The Pittsburgh Pirates Have Many Hidden Heroes.
There are the men who play on the field every night, whose jerseys we wear, whose names we chant, whose triumphs we celebrate, whose losses we mourn. They are a special kind of hero – the ones on the baseball cards – they are members of an elite brotherhood just 750 strong who every year captivate our minds and our hearts playing a child’s game on a very grown-up stage. But for every Major League Baseball team that takes the field each night, there is another team working behind the scenes to make sure every game goes off without a hitch – for the players and the fans. They are the Hidden Heroes of baseball – and these are their stories.
For Pittsburgh Pirates Pre-and-Post Game Host on 93.7 the Fan Dan Zangrilli, Passion and Energy Drive Success
PNC Park looks very different at 2:30 p.m. before a night game.
The crowds on Federal Street are a mere trickle, the Roberto Clemente Bridge is still open to traffic and Pittsburgh Pirates employees in a variety of logo shirts enter the many doors to the complex that line W. General Robinson Street in preparation for the evening’s event.
Inside the park, up in the press box, Dan Zangrilli, host of the Pirates Pre-game and Post-Game shows on 93.7 The Fan, is unpacking books, note pads, pens and highlighters from his rolling briefcase, preparing for his second workday to begin.
“My bag is like a walking Staples or Office Depot,” he said laughing. “If you need a pen, or you need batteries, or any sticky notes, if you need a legal pad, if you need an Altoona Curve Media Guide, if you need the 2014 Baseball America Prospect Handbook, or last year’s media guide – I got you covered.”
His voice is familiar to anyone who listens to the Pittsburgh Pirates flagship station or the 40-additional stations that comprise the Pirates Radio Network. He, along with analysts Jack Zduriencik, 30+ year MLB veteran and former GM, and Kevin Orie, former third baseman for the Marlins and Cubs, bring fans into the clubhouse and out on the fields with their hour-long pre-game and post-game shows 162 times a year.
It’s a lot of work.
It takes you away from some of the normal rhythms of life. But Zangrilli can’t imagine doing anything else. Except for maybe selling insurance.
He credits luck with getting him his first job broadcasting professional baseball games. In 2006, as a junior studying Broadcasting at Clarion University, he got a call “out of the blue” from then Altoona Curve broadcaster Jason Dambach. He offered Zangrilli the opportunity to broadcast for the newly created New York-Penn League franchise the State College Spikes, who were then the A-ball affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals.
“From what I understand, he became familiar with my work when I was at Clarion,” he said, glossing over the fact that he started doing play-by-play for high school football games while in high school. “And suddenly, here I am, 20 years old, and I have the opportunity to spend the summer calling baseball games,” he said.
After graduation, he headed straight back to State College for another season with the Spikes, but this time, they had changed affiliations to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team South Hills-raised Zangrilli grew up following. He simultaneously did work for the Altoona Curve that summer, which paved the way for him to join that team the next year. “After the ‘07 season, I went to Altoona, so it was a seamless thing for me. I was able to make the jump from single-A to double-A ‘within the company’ if you will, which is very rare,” he said.
In total, he spent five years as a minor league broadcaster, the first two with the Spikes, then three and a half with the Curve. During the offseason from baseball, he got a job as a sports anchor at KDKA, which eventually turned into a job working for their sports radio station, 93.7 The Fan. When the station became the Pirates flagship again in 2012, Zangrilli was tapped to host the Pre-game and Post-game shows.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”Dan Zangrilli” link=”” color=”#000000″ class=”” size=””]My bag is like a walking Staples or Office Depot[/perfectpullquote]“I was in their system, the team was familiar with me, the station obviously employed me, and I guess to them, it made sense,” he said. “And for me – you know, dream job.”
His dream job keeps him busy every night the Buccos play. After arriving at the park between 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. for night games, he begins prep for the show, which starts at 5:40. The tools of his trade include media guides for both teams playing, a database accessible from a Pirates-provided laptop in the booth in the press box, media notes provided by the team, information accessed from various third-party baseball websites and highlighters.
Lots of highlighters.
The game he’s broadcasting on this night is the July 26 matchup between the Pirates and Seattle Mariners. When the team plays an interleague game, it usually requires more research on his part, simply because he and his listeners aren’t as familiar with the opponent.
“Luckily, I can rely to the guy on my left today, because he assembled the team the Pirates are going to be playing,” Zangrilli said, referring to Zduriencik, who was the Mariners General Manager from 2008 – 2015. “I don’t want to say I can take the day off, but it will be easier because he can kind of take the ball and run with it.”
That’s a metaphor he uses a lot when talking about his co-hosts on the shows. As the host, he has a multitude of responsibilities and possesses the uncanny ability as an announcer to cull out the “experience” from an analyst. It’s his goal during every broadcast.
“I want to get the most I can out of the knowledge that is sitting to my left. Whether that’s Kevin Orie or whether that’s Jack Zduriencik – they both have experiences in the game that I never have had and never will. That is much more relevant to the game that we’re talking about that given night than I could ever provide. So how do I get them to relate to something, to comment on a certain topic? That’s what I aim to do every night and supplement it with some details or notes that people don’t know,” he said.
Zduriencik, who is in his first season co-hosting the show, appreciates the effort.
[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”Jack Zduriencik” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“The thing that has impressed me about working with Dan is how he makes it very easy for you as a partner,” he said. “But also he is very organized and up to speed on the mechanics of how this whole business works.”[/perfectpullquote]As a guy who’s been on the other end of the microphone in his time in baseball, Zduriencik also praised Zangrilli’s skills as a reporter. “When he goes in a locker room and interviews, especially when he talks to Clint Hurdle or the players, what you want to do is pull them out so they are saying something new. He does that really well by asking questions and leading them into an answer, which is really what you have to do to get a good interview.”
