Karl Ravech, ESPN Baseball Tonight Anchor

Imagine what it would be like to be an ESPN sportscaster, or maybe a sports radio host or a baseball scout. Does that peak your interest? How about working in a sports public relations office, being a beat reporter for the Yankees or helping plan an All-Star Game? Here at Pipe DREAM JOB, you can get a taste of it all. Every column will profile a different career in the sports field, giving you Binghamton University students a small Costco-like sample of people in the business that are working at the job of their dreams.

When you think about people working in sports, you often hear stories of childhood sports heroes or a person’s passion for a certain team that has persuaded someone to follow that path. For Karl Ravech, that wasn’t the case.

“I was definitely not one of those kids that pretended that I was doing the play-by-play of an event,” said Ravech, now an ESPN sportscaster and host of “Baseball Tonight.” “I never really watched ESPN growing up.”

Entering what will be his 15th year as an ESPN anchor, the 42-year-old Binghamton alumnus had an interesting career path, and he has his wife to thank. After working in WBNG in Binghamton for three years, Ravech became an anchor in Harrisburg, Pa., and decided to apply for the ESPN job in Bristol, Conn.

“We can’t just stay here doing weekend sports,” Ravech said, who had recently been married.

But while waiting to hear back from ESPN, his wife, who had an interview in the Bristol area for a job of her own, convinced Ravech to tag along on the ride and meet with the ESPN brass.

“My first reaction was, you don’t do that,” he said. “She convinced me I had nothing to lose, and it paid off.”

Ravech was hired and teamed with former “Daily Show” host Craig Kilborn to work the SportsCenter desk in 1993.

Ravech chose to enter the sports field after meeting with a guidance counselor, who suggested he combine his love for writing and playing sports. A communications major at Ithaca College, Ravech decided to take classes at Binghamton University when he was working at WBNG.

Since 1996, Ravech, alongside numerous former Major League Baseball players and columnists, has hosted the popular ESPN show “Baseball Tonight” and has loved the day-to-day job.

“We have a meeting with whoever is on the show, get together with the producers, production assistants, come up with a theme and the races going on,” said Ravech, who starts his workday at 4:30 p.m. to prepare for the 10 p.m. and 12 a.m. shows. “Last night, we proposed to these guys, give us your best clutch hitter and best clutch pitcher.”

But not everything goes according to plan in this line of work.

“When [a recent] Indians and White Sox game was pouring, it led to a discussion when games need to be called [by the umpires],” Ravech said. “There’s a great aspect in this job that you never know what’s going to happen.”

But Ravech embraces the thrill of his daily duties, even if it means getting home at 2 a.m. most days.

“I would think that most people would want to be at an environment where they are challenged,” he said.

Through the years, Ravech has grown to be a fan of all sports, citing Tiger Woods’ win at the 2000 British Open and the Red Sox 2004 World Series Championship as some of the best sports moments he has attended. But it’s not just sports that he has come to love.

“I had a 5-year-old boy on a tour ask me, ‘How much money do you make?’ I said ‘I make enough money.’ His mother said, ‘But ask him if he enjoys what he’s doing.’ That’s the part that’s great — to love what you’re doing.”

Published Sept. 18, 2007 in Binghamton University's "Pipe Dream" Newspaper.