Angels mourn loss of longtime Triple-A broadcaster

This story was excerpted from Rhett Bollinger’s Angels Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Steve Klauke was best known as the longtime voice of the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, but for those who were fortunate enough to be around him, he was so much more than that.

Klauke, who was Triple-A Salt Lake’s primary play-by-play broadcaster for 29 seasons before retiring last year, was tragically killed after being hit by a car on Monday in Sandy, Utah. Klauke was a constant with the Bees, starting with the organization since its inception in 1994, and called exactly 4,181 games.

His untimely death at 69 years old sent shockwaves through the Angels organization, as Salt Lake has been the club's top Minor League affiliate since 2001 and many of the club's current players played with the Bees before reaching the Majors.

Infielder Michael Stefanic, who played in 280 games with the Bees from 2021-23, said Klauke was always at batting practice to get information from the players. He saw Klauke just last week when Stefanic was participating in a rehab assignment and Klauke stopped by to take in batting practice at Smith’s Ballpark.

“It’s just so shocking,” Stefanic said. “I literally just saw him at the last Bees homestand and he got me a nice Steve Klauke bobblehead. I’d been with him for four years and I really got to know him. He was just an absolute legend.”

Yes, Klauke had a bobblehead. And he was proud of it. The Bees honored him last September with one and he loved showing it off.

It was a well-deserved honor for Klauke, who earned plenty of accolades during his prolific broadcasting career in the Salt Lake area. The Chicago native moved to Utah for a job with the Jazz in 1991 and was a three-time Utah Sportscaster of the Year winner ('95, '14, '16), while Baseball Digest named him national broadcaster of the year in the Minors in 2014. He also did play-by-play for Weber State athletics and filled in on Jazz and University of Utah broadcasts.

He never became a full-time Major League announcer but filled in on short stints with both the Blue Jays in 2004 and the Angels in 2016. But to those who knew him best, Klauke was big league in every sense and was a rightful legend in Utah.

“Steve, he was just first-class in everything,” said general manager Perry Minasian as he tried to hold back tears. “Just in everyday conversations, his knowledge of the game. The love for the job, the fan base, the players. Just how fair he was and the kind of person he was. To me, Steve was just the definition of first class.”

As many broadcasters are, Klauke was a storyteller. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of Triple-A Salt Lake’s history, as he’d seen every player who ever played for the franchise. He also kept the scorebooks from every game he called and stored them in his office.

One of his favorite stories was when David Ortiz, then a Twins prospect playing for the Bees, was struggling during a round of batting practice and quipped that the sun coming off Klauke’s bald head was a distraction. Klauke moved to a different spot and Ortiz proceeded to hit homer after homer.

There was also the time he sat next to late WWE superstar Randy Savage on a flight and Klauke recognized him not as the larger-than-life wrestler but as former Cardinals Minor Leaguer Randy Poffo. The two became fast friends and talked baseball the whole flight.

Catcher Matt Thaiss played 342 games with the Bees from 2018-22 and said teammates loved hearing Klauke’s stories, especially to help with the often-grueling Minor League travel.

“He had great stories because he had been there such a long-time and was there when guys like David Ortiz were there,” Thaiss said. “He was just a really good guy, easy to talk to. A lot of guys loved talking to him on the plane when we traveled.”

Klauke had his signature home run call of “it’s up there, it’s out there, it’s gone,” and ended each of the Bees' 2,081 wins with his line of “handshakes and high-fives all around.” Triple-A Salt Lake announcer Tony Parks paid tribute to him with a touching home run call on Tuesday and the Bees’ tweeted his postgame phrase after their win on Wednesday.

He is survived by his wife, Sue Klauke, and two children, Adam Klauke and Lisa Klauke.

“It just puts a lot of things in perspective,” Stefanic said. “This is a game we all love. But at the end of the day, we're all human beings. And it’s important to live each day like it’s your last.”