Pop quiz, hot shot! It's the fourth inning, there's a runner on second base and no outs. You're at bat. What do you do? If you said, "get a hit", then you don't know the half of it, according to former Astros third baseman Morgan Ensberg. But not to worry, he's here to help.
After his final season as a baseball player in 2008, Ensberg played golf for all of about two weeks before deciding that spending all his time on the links was not for him. At 35, he's still got a long way to go before qualifying for Social Security, so he's made it his mission to break into broadcasting and help educate fans about the game. "Baseball is difficult to teach, and fans get the worst info ever," Ensberg told us. "In the clubhouse, we'd be watching games on tv, and we don't understand what (the broadcasters) are talking about."
Let's get back to the 4th inning. If Ensberg were in the booth, he'd tell the fans that the batter's goal is not necessarily to get a hit, but to put the ball on the ground to the right side of the infield, and to frown on any pitch that would not produce that result. Even if the batter gets out, if he's accomplished the task above, he'll at least have moved the runner on 2nd over. "So many people think: if he gets a hit, that's good, if he doesn't, that's bad," he says. "I want to teach the fundamentals of the game."
Part of his plan to teach can be found on his blog, which he set up this year as a way for a player to connect directly with fans, without a media filter like he experienced during his playing days. Back then, he said, there was a "four foot wall" between players and fans. He takes pains to respond to many of the comments on his blog personally, creating a real dialogue with fans about their shared passion for baseball.
He'd like to be a color commentator, and currently fills a bullpen role for the ESPNU and Fox Sports College networks, providing insight into college baseball. Ultimately, there are a finite number of jobs in the broadcast world, so Ensberg is trying to get his foot in the door. "Just get in and stay long enough" to be a full-time commentator. Having broken into baseball as a walk-on at University of Southern California and a subsequent 9th round draft pick before rising to become an MLB All-Star in 2005, he knows a thing or two about working from the bottom up.
We also asked Ensberg about his time with the Astros, which he admits, had some massive highs and crushing lows. His all-time favorite memory with the team came in 2004, when he won the Daryl Kile Award. "It's the only trophy in my house on display. When I won it, I thought, 'I hope when baseball is over, I'm not remembered as a good player, but as a good guy'. That's what (Kile) was all about."
Asked about the current woeful state of the Astros, and their season-starting losing streak, he emphasized how draining it is to lose that much: "The guys in the clubhouse feel miserable. In 2005, it was miserable. We had to deal with not scoring runs. We were just not doing well. Pressure comes from the organization, from the media, from fans. The real question becomes, how much heat can the front office take? One thing I learned in New York (the Yankees in 2008), is how (GM Brian) Cashman takes heat for the players he's acquired. And he can do that because he has the support of the organization behind him."
If you want to hear Ensberg on the airwaves (perhaps in place of the endlessly inane Brett Dolan and Dave Raymond, the Astros current radio team along with the mummy of Milo Hamilton), the best way that you can help is to go to the blog. What Ensberg is doing is unique: social-networking his way in the back door of the sports media; so if he's to have the chance at that big audience, he needs to grow one himself, from scratch. "Go to the site, learn, contribute," he told us. That way, he can provide an alternative to "most broadcasting professionals (who) don't teach, it's all bells and whistles."
Lest you think that all this talk of teaching makes listening to Ensberg dry and pedantic, you couldn't be more wrong. His laid-back California cadence and easy wit would make him a perfect game watching companion. And his wealth of stories from his playing days (his Jeff Bagwell blog entry is a must-read) add flavor and real-life examples to back up the principles.
Now that you know how to move a runner into scoring position, how's about going over to Morgan's blog to learn some more, and get to know #14 a little better? It's a must-read blog from a guy who's well on his way to becoming what that Kile Award signifies.
photo: flickr user jeffbalke
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