Austin, Texas sports radio listeners have a new show to tune into as of Monday afternoon. KTXX The Horn, Austin’s Sports Talk, launched its new afternoon show with Mike Hardge joining former Longhorns star and NFL player Rod Babers from 3 to 7 p.m. CT.
The new show doesn’t have a name and The Horn asked listeners for suggestions in its announcement on Twitter. No word on any of the proposed names thus far.
Hardge has his own professional athletic background to bring to his sports commentary analysis.
A second-round pick in the 1990 MLB Draft, Hardge played five seasons in the Montreal Expos organization before moving on to stops in the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, and New York Yankees systems, in addition to five years in independent leagues. Altogether, the Killeen, Texas native played 13 seasons of professional baseball before retiring in 2000.
Hardge returns to Austin after a stint at San Antonio’s The Ticket 760 (KTKR-AM), where he hosted midday show “The Sports Grind.” Prior to that, he was on the morning show for Austin’s 1300 The Zone (KVET-AM).
“Mike is such a great, authentic, cool guy. He is the genuine article. Those who have heard him will be excited; those that have not are in for a treat. I think this will be a great fit on many levels,” says KTXX Program Director/Host Chad Hastings in the station’s announcement.
“Pairing someone with a talent like Rod Babers is not easy. You can’t just show up. You’ve got to keep up. Mike will do both. Hardge, welcome home.”
You can listen to the The Horn’s afternoon show locally on 104.9 FM, 101.9 FM, and 1260 AM. The show is also available on demand at HornFM.com and on your favorite podcast app.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
