Longtime Royals broadcaster Steve Physioc announces retirement

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals announced Thursday longtime broadcaster Steve Physioc is hanging up his mic.

Physioc, whose broadcasting career spans over four decades, has called Royals games on the radio with the Royals Baseball Network and on TV with then-Fox Sports Kansas City, now known as Bally Sports Kansas City, for the last 11 seasons.

Before joining the Royals, Physioc spent 14 years as the play-by-play voice for the Los Angeles Angels. While in that role, he also worked with future Royals analyst Rex Hudler.

Physioc has also called games for the Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres. He began his MLB play-by-play career calling the Reds from 1983-86.

His local ties to the Kansas City area come from his time at Kansas State University, where he was the voice for the school's football and basketball games from 1979-83.

Alongside his play-by-play duties with the Royals, Physioc is well-known for his love of writing books. His debut novels “The Walls of Lucca” and “Above the Walls” won gold medals from Readers' Favorite in the review's 2019 International Book Award Contest.

In September, Physioc and Hudler released a children's book titled"Are You a Baseball Guy?" which aims to teach kids the meaning and lessons of hard work, respect and positivity through the prism of the game.

Physioc's longtime colleague Joel Goldberg released a lengthy tribute on Twitter, thanking his friend for being "the nicest human being ever" to work alongside for the last 11 years.

With Physioc's departure, 27-year-old Jake Eisenberg will fill the veteran broadcaster's role.

Eisenberg comes to the Royals with experience play-by-play calling the Omaha Storm Chasers, KC's Triple-A affiliate, from 2020-22. In 2022, he called two Royals games — Bobby Witt Jr.'s first career home run and MJ Melendez's Major League debut.

“It’s an honor to be part of the broadcast team that shares the stories of this new, exciting era of Royals baseball while also getting to sit next to and learn from a Hall of Famer in Denny Matthews," Eisenberg said in a statement. "Being in Omaha the last couple of seasons was a great education on how special this organization is and how bright this team's future is. I am thrilled and grateful for this opportunity, and eager to get started serving Royals fans in Kansas City and beyond.”