The Pacific Northwest provides local sports teams with an advantage in its location, necessitating lengthy air travel from most other locales. Major League Baseball fans will turn their attention in that direction this week as the 2023 All-Star Game illuminates the “Emerald City” of Seattle.
Bringing the heart of the baseball universe to T-Mobile Park, the home of the Mariners, has been a process over two decades in the making. The city last hosted All-Star Week in 2001, the year in which the ballpark opened and when the M’s set the all-time record with 116 regular season wins. Seattle featured eight all-stars in that summer. Harold Reynolds was not one of them. The former Mariners second baseman had been retired from the game for seven years at that point, but understood what the occasion meant to the area.
When he was growing up five hours south in Eugene, Oregon, Reynolds became captivated with the sport and began playing himself. As a college baseball player at the University of San Diego, he took heed of the 1979 MLB All-Star Game from the Kingdome and aspired to be there himself one day and he did – twice.
In 2001, Reynolds was working with ESPN as a baseball analyst and covered the aforesaid All-Star Game, and he now returns with MLB Network.
“I went to Oregon first and then drove up here,” Reynolds said of his trip to the West Coast. “It takes me back to when I played here, but also I’m really proud to be somebody who grew up in the Northwest and this is our team. To see what Seattle has become and what they’re going to continue to do here is really cool.”
There is, perhaps, no better time for the All-Star Week to arrive in Seattle after the team snapped a vicennial postseason drought in 2021. The fans are right to think the team has a bright future again.
In 2009, MLB Network, a league-owned broadcast entity, launched adopting an all-baseball format. Reynolds was one of the first voices heard on its air.
“The foundation was laid so great,” Reynolds said of MLB Network. “It was going to be that we can talk about all 30 teams [with] the creativity of jumping in and out of games [through] live looks. Nobody was doing that in all of sports, and so that really was revolutionary.”
Reynolds has participated in nearly every studio program throughout his time at the network. This year, he is working with studio host Adnan Virk on the 6 p.m. EST edition of MLB Tonight and modified his preparatory process.
“When you do MLB Tonight [in] the late night, games are on and you’re jumping in and out of games,” Reynolds said. “The difference is being a little more scripted [and] having a plan of what we’re going to talk about – so it’s more set in our meetings than necessarily on the air.”
This past Friday, Reynolds embarked on a new challenge as a commentator on the inaugural HBCU Swingman Classic, presented by T-Mobile and powered by the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation. Joining Reynolds in the broadcast booth was HBCU sports journalist Symone Stanley and the television play-by-play voice of the Mariners, Dave Sims. Seattle legend and Reynolds’s former teammate Ken Griffey Jr. also participated in the broadcast on the field, corresponding from the visiting and home dugouts.
“We are the spokesmen and ambassadors for the sport,” Reynolds said of MLB Network. “This is just another marking for us being able to show off, so to speak, our sport. When you can collaborate with Ken Griffey Jr. and he puts his name on something and Major League Baseball says, ‘Yeah, we’re in,’ and the Network gets to air it, that’s when we’re the best.”
Aligning with All-Star Week is the presentation of the MLB Draft from Lumen Field, the home of the Seattle Seahawks. This year’s iteration of the event, which took place on Sunday, marked the third time the draft is being held at All-Star Week.
Reynolds was selected by the Mariners with the second pick of the 1980 MLB Draft. Many of his MLB Network colleagues were also drafted and understand the importance of the event and yield mentorship to its players. A similar premise holds true at MLB Network when new personalities have been added to its on-air lineup and benefited from an environment of congeniality and collaboration.
“I always say that I didn’t think I would love to do my job and my second career as fast as I [have],” studio analyst and former first baseman Yonder Alonso said. “I’m so deep into it where it’s like I want to be great at it.”
Alonso played 10 seasons in the major leagues, primarily with the San Diego Padres, but he also had a stint with the Seattle Mariners in the second half of the 2017 season. Having starred with seven franchises, he became familiar with many of the athletes around the league and estimates he played either with or against 90% of the players he covers.
Since joining MLB Network in 2021, Alonso has honed his craft by adopting a similar approach to how he prepared to take the field. Before most broadcasts, he arrives promptly to watch games, conduct research, take notes and ask questions from his colleagues. When the lights turn on and the show goes live, he tries to deliver his analysis in an enjoyable manner while maintaining a perspicuous reverence for the game.
Every time he makes a contribution on the air, he keeps a 10-second clock in the back of his mind, a figure he ascertains is the amount of time he has to make an impression on a viewer before they turn the channel.
“At all times, I always feel like I have to be on to make sure that if I do get each of those 10 seconds, they’re always the best 10 seconds that you can watch or learn something from the game of baseball.”
On Monday morning, Alonso will utilize his relationships with active players and familiarity with the evolving nature of the sport on a special edition of MLB Tonight from All-Star Media Day. Throughout the afternoon, Alonso will interview a variety of perennial and first-time All-Stars. Later that day, he and Reynolds will be on the MLB Tonight set to interact with the All-Stars from inside T-Mobile Field.
“When you are on the road, it’s so much fun [and] it feels like a college game day,” Alonso said. “You kind of get your heart pumping, you’ve got the fans on top of you [and] you’ve got all the players [with] all the access…. It’s a whole event not only just for them, but it’s a celebration for a very good first half of the season that everybody has been involved with.”
A unique aspect of MLB All-Star Weekend is the annual Celebrity Softball Game, granting local and national luminaries a chance to step outside of their comfort zones and compete with former big leaguers. In this year’s event, WWE personality Michael “The Miz” Mizanin, actress JoJo Siwa and musician Yandel were among the competitors covered by MLB Network. Lauren Gardner and Robert Flores return as the commentary tandem after working together last year, and now have a more discernible idea of the nuances of the eccentric event.
