The name Ken Rosenthal is synonymous with baseball in this area. He has been covering the game for over a decade but he has a print background and is a five-time winner of the Maryland Sports Writer of the Year award.
Now in is role as senior baseball writer for Foxsports.com, he adds to the network’s Emmy Award-winning baseball coverage. He serves as the baseball insider onthe FOX’s pregame show and is on site as a reporter at one of the regional “Game of the Week” telecasts.
Rosenthal brings his baseball knowledge to the show in an entertaining and informative style that compliments the work of the Joe Buck and Tim McCarver in the booth and the pregame crew of Jeanne Zelasko and Kevin Kennedy back in the Los Angeles studio.
I talked to Rosenthal about his new job as well as the Nationals new ownership and what response it has generated in MLB circles.
Jim Williams: What is it like being part of the FOX baseball crew?
Ken Rosenthal: It is very humbling to be able to be part of a great crew and to work with guys like Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. I see my role as someone who can compliment the broadcast with information that gives the fan a little better idea about the players they are watching. As for the pre game show, that is more of a “notes” report, covering as many topics as I can and giving fans the best and the latest information possible.
JW: O.K., the Nationals have new ownership. What do you see as their future?
KR: I think that the Lerners are smart to want to build from the ground up. [New tram president] Stan Kasten is the perfect man to run the Nationals. The good news is that you don’t have to blow things totally up and start again. You have a good core group — Brian Schneider, Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Johnson, Chad Cordero and Gary Majewski, perhaps even Michael O’Connor — will prove to be the real thing. I would also consider offering a long-term deal to Alfonso Soriano. He is such a gifted player it is worth a shot. I think Nationals fans need to be a bit patient but Washington is going to be a premier franchise. A little patience is the key for Nats fans, because it will pay off.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer.
