MLB Network's Greg Amsinger Talks Draft, Rule Changes, and Playing With House Money

Our next guest on Press Pass is Greg Amsinger, a studio host at MLB Network. He will host MLB Draft coverage on Monday night and you can watch him on MLB Tonight throughout the season. He took time to chat with The Big Lead’ about next week’s big event, his first broadcasting gig, and his optimism for baseball’s future.

Kyle Koster: Is it weird to have a draft at your office?

Greg Amsinger: That is a great question. I’m actually used to it. It’s right outside my office. They fill it up with representatives of all 30 teams; some of them are Hall of Famers. All of our guys, all of our analysts are in the building, kids are in the building that are going to get drafted. It is such an exciting day to be in Secaucus, New Jersey, inside our MLB Network studios. I’ve grown accustomed to it and would be sad if I didn’t have it once a year.

KK: What type of reaction do you get from the kids, their parents and those who have been around them as they realize this dream that’s been so long in the making?

GA: It’s the biggest night of their lives and that is all over their faces. To be drafted on Day One means you’re probably a baseball lifer at 18, or 21 if they’re a college athlete, so they’re watching our network all the time and walking into Studio 42. It’s a place their eyes have been glued to by watching us. They are in a candy store from beginning to end. There’s a likelihood if they’ve been called to come to Secaucus that they’re going to get drafted so they have this air of confidence that they’re going to hear their name called. It’s all positive. To see these kids with their families — it’s such a wonderful experience to witness as an outsider hosting the show seeing them celebrate the greatest day of their lives.

KK: Do you get envious of any of their suits? Do they try to one-up you?

GA: Yes! There have been a couple times when young men have rolled in here looking sharp. Aaron Judge a few years back, if you remember the number he put together, he looked terrific. Carlos Correa, the night he was drafted No. 1, was dressed to the nines. A guy that ended up doing a backflip in Studio 42, his name was Courtney Hawkins, he was decked out. These kids bring their A Game from a fashion point of view.

KK: It must take a total team effort on draft night because there are so many rounds and players to get familiar with and because you have to be up to date on all the current major and minor leagues. I assume it’s a heavy lift for the folks behind the scenes.

GA: Without a doubt. From a production standpoint, our staff is amazing. Truly remarkable. It’s all-hands-on-deck that day. Research staff, top-notch. From a content standpoint, we rely heavily on our friends at MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. We have the true experts when it comes to this industry of amateur baseball talent. I’m surrounded by the best possible resources. It makes for a lengthy show that from a logistical standpoint is hard to pull off so much easier by what I’m surrounded by. It’s a team effort that started months ago. It’s been a labor of love no doubt.

KK: How do you view it as different than the NFL and NBA drafts?

GA: Well, the youngsters that are drafted in those sports are already household names for the most part as they’re walking into the draft. We have to educate America on who these players are. That is, to me, the No. 1 priority. Then we give you analysis in the aftermath of the pick. That’s step two. We really want to introduce the next stars of this sport to the masses. If you look back … name your favorite player in Major League Baseball. Chances are they were a first- or second-round pick. The cream rises to the top. This is a show you need to pay attention to so you’re not going ‘who’s that’ in 3-5 years.

KK: Researching your path, I read that you were spurred on to go into the industry by a theater teacher in high school?

GA: Yes, he pulled me aside and said, ‘Greg, you actually have talent. You like speaking in front of people.’ My dad’s a welder, my mom’s a nurse and I thought I’d work in a factory just like my dad. I thought, ‘What can you do by talking?’ My mom had been telling me to please just shut up, so I didn’t think this was an actual skill but to have someone at a young age like that open my eyes to a future I never thought was possible altered my life.

KK: Were you always passionate about baseball? I know you’re a Cardinals fan.

GA: Yes. My first baseball memory is Ozzie Smith hitting the walk-off home run and Jack Buck’s “Go crazy, folks, go crazy” down the right-field line in the playoffs against the Dodgers. I was in a little house in South Saint Louis. All my aunts and uncles were around the television set — set, not the flatscreens we have now — all the relatives exploded and went crazy. I was 6 years old at the time and I was hooked. I was like ‘If there’s a game that makes adults act like this,’ then I’m into it.

KK: I’d imagine you’ve had some interaction with Ozzie Smith and other greats, or even just players you grew up watching. Do you ever have that realization when you’re on set, talking baseball with them, and how quickly do you have to snap out of it in order to do your job well?

GA: As I answer the question I’m staring at the first interview I ever did with Ozzie Smith, it’s on my wall, and I consider him a friend to this day. I’ll never forget a surreal moment in 2011, on set right before the end of Game 7 of the World Series. Look, I’m a professional broadcaster, I want to be fair to the Rangers fans watching but I’ve had a boss before tell me, ‘Look, you want to channel the fanbase that just won’ and I was prepared to do that for the Rangers. But it just so happened the Cardinals won, so a little bit of my St. Louis upbringing was injected into my mind.

I remember looking at Kevin Millar, Al Leiter and Harold Reynolds and saying, ‘Guys, this is just another World Series postgame shows to you but this is one of the top 10 greatest nights of my life.’ I’ll never forget opening the show that night following one of the greatest World Series ever, in my hometown, with Albert Pujols and Tony LaRussa on our set with us. I do pinch myself quite often because this truly is a dream job.

KK: We see that moment and people can understand that moment, but what about the times coming up through broadcasting that led to that point?