“The key to covering it is to be completely in the moment and try and just be the ringleader in what is very much so a circus,” Gardner said, “but it’s the most entertaining one you’ll get to see all year long.”
Gardner was juggling a surfeit of jobs in the early stages of her career in sports media and now finds herself with a national outlet hosting her own afternoon show, Off Base. The program is geared towards younger fans, a group MLB seems intent on chasing.
Indeed, rule changes implemented before the start of the regular season have expedited the pace of play and proliferated offensive output while ameliorating average attendance figures. Yet an emphasis on the culture surrounding baseball has fueled part of the growth, akin to other professional sports, and bolstered the marketing potential of generational talents. Gardner’s cousin encapsulated the intent of the show when giving his feedback, and his words are etched into her memory.
“He said, ‘It was like watching [me] and my friends sitting around and discussing the things that we would typically discuss,’” Gardner recalled. “Oh by the way, you have the added value of former players and analysts in the mix so they can give a different perspective and that valuable insight, but doing it in a very fun and relaxed manner.”
From her time covering minor league hockey on the radio to cheerleading for the Denver Broncos and serving as an in-game host for the Colorado Rockies and Colorado Avalanche, Gardner gained invaluable perspectives of different industry niches. When she served as a local correspondent for NHL Network, Gardner saw an opportunity to grow and contacted the broadcast entity to see if she could do more. Following two auditions, she began hosting for DAZN, MLB Network and NHL Network – all based out of a joint broadcast facility in Secaucus, N.J. Over four years later, she has refined her craft and become even more versatile, rendering her adept to make the trip to Seattle.
“The more that I’m just myself, the better and the easier and the more you’re kind of just in flow with what’s happening,” Gardner explained. “[If] you put in the work and you’re as creative as possible and you try to be the best teammate you can be, it doesn’t matter what level you’re at. In baseball, they say, ‘You get called up, but the game doesn’t change.’”
Applying her ability to penetrate beyond solely discussing game action, Gardner will be on the red carpet ahead of the Midsummer Classic catching up with the All-Stars. Reynolds will also be on hand to provide his perspective as a former player, but both know the inherent value of the event comes in bringing out personalities and emphasizing clothing ensembles.
“Why does Francisco Lindor change his glove and his shoes every night?,” Reynolds posed. “Well, come to the red carpet and you get an understanding of his fashion sense and his personality.”
“I think fashion is such a beautiful form of self-expression and [finding out] why they chose to rock that look,” Gardner added. “It’s just so much fun [in] kind of letting them be the guide.”
Throughout the whirlwind of MLB All-Star Week, MLB Network and numerous other broadcast entities are producing unparalleled content to effectively cover the proceedings. Other professional sports leagues have followed the league’s paradigm and optimized their showcase to be more conducive for consumers in the 21st century. Despite never covering the National Hockey League All-Star Game, Gardner has watched it from afar and discussed it during studio coverage as an NHL Network host. She likens the NHL All-Star Skills Competition to the Home Run Derby, both of which celebrate particular aspects of the sport, and appreciates players wearing microphones and communicating directly with the broadcast booth in the course of gameplay.
FOX has the television broadcast rights for Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game, marking its 24th broadcast of the landmark event. MLB Network, however, will present extensive pregame and postgame coverage on its flagship program, MLB Tonight. The network has annually had its analysts and camera operators roam the field in batting practice to conduct interviews with the players as they prepare for the game. Alonso, Pedro Martínez, Albert Pujols and Chris Young will be interacting with All-Stars, cultivating indelible moments by obtaining a firsthand look at their routine on the field. The advantage Alonso and Pujols have is in playing first base, a position where conversation abounds when runners find a way to reach.
“I love talking to the guys that can’t speak the language in English because a lot of these guys – they don’t get to talk that much so if I do have them in front of me, I always like to hear what their mindset is all about, especially in a moment like the All-Star Game [and] also just the festivities,” Alonso said. “I try to get the most out of the players.”
Reynolds remembers having a discussion with Los Angeles Angels stars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani last year and talking about what it was like to be teammates. As they have assimilated into the network, Alonso and Gardner are building rapport with players and conducting unforgettable interviews and bringing fans compelling content.
“They want something that’s real and that’s relatable,” Gardner said. “It’s kind of funny – you can have all the training in the world as a broadcaster, and I think what I’ve found as I’ve become more and more successful is what resonates with people is that you kind of let any guard down and you’re just your most authentic self.”
Reynolds maintains his chemistry with players in the offseason on MLB Network’s morning program, Hot Stove, which he hosts with Matt Vasgersian. As time has progressed, Reynolds has established friendships with players and personnel from around the league while building a sense of trust. Additionally, he has been open to discussing the transition from playing to broadcasting with athletes, including Alonso, and guides those new on the job.
“Don’t feel like you need to start broadcasting right now,” Reynolds said he tells active players. “That’s going to take care of itself. You go play your sport. You have a small window of time. Do it, go enjoy it [and] broadcasting will be there later.”
As the National League tries to snap a nine-game losing streak in the annual exhibition contest, MLB Network will be on hand to mark the unofficial halfway point of the season. Leading up to the resumption of regular season play on Friday, programs recapping the best of the first half and previewing the second half of play and postseason pushes will take the air. In the present moment though, Reynolds, Alonso and Gardner are immersed in the action from the peripatetic nucleus of the sport.
Derek Futterman is an associate editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, email Derek@BarrettMedia.com or find him on X @derekfutterman.
