post august 2008 grace

8/9/2019 POST August 2008 Grace

1/5

1AUG2008www.postphx.com

PHX

Game Over. Game On.

DESTINED FOR GREATNESS

The D-Backs Micah Owings is theepitome of well-rounded

GRASS CLOWN

Scottsdales Gary McCordis the funniest man in golf

BREAD WINNER

ASU football coachDan Cozzettos sidebiz a bakery

HES A GLOBALSUPERSTAR AND

11 YEARS OLD!

Meet Gilbert BMX studBrock Heffron

AUG 2008

D-BACKS FANSSAY GRACEMARK GRACE WAS A GREAT BASEBALL PLAYER.HE MIGHT BE AN EVEN BETTER ANNOUNCER.

PLUS: FORMER NFL STAR KICKER NICK LOWERY// A VALLEY WOMAN HELPS NEEDY KIDS WORLDWIDE// SUNS ASSISTANT ALVIN GENTRY CALLS PHOENIX HOME

NO BULL VINNY DEL NEGROS DREAM JOB CAME TRUE


2/5

46MAY2009 www.postphx.com


3/5

47MAY2009www.postphx.com

47AUG2008www.postphx.com

Fw p ,

in life for that matter,made more sense than the ideaof Mark race trading in hiseye black for ancake makeu

hen his days as a great Major

League layer ended and thenext hase of his life ickedu . o say races style,ex erience, it and isdom

ere erfectly suited for life as an analyst is akinto saying air conditioning might be a comfortableamenity in the desert. e just belongs there, like hedid in a clubhouse or dugout or atrolling rst baseas a Cub and a Diamondback. is resence, eitheron the eld or in the booth, makes fans feel better.Tings are more fun. Lighter. Looser. Less stressful.with racie calling a game, you kno regardless of

hat ha ens bet een the lines, you ill at least beentertained and more than likely enlightened. eck,

if something he says o ends you, may e suggest youget a life or lighten u . But as easy as he makes thingsa ear and as comfortable as he is ith a mic in hishand, dont get the im ression that it as some hocus-

ocus magic formula that allo ed him to make thetransition so seamless. Yeah, racie has the erfect

tools to be a fantastic announcer, but he also hadto ork at it from day one. kne had things tolearn, race told POST . as very fortunate that

had Tom Brenneman as a artner. e gave metough love hen needed tough love, and cradled me

hen needed to be cradled. e certainly made mebetter. when rst got started at this thing, asnt very good at it, and ll be the rst to admit that. ButTom, cott nyder, Mark eeder, cotty eyer, and

odd walsh, they all gave me a lot of fatherly advice,brotherly advice, hich real ly hel ed.

And the other thing that really hel ed as beinghumble and res ectful enough for the job to knothat it is something that takes t ime. And re aration.

SayGrace

Diamondbacks fansare spoiled in onearea. They get towatch and listen toone of the best and

most entertainingannouncers in sportson a nightly basis. Butbecoming a big-leagueTV talent didnt comeas easily as Mark

Grace makes it look.

By Zack SimonPhotos by Tracy Rasinski

Mark Grace

AUGUST 2008

i


4/5

48MAY2009 www.postphx.com

ts not nearly as easy as eo le think it is, or as easy as thought itas. made the mistake hen rst got started of not giving this job

as much res ect as it deserves. t took me a very minuscule amount of time torealize that it is a much tougher job than most eo le might think.

Fans have al ays loved Mark races honesty. And another one of hischarms is the fact that he has an everyman a roach to hatever hes doing.

es so relatable to eo le of any age, background, economic level, sex or race.e just is one of those ersonalities that is a natural at connecting ith eo le

and it comes through the V screen hen hes calling a game as ell as itdid hen he as laying it. And his ork ethic ont allo him to be one of those ex-jocks that just sho s u and ings it for three hours. e re s on adaily basis, and sometimes frets a er a telecast is over. e regularly critiqueshimself, just like he did as a layer hen he ould analyze his s ing, andhes got eo le close to him ho arent afraid to let him kno hat is or isnt

orking. My buddies, friends or family ill tell me, h, that didnt really sound that good, did it? r what ere you talking about? Tat as stu id!ometimes you catch yourself having a little too much fun and sometimes you

