51s’ ‘captain’ of the microphone

Nick Christensen

Thursday, June 12, 2003 | 9:01 a.m.

In March 2002, Cashman Field Public Address Announcer "Captain Dan" Bickmore was riding the slow elevator from the press box to ground level, following a preseason exhibition game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Also on board was venerable Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, the team's radio voice since 1950, and an Elvis impersonator.

"It was probably the highlight of my baseball life," said Bickmore, who grew up just east of Los Angeles. And to no surprise to Bickmore, "Baseball's Poet Laureate" had a story to tell.

"I listened to Vin Scully talk to the Elvis impersonator about a watch that was given to him as a gift by Elvis Presley," said Bickmore. "He sat and thought for a minute after telling the Elvis story and said, 'You know, I don't know where that watch is.' "

Bickmore, too, seemingly has a story for everything. An affable 42-year-old, Bickman has been the voice of the Cashman Field since 1997.

A recruiter by day for a local technical institute, at night he becomes "The Captain," cheering on Cosmo, dancing the Chicken Dance and confusing fans who wonder how foul balls that land on the Cashman Field roof wind up in his booth.

Bickmore got his start in 1978, while coaching baseball during his senior year of high school. His team's PA man was out, and he was asked to do it.

"I didn't want to. I was scared to death. But they talked me into it, and I was terrified, but after about five words I was hooked," he said.

Bickmore gradually extended his reach to high school basketball, and more lucratively, boxing. "They found out that I spoke Spanish, so I did a lot of boxing within the Mexican neighborhoods." Still, it wasn't enough.

So when the Dodger Stadium announcer retired in 1982, Bickmore decided to give it a try. A friend of a friend was able to get him an audition, and after two callbacks, he found himself in the final three. But he was 21 and without a very deep voice, so the Dodgers headed in a different direction.

Instead of disheartening him, it made him hungrier. So after a job transfer to Las Vegas in the late 1980s, he volunteered to MC events at the Riviera hotel, where he was working at the time.

Also at the Riviera was David Humm, a former Raiders quarterback and an executive for the CFL's Las Vegas Posse. Humm hired Bickmore to work Posse games for their one season in Las Vegas.

"We had a game with 14,000 people once," he said. "It was the game when Doug Flutie game. I called him Flug Doutie."

(Many will recall that this is not nearly the worst public address celebrity-name-flub in Las Vegas history.)

After the Posse folded, Bickmore continued to work at the Riviera, and did various gigs around Las Vegas. "I would still volunteer to do high school stuff, and I did auctions and MC things, just to get in front of the microphone.

"Then, one day, I read in the paper, I was glancing through a part of the paper I never even read, that the Las Vegas Stars were auditioning for announcers. I was already late to apply."

But again, Bickmore had a backup plan. "I talked to a gentleman by the name of Steve Schirripa, who now plays Bobby Bacala on 'The Sopranos.' I knew Steve was real good friends with (51s General Manager) Don Logan, so he called Don and Don allowed me to send in my resume, and then they allowed me to audition. "

Since being hired at Cashman Field, Bickmore has also worked the Las Vegas Thunder, Lakers exhibition games, some UNLV baseball games, and all the Big League Weekends.

Bickmore's first and most memorable job came in 1997. While announcing the Mariners' lineup, he decided to spice up starting pitcher Dennis Martinez a bit. "I knew he had a nickname in his native Nicaragua, I knew it was El Presidente, but for some reason, I got to him, and I said, ' ... and pitching for the Seattle Mariners, number 34, El Capitan, Dennis Martinez.

"Well, there was Seattle media in the press box, and they had fun with it, something akin to, 'PA announcer demotes national icon.' Something like that."

The Las Vegas writers started calling Bickmore "El Capitan," which soon just became Captain.

"It's something I've never been able to shed. Most of my family has been calling me Captain for six or seven years," said Bickmore, the father of two.

Bickmore savors the opportunity he has been given, to watch young talent develop and perform, sometimes with amazing feats. He loves to talk about an "over-the-shoulder, shoestring, snowcone catch in the visitors' bullpen" made by current Tampa Bay first baseman Travis Lee. He often during games talks about how he misses seeing Phil Hiatt come to the bat.

But even after 25 years at it, he goes back to the love of the game. "You're getting paid to watch baseball. Being part of a team that is essentially overseeing a professional sporting event is a lot of fun."

And the occasional elevator ride with Vinny and Elvis can't be bad, either.