Marlins Hanging Tough

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The 2023 Season has definitely been a period of adjustment for the Miami Marlins.

Did anyone know what to expect when Skip Schumacher became the team’s skipper replacing Don Mattingly? 

This guy is a first time pilot so you never know what you’re going to inherit.

Schumacher did inherit Cy Young Award Winner Sandy Alcantara, eccentric outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr and retained Pitching Coach Mel Stottlemyer Jr.

During the off-season, GM Kim Ng added 2022 American League Batting Champion Luis Arraez, the second basemen in a trade for hurler Pablo Lopez from the Minnesota Twins.

She added third baseman Jean Segura in free agency from the Philadelphia Phillies. 

Yuli Gurriel came in from the Houston Astros to play first base.

Miami was hoping that last years free agents Jorge Solar (Atlanta Braves) and Avisail Garcia (Milwaukee Brewers) would have bounce back years.

At the moment, Garcia is on the 10 day injured list due to back tightness.

During the season, a team is going to use a lot of pitchers, and the Marlins made a bold move by promoting top prospect Eury Perez from their AA Affiliate in Pensacola, FL.

Perez put himself into the record books with his first start at 20 years and 27 days.

Following Perez, was Jose Fernandez (20 and 250), Ryan Dempster (21 and 29), Joe Fontenot (21 and 64) and Brad Hand (21 and 79).

In three starts, Perez is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 14 innings with 16 strikeouts.

In the game we saw on Saturday, May 13 against the Cincinnati Reds, Alcantara had his hands full in 7.2 innings by giving up seven hits and six runs but amassed nine strikeouts throwing 106 pitches, 72 for strikes.

Reds left fielder Jake Fraley went 2-4 with a homer and four RBI’s. Right fielder Henry Ramos went 2-4 for another RBI.

On May 14, Mothers Day, Miami defeated the Reds 3-1 and avoided the three game sweep.

Miami would proceed to sweep the Washington Nationals from May 16-18. Then it was time to go West where the San Francisco Giants took two of three from the Fish from May 19-21.

Things didn’t get any better when Miami traveled to Denver and face the Rockies in the high altitude at Coors Field. The Marlins lost three of four from May 22-25. Miami’s only victory was 10-2 in Wednesday, May 24.

The final stop on this West Coast trip is the LA Angeles Angels where Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani await them this weekend.

On Tuesday, May 28-30, the San Diego Padres come to town and to round out the week, the Oakland A’s will make an appearance at LoanDepot Park.

For some reason, I’m intrigued with the A’s Series.

Oakland has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. 

They’re seeing crowns in the 2000-3000 range and it’s a foregone conclusion that they’re moving to Las Vegas after their lease expires at the Oakland Coliseum in 2024. 

They’ll most likely play the first couple of Season in the Las Vegas Ballpark. They’ll share that venue with their AAA team.

At the moment, the A’s are 10-42 while Miami is 25-26.

But what’s most intriguing about this game will be the attendance. It’s safe to say, the A’s will see attendance figures above 10,000 which is more than triple of what they’re seeing now.

Not that Miami is in the higher echelon of attendance, but the A’s are an absolute train wreck and there is no doubt that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred would like to get this train wreck completed and back on the right.

There is a lot of baseball to be played when Miami returns home next week, but when I plan to return to LoanDepot Park, it will be interesting to see where both teams stand at that time.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can see his broadcasts by Subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel./

Cubs VS Marlins, Definitely Entertaining

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When the Miami Marlins and Chicago Cubs face each other for a pair of series every year, these series are Definitely Entertaining.

Let’s not forget that they’ve met a couple times in the playoffs, and Miami has emerged on the victorious side on both occasions, with the most recent meeting in 2020 when Don Mattingly piloted the team.

When you compare the venues, that’s worth a discussion in its own right.

Regardless of what the temperature is outside, the temperature is always 72 degrees inside in the retractable dome which is called Loan Depot Park. There are no rain checks as a result of rainouts.

Wrigley Field is another story. The elements come into play and you never know when the wind comes into play in the Windy City. This is an entirely different ballgame.

The Cubs made their lone appearance to South Florida from April 28-30 for a three-game series and all of these games were entertaining. The Marlins did sweep the series and all three contests were one-run affairs. 

Keep in mind that the NFL Draft took place during this weekend.

