Born With a Bat
Roger Hornsby could have summed up my interviewee’s life with one quote: “People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”
Mike McCann was wearing a bright orange polo shirt representing his new (Syracuse University) school's colors.
He is a 22-year old Broadcast Digital Journalism graduate student from a small town outside of Detroit called Northville.
He is an avid sports fan, and loves anything that involves baseball, McCann said.
"The first sport I ever played was baseball and then I played soccer as well," McCann said. "Baseball since I was four or five with T-ball. Played till last year, my Senior year of college."
He played for a Division III school called Kalamazoo, McCann said.
He was a very resilient player and played every game as if it were his last, McCann said.
His coach made him bunt in the last inning of a game, and he was three for four before the at bat, McCann said.
"I did not want to bunt I wanted to hit," McCann said. "I think I took that with me and I bunted into a double play and we lost the game."
The next game he did not give up, and went a perfect four for four and won the game, McCann said.
Die Hard Detroit Tigers Fan
Mike McCann has always been a Tigers fan.
The Tigers were a mediocre team for many years, and he still loved his team, McCann said.
"I was young so it was different in a sense that it was important for me that they would win when I was there," McCann said.
His favorite moment was when Magglio Ordonez, a former Detroit Tiger outfielder, ended up hitting a homerun that sent the 2006 team to the World Series.
"I remember watching it in my living room with my whole family," McCann said. "It was a surreal moment when your team is going to this pinnacle, the World Series."
Mike also strives to be a MLB play-by-play announcer someday, McCann said.
Ernie Harwell, the famous voice of the Detroit tigers, is his idol as well, and he wants to resemble his craft when he calls games.
"The way he was revered by sports fans and the community," McCann said. "The way he carried himself made a tremendous impact on me.
Mike hopes his Broadcast Digital Journalism degree will help provide the foundation and tools to succeed in his prospective field, McCann said.
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The Interview
Max: Where are you from Mike?
Mike: From just outside Detroit Michigan. It is called Northville, about twenty miles West.
Max: Have you always lived there?
Mike: I have never moved. I have always lived there since I was born, until now.
Max: Do you miss it?
Mike: Yes and no. I miss the people. As far as the city goes it is a pretty average town. But, I do miss the area at times.
Max: What was the first sport you played?
Mike: The first sport I ever played was baseball and then I played soccer as well. But, I didn’t like oranges. So, keeping up with soccer was tough when you couldn’t eat the food the parents brought to the game. Baseball since I was four or five with T-ball. Played till last year, my Senior year of college.
Max: Isn’t that weird that you are going to Syracuse, where it is the Orangemen?
Mike: I found it a little ironic, yeah. I sense now. I eat them now. I was a picky little eater when I was young. I wanted grapes, and I didn’t get grapes.
Max: I am guessing you favorite team is the Detroit Tigers?
Mike: The Detroit Tigers is correct. From the time I could walk I had Tigers gear on. It has been a love affair ever since.
Max: It probably was tough for your first fourteen years being a Detroit Tigers fan, and now they are great again.
Mike: I was young so it was different in a sense that it was important for me that they would win when I was there. I don’t think watching them on TV it was as much as a priority. You have other priorities. When you are young you want to be outside with your friends. As you get older you pay more attention. It has been good that they have been competitive for the last 7 or 8 years they have been competitive. It has been a joy to watch.
Max: What was your favorite memory?
Mike: The 2006 American League Championship series. Magglio Ordonez hit a homerun that sent them to the World Series. I remember being grounded for reasons unspecified. I remember watching it in my living with my whole family. It was a surreal moment when your team is going to this pinnacle, the World Series.
Max: Was your dad a baseball player?
Mike: He wasn’t. He played a little bit when he was younger. He was a big hockey player. He played in college. I think it was easier for me to fall in love with baseball, because he didn’t put any pressure on me to play anything. I played hockey growing up and I remember having to tell him that I wanted to stop and play basketball. He said it was fine. From then on it in, it sort of became whatever I wanted to do was good. I wanted to play baseball. I have had the same group of friends because of baseball. Everything that baseball has done for me, it is the reason I have gotten into college and the reason that I am here.
Max: What was your worst memory playing in college?
Mike: My worst memory was a very vivid game playing against Alvet College, and we were down a run in the seventh inning. We play seven innings in college. Not nine like the pros. There was a runner on first base and I was up, and I was three for four and I had the bunt sign. I was not happy about it. I did not want to bunt I wanted to hit. I think I took that with me and I bunted into a double play and we lost the game. It was tough. But, I turned it around and went four for four the next game. So, we won that won. And we won the last two. It was one of those things that stick with you. You want to be the teammate that gets the job done. And I didn’t get the job done that time.
Max: Would you ever one want to be a coach?
Mike: I don’t think I have the patients for it. It is an honorable profession and there is a lot to do within it. But, for me I am too inpatient. I don’t think I could do it.
Max: Lastly, because you came to Syracuse you want to be in sports. Who is your favorite sports announcer?
Mike: I grew up listening to Ernie Hardwell. He was the voice of the Tigers from the time that I was born till I was twelve or thirteen. Another thing that I think stemmed from my dad and his love of Ernie Hardwell. I just picked it right up. The way he was revered by sports fans and the community. The way he carried himself made a tremendous impact on me.
Max: Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Mike: I see myself calling baseball games somewhere. I am not sure where. I say for a Major League team. That is ambitious. But, you got to be ambitious.
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