The MLB Postseason is upon us as the league elimninates its way to the World Series, flush with contenders that include heavyweight viewership regions such as New York, Boston, DC, Chicago, Houston and LA, equating to six of the top ten television markets. We have the postseason schedule below, but harnessing a powerful National League lineup this year will be TBS, which opens the playoffs with the Rockies/ Diamondbacks Wild Card game on Wednesday at 8p.
Cynopsis asked Ron Darling, who will be in the broadcast booth for the Turner channel throughout its coverage of the postseason, about this year’s storylines, the surge in young talent and his career advice for hopefuls looking to work behind the microphone.
Darling on key NL storylines: In the National League, I want to see which Dodger team is going to show up as they began to doubt themselves later in the season. I think for the Cubs, it’s interesting that they are playing their best baseball of the season. All year long, we saw them a lot and everyone has been asking about a malaise after the World Series and Joe Maddon basically said – Why Not? Of course it makes sense that we had a tough beginning after everything that has happened. We’ll see if they can continue that level of play. For the Washington Nationals, the theme for me is that if they had not had bullpen issues at the beginning of the year, we would be considering them the equal of the Dodgers. The issue with both the Dodgers and Nationals is that they both have post-season demons and they will have to confront those to move on.
On AL storylines: The Indians are the opposite of the Cubs, and showed no malaise after the World Series. They are incredibly built for the 162-game season and it will be interesting to see if they are as potent in the post-season. Boston’s series against Houston will showcase some of the best young talent in the game today from both clubs. Of course, the Yankees originally looked like they were two or three years away, but all of the sudden Mike Judge looks like Babe Ruth and changed everything. I’m more excited about the group of teams coming in this year for a variety of reasons. Some are talent, some are an abundance of talent. Some are because they are playing their best baseball, and some because they are simply having magical years.
On the emergence of young talent in the sport: I think that the young players of today are less encumbered by the trappings of being a professional Major League player. When I played, I played against the best players in my town where I grew up. But these kids play against the best young players in the sport all year long on these travel teams. So when they get to the Major Leagues, I’m not surprised when these guys who are 21 or 22 excel at the sport. When I am on the air, I am always saying “so-and-so and this other player played on the same travel team in Las Vegas.” I think these guys are not in awe of being a Major League baseball player.
On advice to break into the industry: 1) Be so over-prepared that you have 25 things to talk about on the broadcast, even if you end up only talking about two. 2) You cannot replace the reps. The more reps you have the greater chance you have of being you on air so you voice comes through. 3) You cannot worry about whether people like or don’t like you. You need to be true to yourself. If you try to pretend to be someone other than you, you will always mess up. 4) Do not at any time get on social media and try to see what people are saying about you.
