Lo Duca set for Saratoga Live
N.Y. Mets catcher turned race analyst spent 9 years at TVG
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Paul Lo Duca has spent the last nine years as a horse racing broadcaster, calling the sport he grew up watching and always had a passion for. But when he walks around Saratoga for the next 40 days, he knows there will just as many Mets fans that come up to him.
Though he only spent two years with New York, he’s famously beloved as the hometown kid that helped lead the Amazin’s to an NL East title in 2006. The New York Racing Association announced on July 10 that Lo Duca will be an analyst on Saratoga Live starting on July 21, the track’s opening day.
“It’s been sort of a whirlwind. I didn’t know this would happen so quickly to be honest with you. I’ve been at TVG for nine years, so when the opportunity arose, my old boss, Tony Allevato, who used to be at TVG approached me. It was an opportunity for me to come to Saratoga which is, you know, la creme de la creme.”
Saratoga Live is broadcast throughout 75 million homes nationally through Fox Sports 2 and locally on MSG+. Allevato said they like Lo Duca, in part, because “he brings an athlete’s perspective to the show.” Lo Duca has broadcast college baseball and little league baseball for ESPN, and said he’s in the process of starting a baseball podcast with fellow broadcaster and big leaguer Dallas Braden.
Lo Duca, a catcher, played 11 seasons in MLB, and is a four-time All-Star. He last played in the Major Leagues with the Washington Nationals in 2008.
“I’ve been following the horses forever. Ever since I was a teenager, I used to go the track with my father. My dad loved horses. Saratoga has always been a summer destination for a lot of people. Saratoga has the best horses, the best jockeys, the best trainers. It’s
just a summer event.”
Lo Duca says he gets a kick out of people telling him that he was a better handicapper than he was a baseball player. He said the two sports correlate somewhat, or at least the professions. He always needed to be prepared behind the plate and as a hitter. He did his studying. That type of work translates over directly as a broadcaster and analyst of racing.
He knows there’s a school of thought that there’s no real “method to the madness” or horse racing, but he still views his job as one that requires an understanding of the horses and their tendencies.
“You have to think outside the box a little bit. And the preparation is somewhat the same,” Lo Duca said. “If you don’t really prepare, you’ll get eaten alive.”
Focusing on one circuit will make life a lot easier for him, he said. And it will allow him to concentrate on baseball as well. He didn’t explicitly say that he wants to go back into baseball broadcasting at some point, but did hint that his current job allows for him to have time to explore other career goals.
For now, though, he’s just going to enjoy the next 40 days, and everything that comes with it.
“People get pumped to go to Saratoga,” Lo Duca said. “That’s the bottom line. It’s like a mini-Vegas on the east coast. You can go from a suit to shorts. From Shake Shack to fine dining. There’s Dunkin Donuts. You name it, they have it. You do not have to leave the place.” BOSTON » Justin Smoak hit a pair of homers and Steve Pearce drove in two runs when Boston second baseman Brock Holt lost his popup in the sun, and the Toronto Blue Jays held on to beat the Red Sox 8-6 on Thursday.
The teams split the fourgame series. Including the 15-inning game on Tuesday with Toronto, the AL Eastleading Red Sox played 76 innings in about 144 hours — the equivalent of 8 1/2 games in six days.
Dominic Leone (2-0) earned the win. Starter Francisco Liriano got just