An Interview with Yankees Reporter Ken Davidoff

Hey baseball fans!I have a really cool interview for you today! It’s with BBWAA member, Ken Davidoff! “Ken Davidoff?” you ask. “Who is Ken Davidoff?” Well, if you read the following paragraph and interview, you will find out.Ken has been a member of the BBWAA since May 2001 (and was even its President).  He now writes for the New York Post and before that was at Newsday for over ten years. The Michigan Wolverine has written all about baseball, but mostly covers the Yankees, a topic that I am all too familiar with. Anyway, Ken has also produced at WCBS Radio and has interned at CBS News, but he does not currently work in those businesses.

Well, that’s all the info about Ken, so let’s get to the interview.

Matt: What sports did you play and watch as a kid?
Ken: As a kid, I played organized baseball and soccer, but also loved bowling. I watched all the American sports, from baseball to football to basketball to hockey.

Matt: When did you start realizing that you wanted to write about baseball?
Ken: Probably when I was about seven or eight. I would read all the articles about sports in the Star Ledger and I would even write articles on the Yankees with my grandma’s typewriter.

Matt: From the time that you’ve covered the Yankees, who has been the most exciting Yankee player to watch/write about?
Ken: Hands down it’s got to be Mariano Rivera. His consistency on the mound and his courtesy to others makes him one of the coolest people I have ever met.

Matt: What do you think is the best Yankees team of all time?
Ken: I’m gonna have to go with the 1961 Yankees. They were a stacked team, with Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris duking it out in the home run race and Whitey Ford on the mound.

Matt: Who do you think belongs in the Hall of Fame that currently isn’t from all time retired players?
Ken: Guys not on the ballot, but who I think should be in the Hall, are Bobby Grich, Lou Whitaker and Willie Randolph.  I vote for Edgar Martinez, and Larry Walker. Some other people who deserve to be in are Kenny Lofton and Kevin Brown.

Matt: Which Hall of Fame Yankee has the best nickname?
Ken: I will have to go with Jim “Catfish” Hunter”

Matt: Right now in baseball, who would you vote for to win the MVP and Cy Young Awards?
Ken: In the AL, Robinson Cano should win MVP and Carlos Gomez in the NL. For the Cy YoungAward, I will have to go with Matt Harvey for the NL and Matt Moore in the AL.

Matt: What’s the funniest or weirdest story in baseball that has happened to you in your career?
Ken: In 2001, there was a pitcher on the Yankees named Brian Boehringer. I asked him if I could ask him some questions in Spring training and he said that he wasn’t doing any interviews for the whole year, and I had no idea why. Midseason, he gets traded to the Giants and the Giants play the Mets at Shea Stadium, a game I had to cover. So I go into the Giants clubhouse and I see Brian doing an interview and I said to him, “What the heck, man? I thought you said no interviews?” And he says to me, “I swear, this is my first one all year!” I got a kick out of that.

Matt: If you could’ve met Babe Ruth, what questions would you ask him?
Ken: I would ask him about his childhood because not much is known about it.

Matt: If you could add one non-Yankee pitcher and hitter from baseball history to the current Yankees roster, who would they be?
Ken: The hitter would be Barry Bonds because I think he is one of the greatest hitters of all time and the pitcher would be Christy Mathewson because he had a very successful career.

Well, that’s the interview. Thanks a lot to Ken for agreeing to let me interview him. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for reading it. Check back in a couple of days for more of “all the buzz on what wuzz.”