Seven months after Peyton and Eli Manning provided a template on how alternate broadcasts could succeed, Alex Rodriguez and Michael Kay think they can improve on it.
The 鈥淜ayRod Cast鈥 with Rodriguez and Kay debuts Sunday night on ESPN2 when the Boston Red Sox take on the New York Yankees. It will be the first of eight this season that will take place while 鈥淪unday Night Baseball鈥 airs on ESPN.
鈥淲ell, we鈥檙e presently in the legal maneuverings to get adopted by a pair of people so we can actually be brothers, so that will give us more of a 鈥楳anningcast鈥 feel,鈥 Kay said jokingly during a conference call earlier this week. 鈥淚 thought the 鈥楳anningcast鈥 was great. I think we鈥檙e going to pay a little bit more attention to the game.鈥
Alternate broadcasts can go off the rails because the game becomes secondary to the interviews and personalities, but baseball might be the one sport that can blend both due to the pace of play.
While Rodriguez and Kay aren't related like the Mannings, they are longtime friends. Kay has broadcast Yankees games since 1992 while Rodriguez spent 12 of his 22 major league seasons in pinstripes.
Rodriguez has managed to transition into broadcasting despite some controversies on and off the field. While he has been engaging while doing studio work for Fox, he struggled as an analyst during his four seasons as an analyst in the 鈥淪unday Night Baseball鈥 booth.
But Rodriguez thinks he did some of his best analyst work during a short stay in the 鈥淵ES Network鈥 booth with Kay and David Cone during a 2019 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
鈥淚 think it was the best four innings I鈥檝e ever done on TV because I was in the middle of two very close friends, and it was going back and forth," Rodriguez said. 鈥淢ichael knows exactly how to set me up because he knows me so well, so I think this format will do well for me.鈥
Rodriguez also thinks his suspension for taking performance-enhancing drugs 鈥 and the criticism he got from many, including Kay 鈥 helped prepare him for his new opportunity.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 going to make this show really, I think, good, is because you鈥檙e going to get forthrightness from both him and I,鈥 he said. 鈥淗onestly, pre-suspension, I think the show wouldn鈥檛 have been as good because I wasn鈥檛 as comfortable. I think I鈥檓 just more comfortable in my skin today, and we鈥檙e going to let it rip.鈥
Mark Gross, ESPN鈥檚 senior vice president for production and remote events, said guests during the broadcast are likely to lean more toward players who played well on Sunday afternoon or during the past week. It also will include batting and fielding demos by Rodriguez.
Sunday鈥檚 show will have Kay and Rodriguez together at ESPN鈥檚 Seaport District Studios in New York. Some subsequent broadcasts could take place remotely, depending on their schedules. Rodriguez is spending most of his time in Minnesota as part of the ownership group of the NBA鈥檚 Timberwolves.
When it comes to ratings, comparing 鈥淜ayRod Cast鈥 to 鈥淢anningcast鈥 would be unfair. The 鈥淢anningcast鈥 averaged 1.58 million viewers per game last season. By comparison, 鈥淪unday Night Baseball鈥 was up 18% in 2021 according to Nielsen, and averaged 1.46 million.
A better gauge might be audience percentage. Last season, 12% of the total 鈥淢onday Night Football鈥 audience watched the Mannings compared to the main broadcast.
Ratings aside, Kay said his main goal is to get Rodriguez to project his natural personality.
鈥淚 want to get Alex Rodriguez to be the Alex Rodriguez that I used to speak to in front of a locker where there wasn鈥檛 the confinement of this has to be done for television, you have to look here, you have to break here, because I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever met anybody who knows more baseball than Alex,鈥 he said.
___
More AP MLB: and