With Felix Hernandez on the mound for Seattle, Zangrilli knew exactly who he wanted to talk to when he visited the clubhouse for pre-game interviews and Clint Hurdle’s daily meeting with the media. John Jaso, who caught the ace’s perfect game on August 15, 2012.
“Jaso’s a terrific interview,” he said.
He also enjoys interviewing Pitching Coach Ray Searage, “I love talking baseball with him. He’s one of my favorite guys to talk to here on the staff.”
He had nothing but high praise for reliever Mark Melancon. “He is very thoughtful. Very intelligent – he’s a thinking man’s pitcher that is so committed to his craft and he commits to being somebody that gives an insightful answer, so that’s very much appreciated,” he said.
Once his pre-game interviews are over, he heads back up into the booth in the press box to edit them (Hurdle’s from 13 minutes to three and Jaso’s full six minute one-on-one) and send them to the station where they are packaged and ready to insert into the Pregame show. He tries to focus on the three to four most important takes of the Hurdle interview, “Not features, but more the news of the day that our listeners want going into the game,” he said.
The Pre-game show is broadcast from the 93.7 studios when the team is on the road and from either the booth in the PNC Park press box or in front of the stadium on Federal Street. Tuesday’s game was done on the street, which is a little cooler in the balmy 88-degree heat, but has the disadvantage of the noise associated with pre-game activities – on this night, it included drumming.
But Zangrilli didn’t miss a beat – he and Zduriencik discussed Hernandez’ change-up, Jack reminisced about the days of the King’s Court in Seattle and they rolled right into the Jaso interview. They talked about Pirates starting pitcher Francisco Liriano’s walk rate and second baseman Josh Harrison’s lackluster performance in the months of June and July.
Is any topic ever off limits?
“I’ve never been told by anyone what to say, what to do or what topic to cover,” Zangrilli said. “Nobody from the Pirates or CBS has ever said, in five years, stay away from this or this is off limits. Nothing.”
And that’s not to say that he hasn’t criticized the team and its management from time to time. “I think we are fairly critical of the team. Case and point today, we highlighted just how terrible Josh Harrison’s been and we have taken [Pirates General Manager] Neal [Huntington] to task – I’ve gone on the record saying I think that he really could have done a much better job with the bullpen this year,” Zangrilli said emphasizing that the importance of making such remarks is staying fair and being accurate. “Just because you’re associated with the broadcast, people will probably lump you in and consider you bought and paid for. That’s not the case at all.”
Once the Pre-game show is over, Zangrilli eats dinner in the media dining room, keeping one eye on the game playing on monitors around the room before going back to the booth to monitor the rest of the game and prep for the Post-game show. For this game it included analysis of the match (a loss), a visit from broadcaster Bob Walk, and fielding calls from listeners (who all complained about Liriano’s pitching).
Aside from talking baseball and working in interviews from the clubhouse, Zangrilli also has a large chart of promotional reads he has to include in every broadcast. It requires precise time management skills, which he’s perfected through the years.
“It’s a very tight format and it’s very regimented. An hour goes by so fast – even though you’re talking about baseball every day, there are so many times we’re leaving content on the table because of storylines on the team and sponsorship obligations,” he said.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”Dan Zangrilli” link=”” color=”#000000″ class=”” size=””]If it can get better, I don’t know how it could.[/perfectpullquote]That doesn’t mean the listeners are missing out. In fact, he believes that they’re getting more than ever from the broadcast.
A Commitment to Excellence
“We commit a lot of time, energy and resources to turning around that Hurdle press conference so you can hear it and to get one-on-one interviews and into scrums to get you inside the clubhouse,” he said. “We want to highlight the people inside that clubhouse more than other shows have in the past.”
All of that effort can be exhausting. But that’s what a person signs up for when they choose to work in baseball, he said. “There are a lot of sacrifices that come with this job. Weddings, birthday parties, christenings…all the things that normal people get to do. When you work in baseball, you send those down the river. You sign those away. It’s part of the gig,” he said. “That shouldn’t be misconstrued as whining or complaining, it’s just the reality of it.”
It’s for that reason, as well as the precarious nature of his industry, that prompted him to start his own insurance agency five years ago. “The world is not your oyster in broadcasting,” he said. “No one knows where the media field will be in the next ten years, you can’t predict where this medium is going. You’ve got to have a constant. That’s why I have the agency.” He balances having what equates to two full time jobs by ensuring he has capable help and knowing how to depend on people.
“It’s insanity management,” he laughed. “They’re long days for six months out of the year, but if you love both of your jobs, it maybe doesn’t make you any less tired, but it definitely makes you able to enjoy them both and focus and commit to do them both with passion and energy.”
It is that passion and energy that drives him through the hour-long Post-game show, which starts at 10:40, and keeps a smile on his face as he says good night to the guards at PNC as he leaves the building at nearly midnight.
It’s also what keeps him counting his blessings every time he plugs in his headphones for another broadcast.
“If this is what I do for the rest of my life, I’m okay with that. That’s not me settling. That’s just me enjoying the hell out of what I’m doing, who I’m doing it for and who I get to do it with on a day-in/day-out basis,” he said. “I’m born and raised in Pittsburgh and grew up watching the Pirates. If I get to spend my entire career basically in the Pirates organization at the minor league or major league level affiliated with them, and get to work for the call letters KDKA – if it can get better, I don’t know how it could.”
Walk through a typical day for Zangrilli in the slideshow below
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