catch yourself not having enough fun. Teres no such thing, dont think, as aerfect broadcast, at least havent felt ve had one yet. But, you certainly look

to im rove ith each and every game.ts funny hen race as grinding it out almost 20 years in Chicago

and phoenix, the last thing you could envision him in ould be a buttoned-u shirt and tie. e as the e itome of old school as a layer. o its hardto imagine him not earing one. But its not like he has a lucky tie, or earsthe same ants every unday to ensure a tight broadcast. e doesnt believe inty ical su erstitions. ever has. o, didnt really have a game-day ritual as a

layer either. didnt leave the house at the same time every day. Baseball gets to

Mark Grace

AUGUST 2008

i


5/5

49MAY2009www.postphx.com

I made the mistake when I rst got started of not giving this job as much respect as it deserves. It took me a veryminuscule amount of time to realize that it is a much tougher job than most people might think. -Mark Grace

be su erstitious if you let it. f you let su erstition run your life, you have to eat atthis restaurant at this time, you have to have bacon and eggs, or if you go 0 for 4,you say things like, well, better not have another Diet Coke today. pretty soonit starts to run your life, and baseball has a lot of su erstitious eo le.

o su erstitions needed. what orks for race is substance over style, in a very stylish and unique ay. is candid and honest a roach to the broadcasthas robably made his o ularity even higher than it as as a layer. Becausehe still looks like he could lay. n Chicago, fans ant to talk about my layingdays, and they ant to thank me for the thirteen years of service had ith theCubs. ere in Arizona, its mostly, Man, e love you and Daron [ utton] orwe love you and Tom, or we miss Tom, or we love Daron. Te reaction

get here in phoenix is more about broadcasting because m kno n more asa broadcaster here.

plus, hell al ays have a natural bond ith fans in the Valley because heas art of the one and only world Cham ionshi phoenix has on. ts ironicho careers can go sometimes. For ell over a decade, the one ord that oulddescribe the overall vibe of the team success he had ith the Cubs ould befrustration. But it all changed overnight. race joined the D-Backs in 2001,and they immediately on the world eries. And yeah, he still has to inchhimself no and then hen he looks do n and sees that big shiny ring hethought hed never have a chance to attain. began to think for a hile asnever going to be in a world eries, let alone in one. nce Chicago let mego, it as easy to choose to come here. chose Arizona because there as a bigchance that this team as going to in, and go all the ay. tell everybody

and ll be honest asnt really excited about facing andy Johnson and[Curt] chilling anymore, so that as a good reason to sign here too.

Tere you go its that kind of o en-book honesty that reaches out andsucks eo le in. ts been that ay since day one of his career hen he broke in atthe Friendly Con nes in Chicago, and continues no herever he goes. donttravel ith a osse, dont have bodyguards. as brought u better than that.

as brought u treating eo le ith res ect. ot just res ect for elders, butres ect for everybody. My mother and father are still alive, and if disres ected

eo le my father ould still kick my ass. o no, m not going to do it. Te otherthing is, hen it comes to o ularity, cant ut myself in Michael Jordans shoes,or Charles Barkleys shoes, or Derek Jeters and Barry Bonds. m not in thecategory of those guys. Tats hy do go out, and like to be around fans andhave fun. ey, my attitude about the eo le that dont like to be bothered henthey are out in ublic is sim le. f it bothers you so much, then dont go out.

we all need to enjoy him hile e can, phoenix. Although this ill al ays

be home, there are no guarantees ell al ays get to enjoy him on a nightly basis. love phoenix. t is here my children are, it is my home and ill al ays behere and have a home. But doing games on a nightly basis is a grind, m notgoing to lie.

f you atched the Major League All- tar game this summer, you sa thatthe Fox et ork ut him front and center in their re-game sho , and healready is one of their net ork analysts on aturdays throughout the summer.Tere is no doubt hell have his ick of full-time net ork gigs retty darn soon,if he doesnt already. o until then, soak u the it and isdom on a daily basis,and if you run into him out and about, dont be afraid to say hi to one of themost a roachable athletes the s orts orld has ever seen. More than likely,

hell robably buy you a beer and give you a laugh and a memory youll have fora lifetime.

post august 2008 grace

Documents