In the opener on Friday, April 28, the Marlins topped the Cubs 3-2 in front of 12,340.

On Saturday, April 29, Miami’s bats came alive as the Fish emerged with a 7-6 triumph in front of 14,994.

Finally, the game I covered was on Sunday, April 30 and Miami faced one of the Cubs top hurlers. Left-handed pitcher Justin Steele entered the contest with a 4-0 mark with a 1.19 ERA.

The Marlins scored three runs off of Steele and he yielded seven hits, but wound up with a no-decision. 

Off-season additions, Dansby Swanson, Cody Berlinger and Eric Hosmer made their presence in a losing effort for Chicago. 

Swanson had a pair of hits, Bellinger had a home run, while Hosmer also had a hit. Judging by what I saw, these guys have found a new home in the Midwest and could be a big factor in keeping the Cubs competitive in 2023.

Miami’s offense came from Jon Berti, who had a pair of hits and scored two runs. Luis Arraez reached base twice, Nick Fortes reached base twice and scored a run.

Right-hander Bryan Hoeing entered the game with an 0-1 record and a 9.82 ERA. 

He had a quality start by going five innings, yielding two runs with four strikeouts. He would have a no-decision, but kept his club in the game. 

Tanner Scott would pick up the win in relief to improve his record to 2-1 and AJ Puk earned his fifth save of the game.

The best news of the day is the crowd. The Marlins saw 20,345 fans walk through the turnstiles and it felt like Wrigley Field South, as the Cubs fans made their loud presence felt.

When these two teams met in the Windy City with the series starting on Friday May 5 and concluding on Sunday May 7, once again all of the games were close.

In the opener, the Cubs defeated the Marlins 4-1 in front of 31,181 fans.

On Saturday, Chicago managed a 4-2 victory as 36,418 fans attended this contest.

In the finale on Sunday, reigning Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara was on the hill and he proved to the Windy City crowd as to why he earned the honor.

Alcantara pitched 8.1 innings, yielded two runs, struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter. He would end up with a no-decision as this contest was decided in 14 innings. 

The crowd of 38,196 fans saw Miami get the win, 5-4 and the Marlins snapped a five game losing streak.

Every year, these two squads play each other quite competitive and in 2023 was no exception.

As I mentioned earlier, the major difference between these two teams are the ballparks they play in and it’s hard to debate that by the attendance figures, which venue is the hotter ticket.

You can hear my thoughts about these two teams as I appeared on two episodes of Cubfidential on Sideline Sports. These two shows are in this story and I hope you enjoy them with Myself and JB Ellis.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can see his broadcasts by Subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Hockey Day In Tampa

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

For a city that is located just four hours away off-I-75 North, it was unbelievable that I hadn’t been there since 2019. 

But I can thank Covid-19 for preventing me from returning to Tampa, a town where I had a lot of great memories getting my undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida, in addition to working at the Tampa Tribune.

What provided the impetus for me to go there on April 12-13?

It was great seeing long-time friends, Mike Pantel, Gus Pantelides and retired colleague Tom Korun.

But the real reason I returned to the area was to see the Detroit Red Wings face the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena. 

The only person I didn’t see on this trip was my good friend Bill Wickett, who took a job with the Nashville Predators.

When the Detroit Red Wings travel, I make every attempt to see them. 

Past trips have included Phoenix, Arizona to see the Coyotes and Sunrise, FL when they take on the Panthers.

The list of individuals that I view as great friends include: Ken Kal, Paul Woods, Trevor Thompson and Mickey Redmond. 

I try to make at least one Red Wings game a season if my hectic schedule of running the South Florida Tribune permits it.

You talk about taking things down to the wire, this season I did just that.

It took the final game of the 2022-23 season to see the team I grew up watching then began covering.

The Red Wings entered this game with a 35-36-10 record with 80 points. The man leading the team these days is former Tampa Bay Lightning Assistant Coach Derek Lalonde. He replaced Jeff Blashill now an assistant coach on Jon Cooper’s staff in Tampa.

Meanwhile, the Lightning came into the finale with a 45-30-6 mark for 96 points and their seeding for the NHL Playoffs Divisional Round was third.

Detroit was looking to reach the .500 mark.

There was one curve ball thrown at me when I returned to Tampa. 

