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Nilson “Junior” Pepén wants just one thing clear: he didn’t move to Boston from the Dominican Republic for a job or a chance to advance his career.
“I moved for my beautiful wife, Veronica, with whom I recently celebrated twenty-seven years of marriage,” he says. “Please make sure people know I moved for love.”
This is how the voice of the Boston Red Sox’s Spanish-language broadcast begins his conversation with Hispanic Executive. Not his love of the game, but the love of his life.
Pepén has been the producer and host of 99.9 FM and 1300 AM’s Conversando De Deportes for over two decades, and he returned to the Boston Red Sox in 2019 as their official Spanish play-by-play announcer after serving as a sports presenter for Univision Network, hosting El Informe de Sports.
“When you come to those games, you feel the spirit when you walk in. You hear the music, you eat the food, and you see an organization that has committed to making more Latinos part of its family.”
Nilson Pepén
Every game day, Pepén gets to Fenway Park three or four hours before the opening pitch.
“I don’t want to get news from somewhere else. I want to make it,” Pepén says. “I want to be prepared for everything and have confidence in my broadcast. It gives me a chance to talk to players, managers, and people in the office. I think if you’re always prepared, you’re ready to make the most of any opportunity that comes your way.”
Moving to Boston for love wasn’t as easy or fairy tale-like as it may first sound. Pepén was a practicing attorney in the Dominican Republic, a place dear to his heart. After a sports career in his youth—including playing for Santo Domingo’s standout San Carlo Basketball Club—Pepén worked in both public and private sector roles until he emigrated to the US in 1997. His law degree wouldn’t transfer, and Pepén wasn’t sure it was the right career to continue chasing.
“My first job in the United States was in a laundromat,” the announcer remembers. “I started at the bottom.”
After moving onto a better job at American Airlines, Pepén began to put the pieces together. He found his way to radio and television work, jobs that would eventuate in Boston’s only Spanish-language sports show Conversando De Deportes, the show Pepén hosts to this day along with his Red Sox play-by-play duties. In fact, at the time of speaking, Pepén was preparing for his imminent broadcast that afternoon.
During his Boston tenure, Pepén has watched, reported, and celebrated the Red Sox snapping its infamous eighty-six-year World Series drought. They would win four World Series championships between 2004-2018, aided by Latino standouts like Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramírez, and David Ortiz—Dominicans like himself.
Pepén has organized bus trips to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, to celebrate Hall of Fame inductions for his countrymen like Vladimir Guerrero, Martinez, and Ortiz.
“In 2015, we took five buses with fifty-two passengers each to celebrate Pedro,” Pepén remembers. “They’re such fun trips where you get to connect with people who are so proud and so full of life. Those are moments that are as special for me as they are for the fans that go on the trips.”
The broadcaster is proud of the work the Red Sox does to not only engage its Latino fans but also give back to the communities that produce such incredible athletes. The Lindos Sueños program sends ten American teenage boys to the Dominican Republic every summer to perform community service and play baseball alongside ten Dominican teammates.
Additionally, the Red Sox Foundation runs the RBI and Jr. RBI Leagues, which provide equipment, uniforms, field access, and umpires across New England for two thousand boys and girls, many of whom wouldn’t have access to the game without the program.
Pepén says Latino pride is on display every game, but especially at heritage nights when Puerto Rican, Dominican, and other Latino identities are celebrated at Fenway Park.
“When you come to those games, you feel the spirit when you walk in,” Pepén says. “You hear the music, you eat the food, and you see an organization that has committed to making more Latinos part of its family.”
The Spanish voice of the Red Sox has consistently made himself available to Latinos and other Spanish speakers who want to connect with him and his organization. He responds to every DM, tweet, and message that he can, and has been known to welcome fans into the broadcast booth from time to time.
“I just want people to know that if I can do it, they can too,” Pepén explains. “Stay put, stay prepared, and never give up on your dreams. I’m so lucky to have a wonderful wife and family who have supported me in my life, and I’m proud to have been in this wonderful city for all of these years.”
Making Your Voice Heard
Junior Pepén isn’t the only one in his family looking to give back to his city. His son Enrique is was just elected to the Boston City Council. His daughter is also completing her psychology studies and will find a way to give back to her community through service.
It’s another generation of Pepéns giving voice to others and not being afraid to go after their dreams.
