Baseball is such a day-to-day sport that sometimes you lose track of the big picture.
Or maybe Jake Eisenberg just didn’t want to jinx things by thinking about the possibility before it happened.
Regardless, when the 28-year-old Eisenberg was calling the Kansas City Royals playoff games this week on the team’s Royals Radio Network, he swears he wasn’t thinking of what might occur if the surprising Royals managed to beat the Baltimore Orioles.
Only when it did happen, when this upstart squad that lost 106 games last season (106!) beat the Orioles to advance to the American League Division Series, did it hit Eisenberg the glorious confluence of circumstances about to happen?
He would be coming home to New York to broadcast games at Yankee Stadium, where the Royals face the Yankees.
And he’d be coming home, literally, just in time to spend Rosh Hashanah with his parents, Mark and Jill, and other family.
And if that wasn’t good enough, his favorite childhood team, the Mets, staged an improbable rally Thursday night to keep its season alive.
All in all, the last few days have been pretty incredible for the youngest play-by-play announcer in the majors.
“It’s been so much fun to be along for the ride,” Eisenberg said by phone Friday morning. “Royals manager Matt Quatraro always talks about today, and not worrying about yesterday or tomorrow. So I’ve kind of stayed in that mode and didn’t look anywhere past today.
“But now, to be home and doing playoff games at Yankee Stadium, a cathedral of the sport … it’s very exciting and very serendipitous.”
Eisenberg’s 2024 season, which saw the Royals get off to a great start in April and surprise everyone in the sport by staying good all year, could not be more different than his rookie year of 2023.
Then, Kansas City was buried in the standings by May, and the games’ outcomes were practically inconsequential by late summer.
“Last year, after you lose a certain number of games, you know your team isn’t going to be playing in October, so your mindset shifts,” Eisenberg said. “It becomes “what happened within this game that is a good developmental step forward, or someone who’s showed promise, or a really good start by a pitcher. That’s what you focus on for your listeners, sort of zeroing in on the small things.”
The year has also been different for Eisenberg as he’s settled into his place as a big-league broadcaster. He got married in January, and has found it much easier and less taxing on this brain the second time through all the different road cities.
“It’s been so much more comfortable,” Eisenberg said. “You’re not going to places for the first time, figuring out where the press box is at the ballpark, and is there a good food spot near the hotel. I just understand all the energy you would give to those routines, you can now apply that to a more productive place.”
As Eisenberg has called Royals games, he’s marveled at their young superstar Bobby Witt Jr., who if not for Aaron Judge would likely be the American League most valuable player this season.
“He does something spectacular every single day; he does something that makes your jaw drop every single game.,” Eisenberg said. “Whether it’s at the plate, or with his legs, or in the field. He’s that special all-around talent that can lead a team.”
Eisenberg spent 2022 as a backup announcer for the Mets and legendary radio voice Howie Rose, who has been a family friend and mento to Eisenberg for a decade.
The two are so close that Rose, during Game 2 of the Mets-Brewers tilt on Wednesday, talked about Eisenberg’s homecoming on the WCBS radio broadcast.
“That was pretty awesome,” Mark Eisenberg said. “Just so great how this all worked out for us.”
“Howie has been such a great friend; we’ve been texting back and forth the past few days while both our series have been going on,” Jake Eisenberg said. “His call (of Pete Alonso’s series-winning home run) was just incredible. He’s the best in the business.”
Beyond calling the games at Yankee Stadium this weekend, Eisenberg said he’s stoked to hear how loud Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City will be for Games 3 and 4.
“We’ve got the loudest football stadium in America right across the street,” Eisenberg said, referring to the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. “And Ryan (Lefebvre) has told me when we were at Camden Yards and how loud that park was this week, that I haven’t seen anything yet.
“Kauffman will be very loud.”