Due to a Taylor Swift Concert at Raymond James Stadium, I normally stay at the Extended Stay near that venue. But the room rates were expensive because of Swift.

But when you’ve lived in an area before, the saying that “Knowledge Is Power” made a difference in terms with familiarity with the town. 

Getting around Tampa is never easy because the traffic is crazy. When I was eating with Pantel, Pantelides and Korun, I saw a neat photo of an automobile boat that was neat on Tampa Bay.

I did wind up staying at an Extended Stay but this one was near my alma-mater, the University of South Florida.

In the past, when I have gone to games in Tampa, there have been a lot of red and white jerseys throughout the arena. But thanks to the popularity of the sport and a few Stanley Cups, Tampa has indeed become a Lightning town.

To add a little intrigue to the trip, the Tampa Bay Rays started the season on a blazing note. 

During the day, the Rays, who play in St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field, defeated the Boston Red Sox 9-3 to win its 13th consecutive game. That total tied for the modern mark.

For the Red Wings, three of them Moritz Seider, David Perron and Andrew Copp played in their 82nd game.

Before the game, I asked Woods if the Red Wings fans were more sympathetic toward the Red Wings seven year playoff drought. 

He definitely said they were because of the team’s 25 year consecutive playoff run that resulted in four Stanley Cup Titles.

Two playoff streaks came to an end. 

The Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins saw their eight and 16-year runs end.

The Lightning didn’t rest their players as Cooper allowed some players to go after individual accomplishments. Braydon Point would hit the 50 goal plateau.

The Lightning would defeat the Red Wings 5-0 as their playoff match-up with the Toronto Maple Leafs would be on deck.

I’ve always believed that the Stanley Cup is the toughest Championship to win in sports. A team has to win 16 games, the sport is physical and there are no shootouts. I’ve seen games that went into six overtimes.

It’s the nature of the beast.

How would the Tampa Bay Lightning do against the Maple Leafs?

Toronto won it’s first playoff series since 2004 by knocking off the Lightning 4-2 to go onto the next round and face the Florida Panthers. 

The Panthers pulled off a  monumental upset by defeating the President Cup Trophy winners, Boston Bruins.

But I have to tell you, that returning to Tampa is always great because it’s just a place where I have established roots and have a great history.

I told Red Wings PR Guy Todd Beam that it’s difficult for me to get to Sunrise these days because of my brutal schedule. Tampa is much easier and it’s an opportunity to relax a little but and visit people.

I was telling Beam to expect to see me at more road games and judging by his body language, he seemed more than happy to oblige.

Amazingly enough, when you break things down, the Lightning only played just six more games than the Red Wings, which now a days seems weird that they’re not making a deep run into the playoffs.

But that’s how it is and I’ll tell you, it was great returning to Tampa. I can assure you, that I don’t expect to take a four year hiatus returning to the area.

This trip to Tampa would be the beginning of what would be a wild weekend.

The next day, I traveled back to Fort Lauderdale to see the Miami Hurricanes Spring Game on Friday, the FAU Owls Spring Game in Boca Raton on Saturday.

Finally, on Sunday, the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Miami Marlins 5-0 to conclude this four day frenzy.

But it was great to see some old friends again.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com.

To see his broadcasts, Subscribe at No Charge to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

The Weekend That Was

By SCOTT MORGANROTH

At 60-years old, the fire inside is burning!

That’s been the story for me in 2023.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Jacksonville for the Jaguars playoff run in January for the Jaguars playoff run.

Then, had to go to Wisconsin unexpectedly do to the untimely passing of my father in law.

In addition, there were three weeks spent at the Daytona International Speedway, where I had the opportunity to cover three races, including the Rolex 24 Hours and the Daytona 500.

But last week, Candy Ebling had to pinch-hit on my broadcasts on Wednesday and Thursday Nights.

When I mapped out what I had to do, I knew it was going to be a challenge, but it was necessary to get things accomplished with all the organizations I deal with.

I departed Deerfield Beach on Wednesday to take a two day trip to Tampa. 

On Thursday Night, the Detroit Red Wings came to town to face the Tampa Bay Lighting. 

I’ll be writing a separate story on this trip. 

But it was neat to see my Red Wings colleagues.

The Red Wings did lose the game 5-0 in their final regular season contest of the year.

