Interview with Miami Marlins Glenn Geffner: Part II

The following is the second installment of a two-part interview with Miami Marlins radio broadcaster Glenn Geffner.

If you’re just coming to the party on this one, earlier in the weekend we sat down with Miami Marlins broadcaster Glenn Geffner to pick his brain on all things baseball and broadcasting. You can check out the first installment of that interview here.

Below we wrap with Glenn. Hope you enjoy.

MM:  Favorite Marlins broadcast you’ve been a part of?

GG: One of these days I’d like to call some post-season games in Miami, and they’ll shoot to the top of the list. Until then, the first one that comes to mind just came up recently when we faced Alex Wood in Los Angeles.

In 2014, Jose Fernandez and Wood matched up in an incredible pitchers duel in Atlanta. The Marlins won the game 1-0 in 2 hours, 8 minutes. Jose was absolutely electric that night. He worked 8 scoreless innings, didn’t walk anybody and struck out 14. Wood went 8 and allowed one run on a Casey McGehee RBI single in the 5th. He didn’t walk anybody and struck out 11.

Both pitchers were working fast. I was just talking with Fredi Gonzalez about that game the other day. He was managing the Braves at the time. It was one of those games where the innings were so fast, there was no time for anything. I don’t think I used anything I’d prepared for the game. It was all we could do to get our promotional reads in.

I know some feel differently, but I’m one who would rather watch a pitchers duel than a slugfest, so that one was a lot of fun for me. Most of Jose’s starts were a lot of fun to call. The anticipation of what he might do going in, then the pure electricity of watching him do his thing on the mound.

The first game after Jose’s passing is also one I’ll never forget. You asked about “favorite” broadcasts, and there was certainly nothing fun about that night. But being able to help describe what was happening at the park that night is something I’ll never forget. And we heard from so many fans who said we helped them come to grips with what had happened over that final week of the season.

That sort of thing reminds you how impactful what we do can be to some people in some instances. 

MM:  Certainly will never forget that first game back. Feels like Dee Gordon could steal home to win the World Series this year, and fifty years from now, that home run off of Bartolo Colon would still be the first thing I think of. Any advice for any young fans looking to break into the sports journalism/broadcasting biz? How about older, freelance amateurs?

GG:  If you’re in school, get all the experience you can. Write for your school paper. Take advantage of any radio or TV opportunities that might be available to you. If you want to do play-by-play specifically, you’ve got to do games. Seek out opportunities at your high school or college.

If none exist, create them via webcasts. If you’ve got to go to a high school game or a Little League game and call a game into a recorder, do that. This isn’t something that you learn how to do in a classroom. You’ve got to call games. Then you’ve got to go back and listen to yourself, see what you like and what you don’t like.

Then you’ve got to go call more games. Get an internship at a radio or TV station. Meet as many people as you can. And do more games. Whatever the sport, whatever the level, get as much experience as you can. When you reach the point where you have a decent amount of work you feel really good about, reach out to people in the industry you respect and see if they’ll listen and offer some feedback.

The other thing I’d say is when you reach the point where you’re actually doing games somewhere, don’t  try to be Vin Scully. Don’t try to be Jon Miller. Be yourself.  

MM:  Feel obligated to ask one question about the rumored sale of the team: do you see this impacting the way the club conducts business, in terms of either buying or selling parts, this summer?

GG:  I don’t know any more about the status of the potential sale of the team than anyone else who reads what’s been written nationally. From what has been said, it doesn’t sound like anything changes in the way routine baseball business is conducted.

MM:  You get a chance to travel with and interview the Miami Marlins players on a regular basis. Which Marlin do you think fans would be most surprised to see their off-camera persona? Basically, someone who only smiles when on the field, or someone who looks stoic in the dugout but is a cut-up the rest of the time?

GG:  I may not be the best person to gauge how people perceive players because I’ve never really focused on that. From my own experience though, I think Ichiro would be a guy I’d say has been a lot different than I might have expected before he arrived in 2015.

As single-minded and focused as he is (and he’s even more locked in than I could have imagined from afar), this is a guy who likes to laugh and have fun. I would imagine a lot of the younger guys in the clubhouse were a little unsure what to expect when he arrived a couple of years ago. But he quickly put everyone at ease and quickly became a big part of the clubhouse culture. 

MM: Fan geekiness creeping in, but just how cool is it to be in the presence of Ichiro?

GG:  I’ve admired Ichiro from afar since he first burst onto the scene in Seattle in 2001, so having the chance to watch him up-close the last 3 seasons has been incredible. The way he carries himself. The regimented way he goes about his preparation on a daily basis. The steadiness of his personality. The seriousness with which he approaches his craft. The way he fits into the clubhouse. It’s all been remarkable to watch.

I’ve been lucky over the years to be around a lot of great players in San Diego, Boston and Miami. Hall of Famers or at least Hall of Fame-caliber players like Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman and Rickey Henderson with the Padres. Players like Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz when I was with the Red Sox. Every one is unique in his own way. What I’m about to say probably doesn’t make sense in a literal way, because there may not really be degrees of “unique.”

But the best way I can say it is Ichiro is the single most unique player I’ve even been around.