Many of the most memorable moments on baseball broadcasts aren’t actually about the game. And that’s particularly true in MLB’s Spring Training, and a great example of that came Wednesday night on SportsNet New York’s broadcast of the Mets’ clash with the Houston Astros. There, first-ballot Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson (known for a great career, “Mr. October” postseason heroics, acting roles in everything from Diff’rent Strokes to The Naked Gun, and special advisor work for the Yankees and now for the Astros) wandered into the booth to say hi to analyst Keith Hernandez, and wound up doing a 10-minute on-air interview with Hernandez and play-by-play voice Steve Gelbs. Here’s how that started:
Here's Reggie Jackson walking into a SNY Mets broadcast to say hi to Keith Hernandez and winding up in an in-game interview. Complete with a Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto story. (H/T @DyHrdMET.) pic.twitter.com/EcJwg0wuCB
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 14, 2024
That’s a fun intro, complete even with discussion of changing game times with the pitch clock (Hernandez has noted issues with long games in the past) and of past Yankees’ announcer Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto. There, Jackson says “I leave” when games get to long, and then says “Remember Rizzuto? Remember, Scooter used to say ‘Hey, it’s 9:30, I’ve got to get home!”
This then led to a 10-minute interview covering a lot of ground. Towards the end of that, Jackson spoke about his approach to coaching players, and how that requires maybe more of a diplomatic approach than in his playing days:
Jackson wound up doing a 10-minute interview with Hernandez and Steve Gelbs. Here’s the end of that, featuring Jackson talking about how he approaches spring training instruction with the Astros today. pic.twitter.com/wz6ArhTSln
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 14, 2024
It was certainly notable to see a figure of the stature of Jackson (who was featured in an Amazon documentary last year) randomly show up on a Spring Training broadcast. And this led to quite a fun and illuminating interview.
[Awful Announcing on Twitter]