On Friday, thankfully, I checked out of my hotel 90 minutes early because I needed every minute of that to return to Fort Lauderdale as the I-75 stretch on Alligator Alley had many delays due to road work,

Thankfully, My photographer Candy Ebling and I were able to make it to the Miami Hurricanes Spring Football Game at 6 PM and the game started at 7:30 PM DRV PNK Stadium.

We had lots of good interviews as you’re going to see in this story.

If you’re going to have a quick turnaround, then there is no better way to do it than Boca Raton, Florida as the FAU Owls had their Spring Football Game Saturday at Noon.

Another productive day as you’re going to see in the videos.

It only took me just a matter of minutes to realize that the Owls made a great hire landing Coach Tom Herman. 

He’s intelligent and candid. I’m definitely looking forward to working with him as we shook hands when he left the interview room. I had some questions for the coach and his answers were awesome!

I feel fortunate to be working with the Hurricanes and Owls.

I plan to cover all Hurricanes games as well as other media availability’s I can get to in Coral Gables, FL.

As for FAU, I’m looking forward to covering more practices and making games where there is no conflict with the Canes. In such a case, my writer David Volz will be there.

The weekend ended with the Miami Marlins hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday at 1:40 PM.

This was an opportunity to see the new look Marlins and have an opportunity to scrutinize MLB’s new rule changes.

Like the Red Wings and Lighting, the game ended 5-0, but it was the visiting Diamondbacks getting the win against reigning Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara.

In the end, these are the types of weekends that you need to continue to see your colleges and media distribution partners.

When you lose the desire to go to events to continue to cover them and network, then it’s time to retire.

As you can tell, I’m nowhere close to retiring!

The fire burns deep and it will until I eventually wind up in heaven!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloiridatribune@gmail.com and you can see his broadcasts by Subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Pitch Clock, Marlins Vs Diamondbacks

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

On My Baseball Podcast, 108 Stitches, Baseball Talk, I refused to comment on Baseball’s new rule changes until I had the chance to see a game in person.

That day came on Sunday, April 6 at Loan Depot Park when the Marlins hosted the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The game was going to be a treat because reigning Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara was on the hill for Miami.

There was no Media Availability for new Manager Skip Schumaker since it was an early game, so that will wait for another game.

The Marlins had taken the first two games of the series and were looking for a three game sweep. 

That wouldn’t occur as Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallan pitched 6.2 innings, yielded two hits and struck out seven as he out dueled Alcantara for a 5-0 snakes triumph. 

Alcantara give up five runs, four that were earned and Miami’s offense could only muster up four hits.

Let’s talk about the rule changes.

I’ll begin with the band on shifts.

This was hardly noticeable to me as I grew up watching baseball with two infielders on each side so there was no adjustment. I enjoyed seeing this and I’m glad that they banned the shift with the infielders being stacked to one side. 

Good Move, MLB.

The larger bases. I know in recent years, I’ve had five eye operations.

But not because of this.

To me, especially sitting in the Press Box, I’ve played and covered baseball and no matter what you do to change the game, with the blind eye, they’re always going to be in the same place. If indeed this change was made to speed up the game and prevent injuries, I’m fine with this change. 

Good Move, MLB.

The pitch clock was the only change I had to adapt to and when I attend my next game, I’ll sit in a different spot so that I can actually see the clock.

Alcantara did have one pitch clock violation. 

But you can tell that all of the dead time in the batters box was removed, and the pitchers had to get in a rhythm to get the ball out faster.

Candidly speaking, I had to move faster to fill up my Diet Pepsi and get an occasional snack between innings.

Thankfully, I have an app from MLB which allows me to catch up on plays if I get behind.

As much as I’m a traditionalist, I’ll never be opposed to seeing changes if they improve the game.

Former Marlins Manager Don Mattingly once told me that people, players, etc… can complain all they want about rule changes, but in the end, you can’t do anything about them so just get used to them.

In the end, the game is scheduled for nine innings. 

We’ve already acclimated to the ghost runner on second base to eliminate extremely long games. 

That rule doesn’t apply in the post-season.

What was refreshing to see in this contest was the MLB debut of Marlins George Soriano, who pitched three clean innings for the fish.

A traditionalist can appreciate a game like this as the starter goes six and a reliever goes three, thus two hurlers finish the contest.

Once upon a time, there used to be two and three inning saves. We’ll see if that occurs again. 

