Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci have the distinct honor during the World Series to be pulling double duty professionally. Rosenthal is a senior writer at The Athletic covering MLB in addition to being a field reporter for FOX during the season. Verducci writes for Sports Illustrated in addition to having the same role at FOX as Rosenthal.
On the Inside Dish segment of his Foul Territory show Fair Territory, Rosenthal revealed what it’s like to cover the World Series from his perspective.
Ken Rosenthal said his day starts with typing up broadcast notes. He like to start initially with 15-20 topics, because he wants to have a rundown of items play-by-play broadcaster Joe Davis can pull from throughout the course of the game as he sees fit.
“That’s part of what I do. Giving information to the play-by-play man,” Rosenthal said.
He arrives at the ballpark about five hours before the game starts and one of the first things that happens is meetings with Rangers manager Bruce Bochy and Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo.
After that, Rosenthal and Verducci get 15 minutes in each team’s clubhouse without other media present. It’s availability Rosenthal said is a perk to his role at FOX.
“It’s an advantage,” he said. “It’s something that as a broadcaster as a part of FOX, which pays whatever they pay for these things, that’s the privilege we get.”
He noted that from there he will head to field level where he will record a pre-game interview on-camera and prepare a pre-game show report which he does live. But he also prepares heavily for that stand-up shot right as the home team takes the field and the starting pitcher takes his warm-up tosses.
That aspect of the broadcast – that last check-in on the field 30 seconds before the game starts – Rosenthal said is the most difficult thing he does on television.
“You have to nail it,” he said. “You have to have it pretty much memorized, because if you miss you can’t just say, ‘Hmmm I’d like to start over,’ or you can’t lose your train of thought because the game’s about to begin.”
When the game starts, Ken Rosenthal just follows his normal flow of progression as he would for any other World Series broadcast. But once the show is over, he then shifts into his role at The Athletic and springs into action.
He said he would stay up til around 3 AM Eastern time each night writing at the hotel before going to sleep.
Ken Rosenthal finished by saying that while he wasn’t meaning to try and flex on anyone for having two really cool jobs, he wanted to let people in on just how much goes into what he does and that he’s not taking the opportunities for granted.
“I’m just trying to give you insight into the work that goes into it,” he said. “And I want to make one thing especially clear. I love doing this. It is an absolute privilege to do this, and I will do this as long as The Athletic and FOX Sports lets me do it.”
“Is it tiring? Of course it’s tiring,” Rosenthal added. “I’m really tired. I’m tired all the time during the postseason, but you go on adrenaline in a lot of ways and you’re fired up to be there. And I fully recognize that all you guys listening, and all you people watching, almost all of you would love to do what I do. And again, it’s work. Yes, it’s work, it’s hard work. But it is an absolute honor, and I feel really lucky every year to be standing on the field during the World Series.”
