Earlier this month, longtime LA Angels baseball commentator Victor Rojas announced on Twitter that he will not be returning to the broadcast booth for the 2021 MLB season.

Rojas, who has been the team’s main commentator for 11 years, and spent 6 years working for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers before working for Anaheim, citing the reasons for his departure as “wanting to spend more time with his family in Texas while he awaits his grandchild,” and so he could focus more on his family’s clothing brand, “Big Fly.”

Rojas has been a part of many Angels baseball memories over the 11 years he spent with the team. He was on the call for Albert Pujols’s 3,000th career hit, 600th career home run, 500th career home run, and for almost all of Mike Trout’s career games, as he got to watch Trout become one of baseball’s greatest players develop into what he is today from the very beginning. Other great moments that Rojas called include three no-hitters, the Angels 2014 American League West championship, the debut of young star Shohei Ohtani, as well as, of course, Mike Trout. 

Rojas is known for his favorite sayings when a player would hit a home run, such as “oppo taco” when a play would hit a home run in the opposite direction he was batting, “big fly” for a long home run, and “grand salami time” when an Angels player hit a grand slam. But perhaps his most iconic call was “light that baby up” at the end of an Angels victory. Rojas is referring to the “Big A” in the Angel Stadium parking lot, which lights up every time the Angels win.

There had been some speculation for a few years now that Rojas would resign or retire due to personal reasons, as his wife had been battling major health issues for a while, but after he returned for the 2020 season, those rumors died down. 

Mark Gubicza, Rojas’s assistant broadcaster who has been with the Angels for 15 years, announced in a separate statement that he will be staying with the team even though his longtime co-worker is leaving.

When asked about what his personal opinion on Rojas was, Kai Nihira (12) responded, “He was really entertaining and seemed like a nice guy to be around. I’m going to miss hearing him calling the games.” Victor Rojas has brought a lot of memories to California sports fans over the past 11 years, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors!