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Interviews during sports broadcasts have never been very popular.
Athletes and coaches don’t like interference, and interview reporters know it. Fans and the media don’t like them either, because very rarely does anything meaningful or insightful come out of these conversations.
Just show the game! The broadcasts were fine even without these interviews!
Still, these interludes are clearly part of the future of sports television, and their presence is likely to grow. In-game interviews have been a part of the NHL’s national broadcasts for years. NFL watchers have certainly noticed this season that coaches are now being interviewed after the first quarter.
Do interviews really add anything to the show? Perhaps they give some insight into the personalities behind the faces we see on screen. Sometimes it’s funny when a coach gets annoyed if his team plays badly. What they don’t say can actually say quite a lot.
Viewers watching Fox’s coverage of the Major League Baseball postseason have seen in-game interviews play a bigger role, especially during the National League Championship Series. The story of the NLCS was Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Bryce Harper imposing his superstar power when his team needed it most. The emergence of six-year veteran Rhys Hoskins as a postseason star, hitting four home runs in the series, was another story worth following.
Both players, their respective performances and the excitement they created at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia were highlighted in conversations with reporter Ken Rosenthal during the Fox telecast. Sure, there were some standard “keep up the great hitting” and “we know there’s 27 outs” responses. But it was also clear how much Phillies fans were cheering for the players.
“You can’t say enough about the crowd,” Kyle Schwarber told Rosenthal. “Setting the tone from the first performance and late at that [first] inning. We will continue throughout the game.”
A few of the interviews even gained some insight into what hitters are looking for during at-bats and why pitching changes are made. For example, Phillies manager Rob Thomson explained why he pulled starting pitcher Ranger Suarez from Game 3 after five innings even though he was still pitching well.
“He hadn’t played in nine days; he was close to 70 innings,” Thomson said. “I just felt like for the third time — Machado, Drury, that group of people — I want a righty against them.”
After Harper hit a two-run home run to give Philadelphia a 4-3 lead and an eventual series win, he told Rosenthal he was looking for a fastball from Padres reliever Robert Suarez.
“I felt like I was seeing it better as the at-bat got longer and longer,” Harper said. “I felt like I was seeing more pitches, I felt like I was seeing it better. He beat me with the heater when we were in San Diego, so he just tried to stay on that pitch.
“Once I got the 2-1 or 1-2 changeup, whatever it was, I knew he was going to come with his heater. This is his best shot. So I just tried to make the best swing I could and I was able to do some damage with it.”
For a 30-second or one-minute conversation, these are fascinating tidbits to include in a game show. They add something to the ethereal product. Whether or not you think they make the telecast better may depend on how you feel about in-game interviews in general. But these conversations don’t detract from the show.
Rosenthal himself has heard a lot of feedback, most of it clearly negative, from fans on Twitter during the postseason. Apparently, the response was enough for the veteran reporter to feel the need to take up the matter The Athletic Baseball Show podcast this past weekend.
First, it’s something Fox has been pursuing for years, only to break ground this season. The in-game interviews debuted on the final weekend of the regular season during the Mets-Braves game. When those were going well, Fox decided to continue the interviews for its postseason coverage.
“We’ve been seeking, Fox has, access to the players during games for some time,” Rosenthal said. “And obviously it’s something that’s not necessarily going to be embraced right away by Major League Baseball, by the teams, by the players. It kind of evolved over time.”
Player miking during the regular season was a popular feature of ESPN’s MLB telecasts, especially because of the Sunday night baseball showcase. But that wouldn’t be allowed during high-stakes postseason games. Interviews in the dugout were less intrusive, less disruptive to the game on the field.
Rosenthal also provided some insight into the entire process. He does not “invade the hole” uninvited with a microphone and camera and interrupt the players while they are focused on the current match.
“It’s all basically prearranged,” Rosenthal explained. “The clubs know about it and have approved it. The players know about it and most of them approved it. The league certainly knows about it and supports it because the league wants that kind of access too. They want that brightness of the shows. And I think it works.”
Rosenthal also said that not all players agreed to the interviews. Some don’t feel comfortable talking in the dugout during games, which is certainly understandable. But these players are in the minority.
Also, the players don’t see the interviews as interference, as many fans and media think. They embrace the opportunity to promote themselves and the game, which they surely realize is vital to baseball’s success.
San Diego Padres fans probably felt that the in-game interviews were one-sided, with their favorite players not getting the same airtime and showcase. Rosenthal acknowledged that it’s not a perfect setup, dictated by game situation (two outs in an inning, for example) and player preference. Maybe the Padres players or manager Bob Melvin didn’t want to talk during the game. Or maybe the opportunity wasn’t as available as it was for Phyllis.
What is clear from Rosenthal’s explanation, however, is that in-game interviews will become a regular part of Fox’s MLB broadcasts. And if they’re successful for Fox, we’ll likely see them on Turner Sports and ESPN’s baseball coverage as well. Like it or not, they’re probably here to stay.
“Yes, the games are important,” Rosenthal said The Athletic Baseball Show. “But it’s not a sport where everyone is involved in the action at all times. So there’s room for things like that.”
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