Marlins plot major broadcast change, Jimmy Johnson on Tua and Ryan Fitzpatrick on future
A six-pack of media notes on a Tuesday:
▪ The Miami Marlins are making major changes in their WINZ-940 AM radio booth, including a vast reduction in games for longtime radio announcer Dave Van Horne, according to multiple industry sources.
The changes, which have not been announced, are aimed toward diversifying their broadcast booth and using a new approach of pairing a trained play-by-play voice with an analyst, as opposed to two natural play-by-play announcers working together and splitting innings in the same game.
According to multiple sources, Glenn Geffner will work about two thirds of the 162 games (more than 100) and Van Horne will work about a third (a bit over 50). Those numbers will be adjusted if the season ends up shorter than 162 games.
Whoever is handling play-by-play — Geffner or Van Horne - will be paired with a natural analyst. The Marlins are expected to use former players and Fox Sports Florida Marlins studio analysts JP Arencibia and Gaby Sanchez in that role alongside Geffner and Van Horne.
Fox Sports Florida reporter Kelly Saco also is expected to get some games in the radio booth.
The Marlins have been trailblazers in creating opportunities for women, particularly with hiring the first female general manager in major pro sports history (Kim Ng).
Saco, who called a few games on radio in 2019 as a fill-in for Van Horne, will not be the first woman with regular assignments in a radio booth. Suzyn Waldman has called Yankees games on radio with John Sterling since 2005.
Van Horne, 81, has called Major League Baseball games for more than 50 years -- 33 with the Montreal Expos and the past 20 with the Marlins. He was the 2011 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Geffner, who attended Miami Palmetto High, joined the Marlins’ radio team in 2008 after five years with the Boston Red Sox.
Sanchez played first base for both the Miami Hurricanes and Marlins and hit .254 with 61 homers and 266 RBI in a seven-year big league career. He last played in 2014 with Pittsburgh.
Arencibia, a former catcher and first baseman, hit .212 with 80 homers and 245 RBI in a six-year career with Toronto, Texas and Tampa. He last played in 2015.
Sanchez and Arencibia have done good work as Fox studio analysts, and their addition could lead to a more analytical, conversational approach in the radio booth.
Saco was a standout softball player at Miami Palmetto, helping lead the Panthers to a state title in 2008. She played softball for four years at Syracuse while studying broadcasting there.
Meanwhile, the Marlins are moving closer to a new TV deal with Fox Sports Florida, replacing the one that expired a few months ago. Paul Severino and Todd Hollandsworth are expected to remain the TV announcers.
▪ Former Dolphins and Hurricanes coach Jimmy Johnson endorsed Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in a Tuesday conversation with WQAM’s Joe Rose and Zach Krantz.
“I think Tua is a good player,” Johnson said. “I liked him. He made some good plays. He can throw the ball. He’s got a little bit of mobility. He’s a young kid. As he matures and gets better and as you give him a better supporting cast with all those picks, he will be a good player. I like him. My buddy Terry Bradshaw didn’t smell the end zone until his fourth or fifth year.”
▪ Here’s how J.J. said he would approach the Deshaun Watson situation if he ran the Houston Texans.
“You knock on [Watson’s] door, have a couple beers, say, ‘How can we work this out?’
“And if he says no, go back and knock on his door [the next day] and say, ‘How can we work this out? Put it on him, if he says ‘I need this,’ work together and get this done. I wouldn’t let him go. They’ve got no shot if they let him go.”
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said of Watson: “He’s not planning to speak to anyone with the Texans. He’s not planning to report. Who blinks first in this game of chicken? I don’t think he’s going to budge on this.”
Johnson said “Watson is worth more [in return] than any trade I’ve ever seen.”
▪ Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who will become a free agent in March, told The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday that he wants to continue playing.
“These last two years have really re-lit that fire under me and I still want to play,” he said.
Fitzpatrick reiterated that losing his starting job to Tagovailoa “just hurt.. One of the great things of being an older player, an established player is you get to say whatever you want and however you feel. You don’t have to do the veiled BS & the company lines.”
Where would Fitzpatrick want to play? “I can’t be as picky as Matt Stafford,” he cracked, adding that he won’t seriously consider options until free agency begins in March.
The Dolphins declined to say after the season if they want him back.
Fitzpatrick, speaking in general, said: “Inevitably the backup quarterback is the most popular man in the city unless you’re behind an Aaron Rodgers or Patrick Mahomes. They’re always coming for the head of the starter and the backup’s always the most popular guy until he has to play and then you figure out why he’s the backup.”
▪ NBC 6 added Telemundo’s Jorge Andres to its sport staff; Andres and Ruthie Polinsky are handling the station’s sports anchor duties.
Andres also is contributing features, appearing on the the station’s Sunday Sports Final with Polinsky and continuing to do some work for Telemundo-51 in Miami.
He also will keep his national gigs with Telemundo, including a role on Sunday Night Football. Andres was born in Lima, Peru, grew up in Washington DC and previously worked with ESPN Deportes, ESPN and TV stations in Washington and Boston. He was a first team all-conference tight end at George Mason.
▪ Chipper Jones left his ESPN baseball analyst job to become a hitting consultant for the Atlanta Braves. .. Grant Hill replaced Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy as Ian Eagle’s partner on TNT’s Tuesday NBA package, which starts this week... Fox Sports Florida’s Panthers ratings have risen considerably in the wake of the team’s 5-0-1 start.... Check back later in the week for Super Bowl media notes.
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 4:05 PM.
