The pregame interview is a staple of a radio pregame show. It can be fun and insightful, awkward and pointless, surprising and revealing. I record an interview for every game, usually running 5-6 minutes. It can be mentally intimidating to think of interesting topics every game and deciding who to interview.
Here’s my advice for how to make the most of your interviews, topics when you’re struggling what to ask, and alternative people to be your subjects.
- The six-game series breakdown:
– Tuesday: I talk to our manager. It’s the ideal day to recap the previous week and preview the upcoming week. It’s sometimes a travel day, or setting-up day, so it’s a relief to always know who I’m going to interview. Worst-case scenario, I know that I can talk to the other team’s broadcaster one day. I usually save those for a day game, when player availability is limited.
– Wednesday (night game) through Saturday/Sunday: players.
– This past year, I started interviewing someone from our front office staff, via Zoom, on the final day of a roadtrip to preview the upcoming homestand.
I don’t always interview a coworker or the other broadcaster. My preference is a player. But mentally, it helps knowing that I only need three players per week. - Speaking of your front office colleagues…
Let your audience know when a coworker did something really cool and let them feel the love as a pregame guest. If your Little League Night(s) drew huge crowds, interview the salesperson who is the main contact for those leagues. If someone designed a giveaway item that fans loved, discuss the process of creating the design. On fireworks night, interview the person who sets up the firework show and learn how it all comes together, including the choreographed music. If the field went from soggy mess to pristine, interview the head groundskeeper. This is great for staff morale, and your audience is more likely to know the marketing person than the second baseman. - Two-part interviews are your friend.
These are ideal with a farm director, roving instructor, or anybody with name recognition. Ask them on their first day how long they’re in town, and then interview them on their final day. It gives them more time to view players and natural topics to develop. I’ll usually tell them, “let’s do an interview before you leave town” and then it can be scheduled.
This also allows the opportunity to plan your questions in advance to save time editing later. Start with questions that are timely for that day and save the “evergreen” questions for the second half of the interview that will be used the next day (or even later in the week). - Birthday interviews are fun!
Interview people on their birthday. It’s fun. The possibilities are endless for questions to ask. What’s the best birthday present you ever received? What’s the best game you ever played on your birthday? Who were you named after? What did your parents tell you about the day you were born? Cake or ice cream or pie? Are you into astrology, and if so, are you typical for your sign?
If someone was born on Christmas, or another huge holiday, ask if they celebrated a half birthday. - Use holidays the entire week
It doesn’t need to be Mother’s Day to ask someone about their mom. All throughout the week leading up to Mother’s Day, start off interviews by asking players what makes their mom special and 1-2 other follow-up questions, then move onto another topic as necessary. Do the same with Father’s Day.
When the College World Series is taking place, look for players who went to Omaha and ask them about their memories. When the Little League World Series is taking place, ask players about their earliest memories of youth baseball and how many friends they still have that don’t play baseball. It doesn’t matter if they never went to Williamsport. If the TV in the clubhouse is showing these games, observe who is most into it and talk to them. - Who was your favorite player and why?
I learned this from Jesse Goldberg-Strassler; It’s the easiest way to start an interview with a player who just joined your team. Who was your favorite player and why? Then ask natural follow-up questions. Have you ever met that player? Did you have a poster in your bedroom or collect their baseball cards or have their jersey?
The best answers are when a player names somebody who retired before they were born. Then you have endless follow-up questions about how they learned about the player, watching clips on YouTube, etc. Follow up by asking about current players they respect and study closest to learn about a swing, a pitch grip, etc. - Learn a little about their hometown and ask more.
If a player grew up in Cedar Rapids, ask how often they went to Kernels games. Did they attend any of those morning games, or a Youth Skills Clinic, or run the bases after a game? Did they dream about playing at that stadium or did they care more about cotton candy and the mascot?
Get on Google Maps and see how many MLB stadiums are drivable within five hours. Ask about roadtrips to MLB stadiums and how many different friends had different favorite teams.
If it’s a really small town, ask if they locked their front doors, or how many stoplights, or the size of their graduating class. - Players coming back from a big injury.
My favorite question to ask players returning from a long-term injury (like Tommy John surgery) is, “what hobbies did you learn, or did you further geek out on, when you were unable to play?” I’ve had players tell me they got into really cooking, video editing, chess, drawing, all kinds of stuff. This humanizes them.
My second favorite is, “how do you get better at baseball when you can’t play baseball?” I think it’s interesting to learn how they studied the game and who they watch. Ask them who they leaned on when they were struggling mentally. As they neared the end of their rehab, what were the landmark moments? What other players were going through a similar injury and they bonded more.
It’s also really fun to ask players what they know about the actual Tommy John. Have a list of fun facts about the real Tommy John you can tell them, or write it down on your notebook for them to study. - Final thoughts:
The entire interview does not need to be about their Birthday, their Mom, their trip to Omaha, or the new cooking recipes they learned when sidelines. Maybe their answers are so answers are so interesting, you keep following up with more questions.
But if those topics take up one-third or one-half the interview, that’s perfect. Then you can transition the second half of the interview to baseball topics.
Think of yourself like a newspaper reporter (remember those?) doing a feature story on someone or writing a pregame notebook. Those answers that you get will make for the IDEAL anecdotes to use in your broadcast when they are batting or pitching.