During an early morning in Bradenton, Florida, as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ clubhouse was opening for the media at LECOM Park, MLB Network’s Tom Verducci, with pad and pen in hand, was walking the long corridor.
Appearing regularly on all the major programs the 24/7 baseball channel produces, Verducci is easily spotted. With MLB Network since 2009, and being an award-winning writer at Sports Illustrated since 1993, Verducci is one of the most respected voices covering baseball of his generation.
Before making a left turn at the end of the corridor that leads directly into the Pirates’ clubhouse, and joining a handful of Pittsburgh beat writers preparing to speak with Pirates’ pitching sensation Jared Jones on his performance earlier in a game earlier in the day, Verducci paused in mid-walk.
On the other side of the pad or recording devices, which is the norm in his profession, Verducci allowed a reporter to report on him.
With all his baseball credibility, where did, or what was his inspiration that motivated Verducci to pursue the career that he does? Every fan had a beginning with baseball. What was Verducci’s trigger that saw him land a 10-year gig, shortly after graduating from Penn State University with a journalism degree, with the then daily newspaper New York Newsday from 1983–1993?
“Growing up, I was a Mets fan,” Verducci told The Epoch Times. “Probably, when Cleon Jones caught the final out of the 1969 World Series, and went down on one knee. That is my favorite memory as a kid.”
Verducci, who easily remembers his Little League team in New Jersey winning their “World Series,” proudly explains how he is related to the New York Mets’ late manager Gil Hodges’s wife Joan Hodges.
“Joan is my father’s first cousin,” says Verducci of Hodges, whose maiden name was Lombardi.
The excitement in Verducci’s voice as he talks about his love of baseball is obvious. A two-time Emmy Award winner, there are no signals of burnout or that he is just going about his job. When speaking of MLB legends, and their memories in the game’s “forever home” in Cooperstown, New York, at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Verducci’s smile stretches when recalling his visits to New York’s most famous village.
“I was there [in Cooperstown] for the first time ten years ago for the Hall’s induction weekend. The experience of watching the ceremonies was even better than I had expected.”
The village of Cooperstown in of itself, while on assignment for the inductions that included Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio, blew away all expectations of what Verducci had originally thought.
“There’s such a small town community feel there. It brought me back to my Little League days. I never saw so much baseball royalty in one place. It’s incredible,” said Verducci, a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 1993, as a member of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Clearly enjoying speaking about one of his most favorite destinations that his baseball travel schedule has taken him to, Verducci points to the Hall of Fame’s plaque room as his most memorable stop. The enormity of the room that houses the plaques of all 356 elected members on the museum’s first floor, for Verducci who has reported on World Series and All-Star games, remains thrilling.
“It’s [Baseball Hall of Fame] hallowed ground, for sure,” explains Verducci, who has written several books, including “The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse.”
The 30 MLB clubs’ fan base around the United States and Canada, with all their differences in supporting their favorite players, is what keeps Verducci on the hunt for a story. As talented of an insider that Verducci is, the fan in him has never left. When pressed for a favorite of his, either in today’s ranks or when growing up, “Tom Terrific”—Tom Sever sits atop Verducci’s all-time list. The ace of the Mets’ pitching staff for 11 of his 20 MLB seasons, Seaver, who passed away four years ago, was among the first plaques visited by Verducci during his initial Hall of Fame visit.
With word coming from the Pirates’ communication staff that Jones was ready to speak about his pitching performance earlier in the day, Verducci restarts his walk to the home team’s clubhouse. After all questions are answered, and all beat writers disperse back to the media work room, one reporter remains for additional questioning of Jones. Verducci chooses to dig deeper on the budding career of Pittsburgh’s talented right-handed hurler.
It has been said there is no cheering in the press box; reporters on the job shouldn’t show favoritism to those they are covering. There should be no hint, in word or action, when events unfold on the playing field by the game’s storytellers. There are always exceptions. Seeing Verducci in person, hearing him speak of his baseball fandom, as a child through adulthood, does cause an automatic stand up, and cheer reflex from this reporter. What baseball fans see and hear from Verducci is the real deal.