GA: I’ll never forget the first celebration I had with my friends in college because I was named the play-by-play guy of the River City Renegades indoor professional football team. I was, I think, a junior in college and was doing play-by-play for high school sports for a little station called KSLQ, which was run out of a house in Washington, Missouri. And when I found out I was going to be the voice of the now-defunct indoor professional football team, the Renegades, I thought to myself if I do this for the rest of my life I’ll be the happiest guy ever. I didn’t need any more. I was going to be calling a sport where there were fans in the seats — it didn’t need to be a sellout — I just wanted to be in that forum. To communicate with fans who couldn’t be in the building to watch the sport. I never really set the bar super-high in terms of my broadcast expectations. I never really did. So every job I got after that I felt like I was playing with house money and now I feel like I own the entire casino.

KK: I also read you were on a radio morning show …

GA: I was a radio DJ, yeah. That was my first love. I did a heavy-metal show at night and my morning show, five days a week, was new adult contemporary. Here’s the latest from Kenny G, that’s kind of what I did.

KK: When I watch you on MLB Tonight, I’m struck on how often you serve as the middleman, the buffer between an old-school and new-school point of view, depending on who is on with you that night. How do you view yourself as a baseball fan — if traditionalist is on one pole and blow-it-all-up and reinvent the wheel is on the other?

GA: Middle ground is always where I want to stand. Extremism, in this sport, I don’t think it leads anywhere. As I follow baseball day in and day out, I want more if it. I want all of it. I want to know a little bit of everything, from the way the front office operates, how players are making in-game, postseason, or offseason adjustments to improve their game. I’m into all of it. I think StatCast, that we get a chance to spearhead here at the network, is the coolest thing ever. I don’t ever want to diminish the perspective of a former player because the one thing that I’ll say is I grew up idolizing players. They have the IT factor. They did it. To me, that is the greatest knowledge that I could ever attain.

Let’s say I went to sabermetric camp. I could leave there feeling like I knew a lot. But I can’t learn what Harold Reynolds knows. There’s no way I’ll ever come close to the knowledge Joe Girardi or John Smoltz have, so I’m always going to respect their side of an argument. You’ll never hear a tone of disrespect. You may hear surprise by me, but I’m always trying to bring the other side in, no matter where that is because I don’t want the show having three guys all agreeing to an extreme point of view because I know there are fans out there who disagree, and I’m trying to represent them.

KK: And now for the bum-out portion of the interview. There’s a lot of concern about the future of baseball and the effects of the three true outcome era. In my mind the real problem isn’t analytics or swinging for home runs, it’s the pure velocity of the game. Every team has four or five relievers who can come in fresh and throw 95 mph. Are you concerned about that aspect?

GA: I think that is part of the problem but it’s also what compensates the players. What are they compensated for? Slugging and on-base is what gets them paid, their agents believe in that. So, Joey Gallo isn’t going to take a hit to left field every time he walks up to the plate. Would Rod Carew? Would Tony Gwynn? Now, granted, we’re talking about two of the greatest hitters ever, but if they walked up to the plate and everyone was on one side of the field, they’re going to take their hit. Nowadays, we’re telling players we don’t want that, don’t just reach first base and take the hit, you need to hit the ball over the wall.

The game is going to change, I believe. I still love it the way it is now but it’s going to revert back, I believe. Our commissioner [Rob Manfred] is fearless in the way he approaches adjustments. I love how excited he gets about tweaking the system a little bit. This rule of having a relief pitcher come in and have to face more than one batter is phenomenal. It’s going to make the game better. You can’t just bring in a situational reliever anymore. That will impact pace of play, all of that kind of stuff. I think we have the right guy to adjust going forward.

KK: Following national shows, it feels like baseball can only be addressed through specific lenses, one being how to fix the game through rule changes. Have you noticed that?

GA: I have noticed it and I’ll start with the last part first. For years it was the last sport willing to change — it was comfortable in its own way. But now, with the leadership we have, there is excitement surrounding baseball. Fans are excited to see what’s next. In a sport where that was almost never considered a possibility, I can’t wait to see where this goes.

What’s next? In the 10th inning are we going to have runners on first and second with nobody out to start every inning? Or could it be my idea which is starting in the 10th inning every team gets two outfielders? The inside-the-park homer is the most exciting play in baseball, right?

Look, there are a million ways we could go. I think it’s excitement for the future of the game instead of trying to “fix it.”

KK: Wrapping up, let’s do some quick-fire questions here. Better hair: Eric Byrnes or Kevin Millar and his frosted tips?

GA: I’ve got to go with Eric Byrnes. Have you seen his hair line? It’s beautiful.

KK: Are you secretly hoping for someone to get hit in the face during demonstrations?

GA: I am first in line to get hit with a Wiffle Ball. I can take the pain. It makes for good television.

KK: Most random 1980s baseball player that comes to your mind?

GA: Tom Lawless.

KK: Do you still have any baseball cards?

GA: Do I have any baseball cards? My entire office is covered in baseball cards! I have the office of a 10-year-old baseball freak fan. I’ve got bobbleheads, Starting Lineup figures, I have books and pictures. I want my office to look like my room growing up. It spurs creativity.

MLB Network will exclusively televise the 2019 MLB Draft on Monday, June 3 beginning with a Draft preview show at 6:00 p.m. ET. MLB Network’s Amsinger, Kelly Nash, Dan O’Dowd, Harold Reynolds and MLB Pipeline’s Jonathan Mayo will anchor live coverage including interviews with Club front office personnel and representatives, footage from Club draft rooms, and features and interviews with prospects and newly drafted players, plus MLB Network will produce exclusive content across its social media platforms.