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“ MY BIGGEST CHALLENGE , NOT JUST IN MONTCLAIR BUT IN OTHER COMMUNITIES , IS TOMAKE BASEBALL AFFORDABLE FOR ALL KIDS .”
HAROLD REYNOLDS
HOW DID YOU PREPARE YOURSELF TO BE ASTUDIO ANALYST ? Idid alot of interviews when I was a player . I have my own foundation , so Iused to speak a lot in schools , in churches , in different places . All that stuff helped me to be able to put words into sentences and make apoint . Idon ’ t look at it like I ’ m broadcasting , I ’ m just teaching what I know , and just telling people what ’ s going on .
WHATDOYOU DO AT MLB ON A TYPICAL DAY ? We usually have a meeting three hours before we go on the air . Talk about some of the possibilities , who ’ s playing well , who ’ s trending … talk about all the things that are happening in that sport in that meeting . And we hope to capture it that night . Greg [ Amsinger , MLB Network studio host ] and I work the late shift . I love it because Greg is one of the most energetic people I know . It ’ s a tough shift , it ’ s late at night and one of the most important shifts because we ’ re reviewing the whole day .
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR YOUR CAREER IN THE FUTURE ? The biggest thing for me is to do this hopefully for a few more years . And then , really , just raising the kids , watching them grow up . Hang out in Montclair … Iwant to continue to have an impact on youth sports . I have been trying to meet with the people that run Montclair [ youth ] baseball , and my biggest challenge , not just in Montclair but in other communities , is to make baseball affordable for all kids . It ’ s too expensive , and I think that ’ s unnecessary . So , my biggest thing that Iwant to do and contribute is really try to get this sport to where it ’ s affordable . Nobody should pay thousands of dollars to play on the youth level . It ’ s not right .
TALKIN ’ BASEBALL MLB Network host Greg Amsinger and analyst Harold Reynolds team up at the 2017 All-Star Red Carpet Show ; Reynolds throws out the ceremonial first pitch to Ken Griffey Jr .
HOWDID YOUEND UP LIVINGIN MONTCLAIR , AND WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE ? We ’ ve been here for 10 years now . My wife had first come out here when she was 17 years old ; she had friends who lived in Montclair . So , when we were looking to move to New Jersey , she said there was a community that we should look at .
What attracted us were two things . One , it ’ s a great school district . We ’ ve got three young kids , so we wanted to make sure that they were learning in a fine school district . Secondly , it ’ s diverse , a very diverse community . My wife grew up in Nebraska and I grew up in Oregon , and there ’ s not too many African-Americans in our communities . So , Ifigured we would give our kids a chance to have a little more diversity than we did .
We love it . Imean , it ’ s home . Our children don ’ t know better . It ’ s home to them . We ’ re part of this community now . ■
AMSINGER & REYNOLDS : COURTESY OFMLB NETWORK ; FIRST PITCH : OTTO GREULE JR / GETTY IMAGES
36 BACK TOSCHOOL 2018 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE