Catching Up With: Tina Cervasio

Written by: Jerry Milani on 1st July 2011

Catching Up With: Tina Cervasio | read this item

Tina Cervasio may be best known today as the sideline reporter for the New York Knicks and Red Bulls soccer on MSG Television in New York, but her roots and passions are very steeped in baseball, whether it was working for NESN in Boston or growing up with the game in her native New Jersey. BBD caught up with Tina and asked her about her love of all things around the diamond, both personal and professional.

BBD: Your background is hoops and soccer; are you a baseball fan and did you enjoy playing baseball?
TC: I’m covering hoops and soccer now on MSG, but my background is really SPORTS! While I was always active as a little girl in gymnastics and dance classes, as I got older I participated in whatever I could; softball, basketball, diving, swimming, tennis, soccer. I really wasn’t exactly a talented athlete. Athletic? Yes! In high school I was the captain of the cheerleaders earning four varsity letters there, cheering for both football and basketball and I was on the track & field team for four seasons, earning three varsity letters, running the 800m, competing in the triple jump and setting some records in the shot put. Long nails and all! Those experiences and most importantly, going to games, in high school and college, gave me my sports background. I simply had a passion for sport and competition, and now I tell stories about others who do it at the highest level. I did enjoy softball/baseball. I still remember some great plays I made in the field during my middle school years, either at second or third base. But I couldn’t hit the ball to save my life. That could be why today I’m fascinated with the hand-eye coordination I’ve seen up close in the Majors, and have such a respect for players with high slugging percentages and batting averages.

BBD: Tell us about your experience working with the Red Sox and NESN?
TC: Boy did I time that job right! I could not have been more blessed to have covered a team with both intriguing players and a championship season. Then there were the myths and legends I was surrounded by each and every day at Fenway Park. First, Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo are gems. It was a humbling experience to be part of their announcing team, as they are both so ingrained now in Red Sox history. They were accommodating when I first came along, and I learned valuable lessons from them and studio host Tom Caron. Our Red Sox production crew was top notch, so from a television perspective, everyone was best in the business, and it forced me to raise my game as an announcer and reporter. What really put it over the top, was meeting and working with Jim Rice and Dennis Eckersley. From a baseball perspective they gave me knowledge and insight you could only get from Hall of Famers. I did a season preview piece in 2007 on the differences between David Ortiz’s and Manny Ramirez’s swing. I was in the batting cage with Jim Rice. He was positioning my hands and feet and making me mimic their motion. What? Who gets to do that? That’s what made my experience with NESN stand out. I can go on for hours about covering the team. And it was only two seasons. The most fascinating observation I walked away with, was the way Terry Francona managed all of those different personalities and talents. From the fiery (and sometimes testy to this reporter) Josh Beckett, to the outspoken and always willing to give me a sound bite Curt Schilling, to the enigmatic Manny Ramirez, and strong as an ox but nice as a teddy bear David Ortiz. Jason Varitek was so intimidating to me at first, but could not have been more accessible, and a MUST interview after each game. I was there when Dustin Pedroia was called up, when Jonathan Papelbon danced the jig, when Jon Lester announced he had cancer and then returned to the game, when Mike “the throw-in with Beckett” Lowell held the World Series MVP trophy like a baby, drenched in champagne, yet spoke as eloquently as a world leader in the visiting clubhouse in Colorado. I can really keep going if you let me … Youk, Wake …

BBD:You have taken an interest in fantasy baseball we heard. How do you pick your players, what tools do you use and what advice would you give someone starting to take an interest in fantasy baseball?
TC: I was very leery about fantasy baseball, because of the weekly upkeep of your roster. With my travel, and covering other sports, I knew I wouldn’t keep up. Believe me, I’ve been lazy at times, not even checking my roster on a Sunday night, but I’ve found a ton of success and help by using the Bloomberg Sports Front Office Application. It does the stat work for you, all the comparisons between who’s on your team, who’s available, what stats you are lacking in, trade tracker. It makes all of these suggestions from managing your weekly lineup to what random players my benefit your team just because of a certain statistical category. On draft night, I was a total fan, but with intimate knowledge of who I was selecting. While the name of my team is Knix Chix, a reflection of my identity in sports broadcasting, my roster is loaded with … Red Sox! Hence, the play on the letter “x”. Beckett was a pain in the neck with post game interviews, but for whatever reason he seems to excel in odd numbered years. 2011. And bless him, he’s been racking up my points. Oh yeah, so is the guy people MADE FUN of me for selecting as my utility, David Ortiz. Lester’s in there, Youkilis, I dropped JD for obvious reasons after three weeks. I made some lucky moves when I noticed Manny Aybar was available. And I did take a calculated risk drafting Brian Wilson, because at the time he was on the D-L. But by using the Bloomberg Front office, I made a few more add / drops and moved from 11th place to 4th over the last month! My advice, Bloomberg Front Office.

BBD: Who were influential in getting you interested in sports?
TC: My dad! He played football at Cornell in the late ‘60’s and we would always visit the campus for Big Red games when I was a kid. I would always go to random games with my dad, sometimes to see my uncles or cousins coach high school teams. I loved it. It was a tradition in my family. As a college football buff, he took our family to the 1986 Rose Bowl, and that was it! That was the very moment, when I was 11 years old, that I decided I wanted to work in sports in some capacity.

