As a national baseball writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1998, Jayson Stark had a firsthand view of the home run chase that resurrected post-strike baseball and captured the attention of the country. He was in attendance for 17 of Mark McGwire’s 70 home runs, then a record whose validity was later challenged by suspicions and subsequent admission of steroid use.
“I thought at the time this was the greatest story I ever covered,” Stark, best known for his work on ESPN that ended last year, said. “Obviously now I look back on it, and that record — what we think about it, what we feel about it — is so different.”
Now 20 years later, McGwire is ready to speak more in-depth about that season competing against the age-old Roger Maris record and his division rival Sammy Sosa. That conversation will air April 10 as the debut episode of Baseball Stories, a new in-depth interview show hosted by Stark and airing on the Stadium sports network.
“If Mark McGwire is willing to tell the story of 1998,” Stark said, “I’ll sign up for that.”
Baseball Stories will have a run of 13, half-hour episodes all featuring conversations with bold-faced names across the sport, from McGwire (now the San Diego Padres’ bench coach) Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander to new Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton to World Series-winning manager Terry Francona (now with the Cleveland Indians) to Hank Azaria, the Emmy-winning actor and current star of the comedy series Brockmire, where he plays a baseball commentator.
“I was really excited about it because I love the art of the interview,” Stark said. “My feeling was, if we could pick the right people and I could get the chance to sit down with a group of people across baseball who were really passionate about what they do and thoughtful about why they’re so passionate, this could be really fun.”
“From the time I got into the business,” he added, “I always thought the biggest challenge, one of the most fun parts of the job, was finding a way to ask the right questions so you got great answers and you could allow the people you were interviewing to express their personality.”
For Stadium, the new initiative is a way to expand its coverage area. The innovative multi-platform network began as an OTT service before recently adding a linear channel.
“Looking at Stadium as still kind of in its infancy, we started with the idea of being able to branch out of the studio and games at some point and be able to get into storytelling and some original content,” Stadium’s managing director of operations, Adam Anshell, said.
Part of Stadium’s roots lie with Campus Insiders, where noted college basketball analyst Seth Davis hosted a similar interview show. The network, which counts the Major League Baseball spinoff BAMTech as one of its investors, wanted to bring that format to another sport and “really get even deeper into the stories of coming up or things you may not have heard that’s not just about the game itself or about life in baseball,” Anshell said.
“Jayson was the perfect guy to bring that out,” he added.
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Stark, who will also be writing for The Athletic and appearing on MLB Network, is known around the sport as one of its friendliest writers with a particular zeal for statistical oddities. He drew on his deep network of relationships to book guests but added that some, like Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia and Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, were appealing because, while they have compelling stories and large personalities, Stark doesn’t know them as well personally as others. He hopes the open format — in which guests can speak freely without worrying about an out-of-context warping of their words — encourages candor.
And some interviews are likely to be more free-ranging than others. Stark has covered Buck Showalter as a manager and enjoyed him as a coworker at ESPN.
“You’re going to have a list of questions, and you’re going to jump into the roller coaster and see where it goes because it’s going to go wherever his mind races,” Stark said. “Buck’s incredibly interesting, incredibly thoughtful and all these thoughts come spewing out.
“When I booked Buck, I was pretty sure that this was going to be as unpredictable as it would be memorable, and I’m signing up for both.”
Full scheduled lineup of guests:
- Mark McGwire, San Diego Padres bench coach, 12-time All-Star, 2-time World Series Champion, 583 career homeruns (hit 70 HR in 1998).
- Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees outfielder, 2017’s most-prized acquisition, 4-time All-Star and 2017 National League MVP.
- Terry Francona, Cleveland Indians manager, 2-time World Series champion, 2-time American League manager of the year.
- Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals pitcher, 3-time Cy Young Award winner, 5-time All-Star, 2,000+ career strikeouts, two career no-hitters.
- Justin Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman, 2017 NLCS MVP.
- Buck Showalter, Baltimore Orioles Manager, 3-time American League Manager of the Year.
- Justin Verlander, Houston Astros starting pitcher, 2017 World Series champion, 2011 American League MVP, A.L. Cy Young Award winner, 6-time All-Star, 2011 pitching Triple Crown winner, 2006 A.L. Rookie of the Year, ALCS MVP, 4-time A.L. strikeout leader, two career no-hitters.
- Hank Azaria, 6-time Emmy Award winner, current star of IFC’s acclaimed baseball themed show, Brockmire.
- Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays third baseman, 3-time All-Star, 2015 American League MVP, 2-time Silver Slugger.
- Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox second baseman, 4-time All-Star, 2-time World Series Champion, 2008 American League MVP.
- Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles outfielder, 5-time All-Star, 4-time Gold Glove Award winner.
- Jeff Luhnow, Houston Astros General Manager and architect of the 2017 World Series champions, 2017 MLB Executive of the Year.
- Nolan Arenado, Colorado Rockies third baseman, 3-time All-Star, only IF to win Gold Glove in each of first 5 MLB seasons, 3 straight Silver Slugger awards.