Who knows, maybe the quicker pace of the game will lead to complete games. Perhaps, the complete games might be a stretch, but I’ll be monitoring that as the season progresses.

The game took 2:11 minutes so I’ll give the Pitch Clock a thumbs up!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southflloridatribune@gmail.com and you can Subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel at no cost.

Comparing Rolex 24 To Daytona 500

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

What a difference three races make.

Daytona Beach is mainly known for two things.

First, their beaches are off the charts as you can take your vehicles on the beach. 

Many years ago, The Daytona 500 took place on the sand until it moved to the Daytona International Speedway (DIS) 65 years ago.

Second, it’s the Racing Capital of the world as NASCAR and IMSA’s offices headquarters are there so as a result, the most prestigious races are held at DIS.

Things get cranked up in January as the Roar Before The 24 takes place and a week later, the Rolex 24 hours follows.

The Rolex 24 Hours is a fascinating race with drivers racing on a street course and driving on the oval. The race is 3.56 miles with a combined oval and an infield road course with 12 turns.

A total of 32 nations, were represented and seven continents to go along with five different race classes.

The notable advantage of the Rolex 24 has over the Racing World is it draws International Interest is timing: NASCAR, Indy Car Series and Formula One haven’t started their seasons.

There were 11 manufacturers from around the world. Of the 234 drivers, there were 82 American, 24 British, 18 Italians, and 11 French. 

What’s amazing about this race is that during a massive endurance race, you gauge the manufacturer’s more so so than the drivers in terms of engines and all aspects of the car.

There were 61 entries and 4-5 drivers per car with an average drive time between 4-5 hours per driver. There were five different classifications.

Because of the huge media coverage, we had to take a trolly on the other side of DIS to get to the Media Center, but they were running 24 hours and so it wasn’t a big deal.

The best interview I had at this event was from Graham Goodwin, who is a media guy that has covered 89, 24 Hour Races. 

He gave me some helpful pointers to prepare for this event, mentally and physically.

Going to the Rolex 24 Hours was like going to EPCOT Center because it felt like I was in a different country. 

Many years ago, The International Race of Champions (IROC) used to have a 24 hour race that saw drivers compete against each other from NASCAR, Indy Cars, and Formula One. 

There was a lot more familiarity with the drivers with the two major USA Series competing against each other. Indy Cars and NASCAR was like watching an All-Star Game.

——————————————————————————————————————————-

The Daytona 500 is at totally different situation and it really began with the parking.

There would be no trolley as the parking was so close that it was an easy walk to the Media Center.

There was much less foreign coverage and 42 drivers participated in the field with the lone international driver hailing from Mexico.

If you’re looking for familiarity, there was a ton of that.

Unlike the Rolex 24 where the fans couldn’t track their drivers, no such situation exists in this case.

I’ve attended five races at DIS, two as a fan and I’ve covered three as in My current role with the South Florida Tribune.

I went to one Daytona 500 with My ex wife, who was a Jeff Gordon fan in 1997, and what a day as the Hendricks drivers swept the top three sports. 

Gordon won the 39th edition followed by Terry Labonte, and Ricky Craven. 

Gordon became the youngest driver to win the Daytona 500 accomplishing this at age 25. 

Richard Petty had been the youngest winner at age 26, in 1964.

Gordon’s record was surpassed when Trevor Bayne won the 2011 Race at age 20, in a record that I doubt will ever be broken.

Several years later, I bought a ticket to the Coke Zero 400 that was held around July 4th.

A few weeks ago, it was great to see Richard Petty again as we rekindled memories of an interview with him that I did covering NASCAR Events at the Michigan International Speedway. 

The King remembered me and I’m amazed how well he’s connected he is to the sport to the day. 

Petty is now partnered with NASCAR legendary driver Jimmie Johnson.

Petty could be classified as “Mr. NASCAR” and legendary Detroit Red Wing, Gordie Howe, is “Mr. Hockey.”

During Saturday’s Media Availability, I enjoyed talking to Rochester Hills, MI native Brad Keselowski as two home town guys had a chance to talk about racing, racing icon, Roger Penske and much more.

The only thing Keselowski’s resume as the elusive Daytona 500 as he has won a championship and races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Keselowski was in this race all day until a late accident forced to have to wait until next year.

Doing an interview with NASCAR Broadcasting icon, from FOX Mike Joy was the icing on the cake in terms of the key media availabilities.

