Q and A: Karl Ravech marks 30 years with ESPN

CLEVELAND, Ohio – If you’re a sports fan who enjoys sitting back as the weekend unwinds and flipping to ESPN, you probably have caught “Sunday Night Baseball” with Karl Ravech doing play-by-play.

The veteran broadcaster, who is marking his 30th year with the network, never takes anything for granted – not his life, after suffering a heart attack in his 30s; or his job calling Major League Baseball games.

When Ravech began working at ESPN, it was more of a one-dimensional network. It has expanded into an empire including restaurants, radio, multiple channels and a digital side – where his son works.

We spoke with Ravech as he was preparing to call Sunday’s game between the Cleveland Guardians and the New York Mets. Here’s an edited version of our conversation:

You started with ESPN at a pretty young age. How many games have you called in your career?

Oh, God. I don’t know because ‘Baseball Tonight’ for so many years was on twice a night. So you were really doing two shows a night, which was the greatest thing ever. So I know there was a period of time where it’s like nobody is actually on TV as much as I am, and I really feel bad for the viewers. I mean, once is enough. Twice is way too much. Let’s just suffice it to say I’m grateful for every one of them. They’ve all been different.

Did you envision seeing yourself doing this for 30 years?

I was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for three years and was looking for a job because I knew that the weekday sports anchor in Harrisburg was just never going to leave. And as much as I enjoyed it, and had bought a house and enjoyed the community, if I wanted to become the weekday sports anchor in a local market, then I would need to leave Harrisburg because this guy wasn’t going to go anywhere. So I didn’t have a five-minute plan. It was ‘Where do I go next?’ as opposed to a five-year plan. … When I got to ESPN, I auditioned with about six other guys. And I finished second. And the person who finished first couldn’t take the job. Once I got there, I’m doing overnight ‘Sports Center’ for several years. I realized how grateful and lucky I’ve been. The people at ESPN have always been willing to afford me opportunities to do different things, from ‘Sports Center’ to college basketball studio, to college football studio, into play-by-play of Little League and college baseball. There’s just always been, in 30 years, new roads to venture down as opposed to being on the same one. And that’s what makes 30 years feel like three years. I love to be part of a team and a family in any show I do.

Do you remember your first game you went to? From what I know about your background I will guess it was a Red Sox game.

It was at Fenway Park. I don’t have that that photographic memory to sit there and say (a specific date). But I vividly remember, most importantly, the green wall with the net and how green the grass was. I’d never seen grass that color. So I’m guessing I was probably six or seven when I first attended a Red Sox game. That’s where I grew up – in Needham, Massachusetts. I grew up really in an era when I was an impressionable sports fan. It was Larry Bird and the Celtics that really were the team that was dominant, and Bobby Orr when I was young. I have two signed jerseys in my collection. One of them is Bobby Orr. And the other is Larry Bird.

The big storyline this year has been the game itself rather than individual play. Games are much shorter. Many new rules changes are in place. Is it working?

I think Major League Baseball games now on average are two hours and 39 minutes. And that includes extra-inning games. I’ll be very honest, as a fan of sports, and as a fan of baseball, it had become – and this is not only from me, but from people who I know who make a living in it –boring. The majority of games required you to really test your patience with the pickoffs and the stepoffs and the batters adjusting themselves and the trips to the mound. (Go to a minor-league game) and you realize, ‘Oh my gosh, they can move quicker.’ These rule changes as a blanket have worked tremendously. When we had the seven-inning doubleheaders during the pandemic, there were a bunch of people who thought seven-inning games were a great idea. You’re playing in two hours and 25, two hours and 40 minutes. That felt like what an appropriate game should be. And trust me when I tell you many players had the same thought. … you don’t even pay attention anymore to a pitch clock.

You’re coming up on an inauspicious anniversary – 25 years since you suffered a heart attack in your 30s. How has your lifestyle changed since that happened?

Dramatically for sure. I was always an athlete growing up playing soccer, basketball, tennis, baseball for many years. When I went off to college my form of exercise was anytime there was a pickup game I knew I could be competitive and run around and that was good enough for me. Doing things like daily exercise or going to the gym or ellipticals or running, which I got into in a real big way after that heart attack. I exercise every day religiously, and when I don’t I get upset, and it bothers me. And sometimes the schedule is a challenge. But all of my exercise routines, my eating, my sleep habits, my anxiety – all of those things have been put into proper context. I oftentimes celebrate November 3 as a birth day. That is actually when I turned one.

You’re calling Sunday’s Guardians-Mets game. Both teams drew a lot of preseason attention, but both are flirting with .500. Any predictions on how Cleveland’s season is going to go?

I think since Terry Francona has taken over the Indian slash Guardians, I believe they have the fourth best overall record in baseball. And part of that is because he and his coaching staff do such a good job of taking a team and over the course of the season, improving it. So here we are sitting a couple of games under .500 and yet very much within striking distance of first-place Minnesota. You know, there are certainly reasons to believe that’s going to happen again. The pitching certainly hasn’t been good, although they’ve been dealing with a whole bunch of injuries and they’re getting some guys back. And, you know, I think appreciably they’d like to hit the ball over the wall more. … I’m not certain that what they have is good enough to win a World Series. I think it’s probably good enough to win a division and compete again. … I think with another bat and some improvements from some of these younger players who aren’t performing at the level they did last year, they could certainly be in that (top contender) class.

Coming up: Cleveland Guardians at New York Mets

First pitch: 7:08 p.m. Sunday, May 21, at Citi Field.

Pitching: RHP Shane Bieber (3-2, 3.20) vs. RHP Justin Verlander (1-2, 4.76).

The game: It’s the finale of a three-game series between the teams, their only matchup this season.

TV: Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN – Karl Ravech (play-by-play), David Cone and Eduardo Perez (analysts) and Buster Olney (reporter).

I am on cleveland.com’s life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, here’s a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. Twitter: @mbona30.

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