Nervous A-Rod has promise in booth
IN his first time up, as the new face of ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball, Alex Rodriguez admitted to being a little tight off the top and then sounded that way.
When asked at the beginning of Thursday night’s Dodgers-Giants telecast, what it is like to be in the ESPN booth on Opening Day, Rodriguez flubbed his first line, “A little bit more nerv ...” he said, before stopping himself, because he had flipped his own script. “A little bit more excitement when you are playing. Up here [in the booth] a little bit more nervous.”
Rodriguez settled in and was OK in his debut on the big-game TV analyst stage. It was akin to a 1-for-4 debut with an RBI double. That’s not bad, but not great.
He showed both definite potential and the rawness of a man doing just his fifth game as an analyst and second with his Sunday night partners, Matt Vasgersian and Jessica Mendoza. The trio did an exhibition game together last week.
On Thursday, Rodriguez improved and relaxed as the game went on and, by the ninth, was giving some strong opinions. Rodriguez even went against the modern theory, recommending a bunt, while also second-guessing the Giants outfielders for playing too shallow.
What Rodriguez’s presence brings to the sport’s second-most prestigious booth — after FOX’s World Series crew — is star power. This includes girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, who made a brief TV appearance in a non-speaking role, giving A-Rod a kiss of encouragement between innings.
To reach the level he has as a FOX studio analyst, Rodriguez is going to need to be less rehearsed and more off the cuff during games.
Rodriguez has some moments as he tried to emulate Tim McCarver, whom he watched firstguess doing Mets games on WOR as a kid in Miami.
To end the seventh, Rodriguez said he would, “Bet the house,” that the pitcher Cory Gearrin of the Giants would throw Chris Taylor a slider. He did and Taylor looked at strike three. This type of stuff is second nature to A-Rod and illuminating for a viewer.
What A-Rod needs to do is trust himself, to use his playing day vernacular, taking “small bites” and “passing the baton.” He must rely on his inner baseball nerd that has a lot of wisdom about the game he truly loves.
If he is too scripted over what will amount to more than 100plus hours of live TV over the ESPN’s Sunday season, it won’t be that good. In this booth, though, it isn’t A-Rod who has the toughest job.
Vasgersian may have been jammed into the Sunday night booth as the play-by-play man with a little sleight of hand from the agent he and A-Rod share, but Vasgersian is more qualified for his role as a broadcaster than either A-Rod or Mendoza.
Vasgersian has to find some equilibrium between A-Rod’s humongous persona and Mendoza — who was a great athlete in her own right and an Olympic gold medalist, but who has never taken a major league at-bat.
In the bottom of the ninth, when A-Rod did some of his strongest work, Mendoza was largely silent.
ESPN’s dugout reporter Buster Olney also chimes in a lot, making it nearly a four-person booth, which will force Vasgersian to really have to lead as the point guard.
A-Rod will still steal the spotlight as he makes everything he touches a spectacle, for better or worse. This attention is what ESPN wanted with his hire — and should have wanted. If they had put David Ross in the booth or hired Joe Girardi, there would be no opening review here.
So Rodriguez was a bit nervous the first time out, settled in and showed some flashes. It was a start, but Rodriguez is not yet a finished product as a game analyst. It is going to take “small bites” to be really good and have 3-for-4 nights with some big homers.
Around the Dial: ESPN NFL Insider extraordinaire, Adam Schefter, will work his first NBA game of the season during Friday night’s Cavaliers-Pelicans game. Schefter did a couple of NBA games last year, as a side job. Schefter is expected to work a few playoff games, too, around the NFL draft.
Mark Teixeira will be in the booth for the Yankees’ home opener on ESPN Monday. The game is blacked out in New York, but available on YES.
ESPN will have a new morning show called “Get Up!” starting Monday that will feature Mike Greenberg, Michelle Beadle and Jalen Rose.