Then there was the race itself, which turned out to be the longest one in Daytona 500 History.

In a race that went into overtime and lasted 212 laps, the winner was Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Former UNC and NBA Basketball Player Brad Daugherty became the first African American Owner to win the Daytona 500 and he did it with a team that has one driver.

What an anti climactic ending to the greatest race that I’ve ever seen.

I watched the majority of the race outside and some of it in the Media Center so I could stay hydrated on a beautiful 78 degree afternoon.

Whether I return to watch another Daytona 500 remains to be seen. 

If I don’t, then you can’t do any better than this!

When I put things in perspective, the word “Greatest” sums up my recent experiences at DIS!

The Daytona 75/65 (at the Speedway )turned out to be the “Greatest Race” I’ve ever seen!

Covering the Rolex 24, was the “Greatest Event” I’ve ever covered in my lifetime as I stayed up 30 consecutive hours in my first attempt at 60 years old! 

This eclipses the four Super Bowls that I’ve covered because of the endurance/ determination factor to pull this off.

In this story, we’re inserting some videos that you’re going to enjoy. 

We want you to feel like you were with us at this event.

One interesting video was with Chas Krall, who is working with Menards and promoting the ARCA Series which is a feeder system in NASCAR. That took place on Saturday.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

To see his broadcasts, subscribe to the South Florida Tribune at no charge, as there are a variety of shows that will be informative with timely commentary.

A Joy To Talk With FOX Broadcaster Mike Joy

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

During my time covering motor sports, I generally get a lot of my major stories the day before the race. You can find the newsmakers in the Media Center and in the past, when I had garage access, that’s when these people were more than happy to talk to me.

Covid-19 has changed the garage access, but the Media Center is still where the action is at.

In the past, I had the opportunity to talk to “The King” Richard Petty, former drivers Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Dale Jarrett, along with legendary announcers ABC’s Jack Arute and Ken Squier. 

In fact, when I interviewed Squier at the Michigan International Speedway in the 1990’s, a car pulled out and nearly hit me, but thanks to Ken, he told me to watch out and I got out of the way. He said with a smile, you have to watch out for those types of things in this area. I thanked him with a smile and a handshake and we began our conversation.

At Daytona International Speedway a few weeks ago, I had a great seat in the Media Center. I was near the back in a corner and I could spot when someone walked in the door.

When Joy walked in the door, I waited patiently until he became available then we took a photo together and I asked him if we can do an interview. He said he had two in front of me but Mike said he would gladly accommodate me.

The 73-year old, who was born in Chicago, Illinois and is a charter member of the prestigious NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting panel, and in December 2013, was named sole media representative to the Hall’s exclusive nominating process.

He has numerous other honors as well, but when you think of a voice of NASCAR, Joy is it. He worked at CBS Sports and the Nashville Network from 1983-2000. He started at FOX in 1998 and is currently employed there.

FOX broadcast the Daytona 500 and the first 16 NASCAR Cup races each season, plus two all-star events. Joy anchors NASCAR Cup coverage on FOX owned cable network, FOX Sports 1, formerly Speed.

Joy is an accomplished sports car racer, winning races at Lime Rock, Pocono, Watkins Glen and New Hampshire, and has competed at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

If you’re going to broadcast the sport, it doesn’t hurt that you’re really good at it.

His mentor is Squier and in fact, as our interview concluded, I accidentally mentioned, great talking with you Ken, then mentioned Mike and we both smiled, since Mike had to got to a meeting and I was caught up in the moment. There is no crime when you’re putting him in the class of great announcers as I did with Squier.

During our interview we talked about a lot of topics that you’re going to watch in the video inserted in this story. Just to whet your appetite, we talked about diversity in the sport, women’s participation which included Danica Patrick.

I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I enjoyed producing and doing the actual interview itself. 

The video is titled, “Rapid Fire With Mike Joy” as we talked about a lot of topics in a short period of time.

When it comes to motor sports, the drivers, owners, crew chiefs and announcers do a great job promoting and helping grow the sport. They’re phenomenal to work with!

That’s why I enjoy covering this sport when the situation presents itself.

Mike Joy is just the latest broadcaster that I’ve interviewed in over four decades in Sports Media.

The title of this story says it all!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

Also, to see his broadcasts, there is no charge to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.