EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Houston broadcast media legend reveals details of infamous Astros scoop
Apr 5, 2022, 11:21 am
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Retiring Houston Chronicle legend John McClain got it right in his farewell to the troops last week.
“I’ll miss hanging out at the Texans with Mark Berman, sports director at KRIV, another close friend of more than 40 years and the best reporter I’ve ever seen.”
Several years ago, I was playing a neighborhood pickup basketball game with Steve Patterson, then the Houston Rockets general manager. I asked him, “How come you give all your scoops to Mark Berman at Channel 26? Don’t the other TV stations get mad at you?”
Patterson answered, “I don’t play favorites. I don’t call Berman and give him Rockets stories. He’s the only TV guy who stops by my office every day and asks what’s up? If someone in the media asks what’s going on, I’ll tell them. Berman just happens to be the only one who does that.”
To be fair, none of the current batch of local sports anchors was around when Patterson told me that. The others have upped their game, and by that I mean they actually show up for games and work the beat. What a concept!
Still there’s no harder worker than Berman in Houston broadcast media. He’s a bulldog, all right. He’s old school.
Two weeks ago, in the wee hours of a weekend, Berman landed one of his biggest scoops – Carlos Correa shocking the baseball world and breaking the hearts of Astros fans by signing a 3-year, $105 million contract with the Minnesota Twins. Around that time, rumors were flying that Correa appeared likely to stay with Houston. Even Astros players in Florida for spring training were stoked that their shortstop might soon be in camp. Minnesota came straight out of leftfield. Only Berman got the story.
Here’s the scoop on Berman’s scoop.
SportsMap: Given the way journalism operates today, and your reputation and drive to break stories, how did you get your Correa news to the public? It was late at night.
Berman: I immediately reported the information on my Twitter account.
SportsMap: Did you ask Channel 26 to break into programming with a “Bulletin” or “Breaking News?”
Berman: Not at 12:41 a.m. in Houston.
SportsMap: When you get hold of a scoop like this, do you fear that somebody else has the story, too?
Berman: While I was in the moment I didn’t have time to think about anything but get the information and get it on Twitter. Of course I was thrilled to be first. Who wouldn’t be with a story of that magnitude?
SportsMap: Have you ever had a scoop that turned out not true and you had to eat it?
Berman: Certainly I’ve had a couple of stories where I interviewed people on the record and their information was wrong or just didn’t pan out. I’m guessing there’s been a story or two based on sources where the information originally checked out and ended up not being right. I’m extremely cautious when dealing with off-the-record information and that’s cost me a number of stories, because if I can’t get comfortable I just don’t do anything.
SportsMap: Give me your Top 5 scoops from your career.
Berman: Considering I’ve been doing this for 44 years, 42 in Houston, 36 at FOX26, it’s hard to create a list like that. So I figured I’d go back five years and list five in no particular order, based on the significance and in a couple cases being surprises.
1. Tilman Fertitta buying the Rockets.
2. Rudy Tomjanovich getting elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
3. Michael Brantley re-signing with the Astros when it was being reported he was joining Toronto.
4. Most recently we had an exclusive interview with former Texans safety Justin Reid who signed with the Chiefs.
5. Carlos Correa reaching an agreement with the Twins.
SportsMap: You live for this, right?
Berman: 24/7, 365.
It should come as no surprise that after a slow start to the season, fans and media are starting to voice concerns about the organization's leadership and direction. The latest evidence of this involved Astros adviser Reggie Jackson and the comments he made on Jon Heyman's podcast, The Show.
Jackson discussed the Astros reported interest in starting pitcher Blake Snell. He said that ultimately, Snell was looking for a deal the Astros weren't comfortable with in terms of money and structure of the contract.
Which is interesting considering the Astros were okay with paying 5-years, $95 million for closer Josh Hader, but not willing to pay Snell 2-years, $62 million. We believe the opt-outs in Snell's contract were a dealbreaker for Houston. And of course the money played a role.
However, the Astros passing on Snell is not the intriguing part of the story. It was Jackson talking about the club's power structure in the front office and how they go about making decisions.
“Being fiscally responsible is what kicked us out of the Snell deal… That's too much for him… Between the 4 or 5 people who make decisions with the Astros, we don't play that game,” said Jackson.
Based on Jackson's comments in the interview, the decision makers are Jim Crane, Dana Brown, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, and Reggie. But not necessarily in that order. He also mentioned that they had conversations with manager Joe Espada and his staff, plus some input from the analytics department.
These comments add to the concerns we've had about the front office since Crane moved on from GM James Click and operated without a general manager for several months. Which led to the disastrous signing of Jose Abreu and to a lesser extent Rafael Montero.
Which begs the question, are the Astros in a better spot now with their front office? Many blame Dana Brown for the state of the starting rotation. While there were some red flags this spring, anticipating injuries to Jose Urquidy, Justin Verlander, and Framber Valdez is asking a lot.
But only bringing in Hader to replace all the innings left behind by Hector Neris, Phil Maton, Kendall Graveman, and Ryne Stanek always felt risky.
Finally, what can the Astros due in the short-term to weather the storm while Framber and JV rehab from injury?
And is Hunter Brown the biggest liability in the rotation?
Be sure to watch the video above for the full in-depth discussion.