BBD: Any particular baseball memories growing up?
TC: Watching the 1986 World Series on TV and really learning about the game, about who was “good”, the rules, the history, and why everyone in New York and Boston were so obsessed with their teams. Also, I had never been to a Major League ballpark until my freshman year at the University of Maryland, when a bunch of us got tickets to an Orioles-White Sox game. Camden Yards was brand new, and it was so charming and magical. The whole time, I couldn’t believe I was watching Bo Jackson live!! I became an Orioles fan. And then, my first summer out of college, in my first job as a newspaper editor for the sports page in 3 weekly local newspapers, my boss, a local politician, Frank Orecchio, walked by my desk and slapped two tickets down for the Orioles at Yankees. He said, “Take your Dad.” I remember that night, driving to Yankee Stadium for the first time, being inside the gigantic baseball cathedral. It was Derek Jeter’s rookie season, and I can still remember, as we sat in the box seats by third base, when Bob Sheppard announced Jeter for his at bat. The Orioles lost 3-2, and we had a very clear view of Bernie Williams NOT touching second base as he rounded the bases to score. But I’m so “over” cheering for teams now after having to be unbiased as a reporter. I believe that may have started that night, because while the Orioles lost, I was so in awe of being in Yankee Stadium, watching a blown call, and knowing I was RIGHT, it was all about loving the game.

BBD: Your work at MSG doesn’t lead to a lot of baseball work, but do you have any projects you have outside of MSG that involve covering or following baseball?
TC: I freelance at FOX 5 in New York City. They use me a lot as a reporter/insider when there is a big Knicks story, and there were a few last season! But it also allows me to cover some baseball again. Early this summer I did a feature for the Sunday night “Sports Xtra” show, hosted by Duke Castiglione (who’s been a friend and comrade for over seven years), on “Hank’s Yanks”, Hank Steinbrenner’s amateur baseball team based in Long Island, managed by Yankees Special Advisor, Ray Negron. I interviewed and talked to scouts from the Mets, Yanks, Reds, talked to the gentleman who helped Negron organize and build the team. Besides producing legitimate prospects, several have been signed or drafted, they a community focused, and many of the players go through a personal rehabilitation by being a part of the team. I can still hear Ray, “We have several players who were gang members, but we teach them to be better men, better people.” It went for a story on four players who were preparing for the draft, to a story about redemption through the game of baseball.

BBD: There has been a lot of talk about getting young girls more involved in baseball, as opposed to softball…any thoughts on that?
TC: I think it’s wonderful. It will take a different skill set, for hitting and pitching, but if girls begin in little league and those younger leagues, it will really be all they know of the game. They can develop into players that can pitch overhand, and hit the smaller ball. I’d love to see Girls Baseball in High School. But on the flip side, I know of so many women that love the game of softball, I could imagine they may question the addition of baseball. We’ll see. Sport is so ever changing.

BBD: Did you college baseball cards growing up? If so, any favorites?
TC: I did not collect baseball cards. I did read a lot of sports books, autobiographies. My husband is an avid collector of baseball memorabilia. He’s got a few rare cards. He also has a sweet baseball collection. When I sit at my desk at home, I look up and see: Mikey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, and about 58 other living or past Hall of Famers. I regret never having a Red Sox sign a ball for me. Radio announcer Joe Castiglione has one player per year sign a ball for him on the last game of the regular season. I should have followed his path. Ortiz did sign a ball for my nephew; Rice signed a ball for my Knicks director, Howie Singer, who’s a huge Sox fan (I obviously facilitated those signings!) What I do have are a few random baseballs, one from the World Series, a few that landed in the photo pit where I would do my reports, and one that Ortiz threw to me while I was reporting. It was during Spring Training, and it was J.D.Drew’s first Red Sox home run. I know, not official, worth nothing. But it smacked the green lining in CF at City of Palms Park and has a mark on it. And just the story alone seems so intimate to me. I appreciate the little things.

BBD: What is your favorite sport to cover and why?
TC: Tough one. Especially because my first love was football! I did cover the Giants and Jets for CN8 TV in ’02 – ’04 and did sideline reporting for NFL games on Sports USA Radio. I must admit, I miss that. But I’ve covered a World Series Championship team from Spring Training to the trophy tour where I was IN the victory parade, I work every day in the World’s Most Famous Arena interviewing Legends of the hardwood. The only thing I will say, is the baseball schedule was brutal. That’s why I walked away. Six weeks of spring training, 162 games, 19 post season games, and nonstop coverage of the Hot Stove season from November 1st to pitchers and catchers. I like so many other sports, I missed spending time with my husband, and I love going to Broadway shows. I needed some versatility to be sane again.

BBD: Any baseball play by play voices are your favorites?
TC: This is random, but I just love Mike Patrick’s voice. My whole life I’ve been listening to the New York announcers, and obviously I love Don and Joe in Boston on TV and radio!!! But Patrick’s voice just stirs up summer in my mind. I guess because he’s done many of the national games on ESPN during the summer, and recently he did the College World Series, where to me it just felt so “grass roots”. That’s what I love about the game of baseball, it’s origins. Day games, double headers, pitchers throwing complete game and sometimes 12 innings if they have to. That was the era of my late grandparents. My father told me stories about when my late grandmother would be getting ready for her night work shift, and ironing clothes in their living room, she’d always have Mel Allen on the radio and sometimes he’d hear her yelling at the game. When my mom’s mother was very ill, I’d sit with her nights, and we’d watch Yankee games. I can still remember, after almost days of her not talking, her screaming at Mike Stanton because he allowed a home run. Everyone wants everything in HD and stereo these days. I wouldn’t mind sitting in the backyard with a little transistor radio listening to the crackling calls of a baseball game. Play by play announcers had a different cadence in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. Again, it’s about enjoying the “grass roots” of America’s Pastime.

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Topics: 800m, Baseball Fan, Batting Averages, Bbd, Cheerleaders, Dance Classes, Gymnastics, Hand Eye Coordination, Hoops, Long Nails, NESN, New York Knicks, Passions, Red Bulls Soccer, Sideline Reporter, Sports Background, Talented Athlete, Tina Cervasio, Triple Jump, Varsity Letters