Joe Magrane is leaving the Rays' broadcast booth for the new MLB Network, a change that on the surface appears to be felt more in living rooms of Rays fans than in the Rays clubhouse. But that could change if Brian Anderson replaces Magrane.
Anderson started last season as a non-roster invitee to spring training, but after suffering a career-ending elbow injury in mid-March, the left-hander became the assistant to pitching coach Jim Hickey. Anderson would watch games from the clubhouse, where he was joined by members of the Rays rotation on a nightly basis. Matt Garza would watch a few innings of the game with Anderson. Andy Sonnanstine, Scott Kazmir and Edwin Jackson would all manage to find a seat next to Anderson.
The pitchers would discuss what they were watching on TV, with Anderson asking them such questions as, "What would you throw in this situation?" and, "Why would you throw that?"
"We just talk," Garza said last May. "We talk about what's going on in the game, my last outing, my next outing, things I can do better. I kind of pick his brains."
Careful not to step on Hickey's toes, Anderson was able to provide insight from someone who pitched in 291 major league games. It was often the same message Hickey wanted to deliver, but the pitchers found it easier to understand coming from someone recently removed from their fraternity.
Kazmir and company quietly pointed to Anderson's presence as a big reason why both the rotation and bullpen (the relievers often visited Anderson after an outing) made dramatic improvements in 2008.
That bit of in-game coaching would be missed if Anderson, who filled in for Magrane last August when Magrane worked the Olympic baseball coverage for NBC, moves to the booth on a full-time basis. Yes, he can talk to pitchers before and after games, but the while-they-were-watching-it-happen-live messages would be missed.
"He was huge," Kazmir said.
