On Long Island, Neil Best wrote ESPN baseball analyst Terry Francona and his bosses have "done their best to temper the fascination over his moving into the post that Bobby Valentine held -- after Valentine took the spot Francona had held as Red Sox manager." ESPN Senior VP & Exec Producer Jed Drake said, "We are all going to take this straight ahead. While I understand and appreciate the unique situation -- I helped manufacture it -- once we're a week into this, it's going to be like old news." Drake said that all he "demands of Francona is honesty, including on sensitive topics such as the Red Sox's collapse last season." Drake: "I expect him to be candid. I expect him to give insight that will be exceptional and special because of his knowledge of these players and their strengths and weaknesses. I expect that he's going to go right down the middle of this" (NEWSDAY, 4/3).
FROM BOOTH TO DUGOUT: In Boston, Amalie Benjamin noted "most managers that come directly from a media job -- the color guys and analysts -- have spent time in the dugout." Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that his time as a broadcaster "was invaluable" and that it "taught him things he never knew as a player and might not have learned as a coach." Orioles manager Buck Showalter, who also worked as a broadcaster, said, "You can really impact a lot of people’s lives if you take your work very seriously. The guys that I’ve seen that have trouble up there (as a broadcaster) are the guys that don’t take it seriously and don’t realize what a challenge it is to be good at what you’re doing" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/1).
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Joe Block will debut this season as the Brewers' radio play-by-play announcer, and he said his on-air nature is "really compatible" with analyst Bob Uecker. Talking about a long dinner the two had after he was hired in December, Block said, "Uecker immediately made me feel at ease and he continues to every day." Block said that it has "always been his aim to be a baseball radio broadcaster." He said, "I have done a little bit of TV. I mean it's fine. I like it. But radio for me in baseball, it's really a craft. Not saying that TV isn't. But radio goes back further and it has a romance to it that cannot be duplicated really anywhere" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/3).
ROOTING INTEREST: In Boston, Chad Finn wrote the "suggestion that you can turn on the radio and know whether the Red Sox are winning or losing by the tone" of announcer Joe Castiglione’s voice is "not outlandish." Castiglione said, "I really do care whether they win. It’s a criticism if you’re doing a network game when people tell you they can tell whether a team is winning or losing by the tone of your voice. I take it as a compliment. I think Red Sox Nation likes that" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/1).
