voice of the Texas Rangers, to trace a broadcasting journey that took more than two decades, dozens of towns, and one perfectly timed phone call to finally reach the major leagues.
Hicks walks through his path from a childhood spent reenacting games on a cassette recorder, to college radio at Maryland, to grinding it out for 23½ years in the minor leagues — often for little pay, fewer guarantees, and no clear finish line. Along the way, he explains how a chance encounter at a gas station launched his career, why hockey was actually his first love, and how baseball slowly became the thing that stuck.
The conversation turns emotional when Hicks revisits the Rangers’ 2023 World Series run, the discipline required to keep your voice steady in the biggest moments, and what it meant to share that call alongside Eric Nadel after everything the franchise — and its fans — had endured. There are also detours into Hollywood (yes, Major League 2), unforgettable meetings with Bob Uecker, and the quiet realization that sometimes the longest route is the only one that actually works.
It’s a reminder that broadcasting careers aren’t built overnight — they’re built by showing up, saying yes, and being ready when luck finally decides to notice you.
Chapters
00:00:00 – Welcome in and meeting Matt Hicks00:01:31 – Doing something 200 times (and counting)00:03:09 – The voice you know from Rangers radio00:07:32 – Becoming a grandfather in real time00:08:48 – Growing up in Washington, D.C. and Maryland00:11:27 – Falling in love with radio as a kid00:12:09 – Calling the Super Bowl… on a cassette recorder00:13:40 – College radio and choosing the long shot00:16:16 – The gas station moment that changed everything00:19:09 – First job, first newsroom, first leap00:20:47 – Getting into play-by-play00:22:12 – Hockey first, baseball later00:24:19 – Choosing stability over passion00:27:07 – Breaking into minor league baseball00:30:57 – $50 a game and no turning back00:31:36 – Sponsor break: CBD House of Healing00:34:37 – 23½ years in the minors00:36:28 – Major League 2 and Bob Uecker00:43:59 – Almost getting the call — and missing it00:46:27 – The phone rings at Legoland00:49:22 – “Can you get to Arlington?”00:51:30 – Finally reaching the majors00:54:37 – Calling a World Series you never thought would come00:58:30 – Why this job means more than baseball01:03:06 – Final reflections and sign-off

Show Notes

Some careers are carefully mapped out. Others start because you needed gas.

In this episode of Your Dark Companion, Mike Rhyner and Grubes sit down with Matt Hicks, the longtime radio voice of the Texas Rangers, to trace a broadcasting journey that took more than two decades, dozens of towns, and one perfectly timed phone call to finally reach the major leagues.

Hicks walks through his path from a childhood spent reenacting games on a cassette recorder, to college radio at Maryland, to grinding it out for 23½ years in the minor leagues — often for little pay, fewer guarantees, and no clear finish line. Along the way, he explains how a chance encounter at a gas station launched his career, why hockey was actually his first love, and how baseball slowly became the thing that stuck.

The conversation turns emotional when Hicks revisits the Rangers’ 2023 World Series run, the discipline required to keep your voice steady in the biggest moments, and what it meant to share that call alongside Eric Nadel after everything the franchise — and its fans — had endured. There are also detours into Hollywood (yes, Major League 2), unforgettable meetings with Bob Uecker, and the quiet realization that sometimes the longest route is the only one that actually works.

It’s a reminder that broadcasting careers aren’t built overnight — they’re built by showing up, saying yes, and being ready when luck finally decides to notice you.

Chapters

00:00:00 – Welcome in and meeting Matt Hicks
00:01:31 – Doing something 200 times (and counting)
00:03:09 – The voice you know from Rangers radio
00:07:32 – Becoming a grandfather in real time
00:08:48 – Growing up in Washington, D.C. and Maryland
00:11:27 – Falling in love with radio as a kid
00:12:09 – Calling the Super Bowl… on a cassette recorder
00:13:40 – College radio and choosing the long shot
00:16:16 – The gas station moment that changed everything
00:19:09 – First job, first newsroom, first leap
00:20:47 – Getting into play-by-play
00:22:12 – Hockey first, baseball later
00:24:19 – Choosing stability over passion
00:27:07 – Breaking into minor league baseball
00:30:57 – $50 a game and no turning back
00:31:36 – Sponsor break: CBD House of Healing
00:34:37 – 23½ years in the minors
00:36:28 – Major League 2 and Bob Uecker
00:43:59 – Almost getting the call — and missing it
00:46:27 – The phone rings at Legoland
00:49:22 – “Can you get to Arlington?”
00:51:30 – Finally reaching the majors
00:54:37 – Calling a World Series you never thought would come
00:58:30 – Why this job means more than baseball
01:03:06 – Final reflections and sign-off

Thanks to our monthly supporters
  • Matthew Kamper
  • W hammons
  • B Smith
  • Robert Stoolfire
  • Thaddeus D. Matula
  • Rachel W
  • Scott Lewis
  • John Clayton
  • cody SIMS
  • John Gilbert
  • Robert Saunders
  • Kiffer
  • Sidney Long
  • Pattie Rhyner Davidson
  • David
  • Ashlea Bullington
  • James Corona
  • Gordy
  • John C Caffey
  • Joe Lindsey
  • Cam
  • Jillian Wright
  • Harry Perdomo
  • David Moore
  • Becca Moore
  • Mike Rhyner
  • Becca Moore
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Creators and Guests

Host
Mike Rhyner
Mike Rhyner… "a little on the bumpy side, but rather likable"…so stated famously by a grade school teacher in Oak Cliff, where Mike grew up. A complicated guy, yet a guy who can do long division and remember call strike three to A Rod. Probably best left unattended. Don't expect assistance from him if a medical situation arises.

What is Your Dark Companion Podcast?

"Whatever I want it to be about on a given day; is what it is." Your Dark Companion couples your familiar friends from radio, Mike and Grubes! Mike brings his classic interviews that draw you in, and Grubes—The Devil—drops…well the drops, and throws the occasional grenade. Mike likes to draw on his fascinating acquaintances and friends allowing them to tell their stories as you've never heard them. But he also goes outside his network, sharing Grubes' network, and often outside of both, to bring you those they don't know, but believe have a story that will make you laugh, make you think, think differently, or just entertain you…"that's what we are trying to do here."