profile
All-Star Analysis
MLB Network hits a home run with Montclair resident Harold Reynolds
WRITTEN BY RICARDO KAULESSAR PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MARKSBURY
PLAY BALL! Harold Reynolds turns a double play for the Seattle Mariners during the 1990 MLB
season. (Opposite page) Reynolds poses in Anderson Park in Montclair.
M
ontclair resident
Harold Reynolds
is a former
Seattle Mariner,
Baltimore Oriole
and California
Angel; an All-Star who once led the
American League in stolen bases; and
the winner of the Roberto Clemente
Award for his sportsmanship and
community involvement. Since 2009,
he has been sharing his insights into
the game as a sports analyst on the
MLB Network. Montclair Magazine
recently spoke to him about his
career in baseball, on and off the
field.
34
BACK TO SCHOOL 2018 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
DID YOU PLAY BASEBALL AS A KID?
I started playing at the age of 5. I
played a little bit earlier because I
have four older brothers, and they
got me into playing so they didn’t
have to watch me at home. I played
three sports when I was growing up
— baseball, basketball and football.
That was the thing you did. I’m a
firm believer in that. It makes you
more well-rounded.
WHAT TEAMS OR PLAYERS DID YOU
ROOT FOR GROWING UP? I watched
a lot of the San Francisco Giants
on TV. The Cincinnati Reds were
always on the “Game of the Week,”
HOW DID YOU GET INTO BASEBALL
ANNOUNCING AND COVERAGE?
When I finished playing, I got a call
from the Arizona Diamondbacks;
they were starting as a team. The
general manager when I played for
the Orioles was Roland Hemond, and
he was becoming the president of the
Arizona team…He had created a job
where I would be an advance scout,
do some TV and radio for them
and work in the community.
But then Jerry Colangelo, who
owned the team, said, “We will not
need you for a while.” Fox Sports
was just starting to broadcast base-
ball, so I did an audition with them
in L.A. While I was at the audition,
I got a call from ESPN. They wanted
me to come out to [Bristol, Conn.].
And they gave me a contract, and
Jerry Colangelo says, “You’re better
off doing TV than working here
for us.”
>
so I was a Big
Red
Re Machine fan.
In football, the
Oakland Raiders,
Oa
all
al those guys,
and
an the Cowboys
wi
with [Roger]
St
Staubach. It was
whoever was
wh
winning, we were
wi
frontrunners.
fr
What was
un
unique about
[my family] is
[m
that we grew
th
up in a col-
le
lege town, in
Corvallis, Ore
Ore. Oregon State is there.
And those teams, we followed. I can
name any athlete from the mid-1960s
to the 1970s.