VANESSA AND GALLANT
ESPN Houston's highly anticipated new midmorning show debuts Monday
Feb 10, 2022, 2:49 pm
Get ready for Vanessa and Gallant! Photo by Brandon Strange.
Vanessa Richardson and Paul Gallant are joining forces as the new 10 a.m. to noon team on ESPN 97.5 and 92.5 FM. Both are no strangers to Houston fans. Richardson joins the station from Channel 2 where she worked as a sports reporter and anchor. Gallant returns to Houston from 710 ESPN in Seattle where he co-hosted the morning drive time show.
The Vanessa and Gallant show starts Monday. They will follow The Bench with John Granato and Lance Zierlein, Houston’s longest-running sports radio duo airing 7-10 a.m., and provide the lead-in to The Killer B’s with Joel Blank and Jeremy Branham from noon-3 p.m. The Wheelhouse with Jake Asman, Cody Stoots and Brad Kellner follows from 3-7 p.m. Late Hits with Patrick Creighton wraps up the daily local programming from 7-9 p.m.
SportsMap Houston put Richardson and Gallant on the firing line, she-said he- said, to introduce themselves and their show.
SportsMap: Vanessa, you'll be the only woman with a Mon-Fri sports talk platform in Houston. Is that important? Does gender matter anymore in sports journalism?
Richardson: I think it’s important to a certain extent. We’ve come a long way in how we view women in sports media. There are a lot of female sideline reporters and TV hosts, but not a lot of women driving radio shows, probably because it’s not a visual medium. So it’s cool that I’m a woman. It’s not the most important thing, but it’s something I hope becomes more common.
SportsMap: Paul, you developed a few offbeat characters during your time on Houston radio. How important is humor in sports talk?
Gallant: Humor is certainly important. If you can't make fun of yourself in this game, you're doomed. It’s more important that you don’t take things too seriously. There are far too many folks in this industry that talk down to their audiences. Always remember, you aren't important. You cover sports. So talk about sports the same way you talk with a friend. Always keep that fan perspective.
SportsMap: Vanessa, you're used to being on TV where you had maybe 60 seconds to deliver a story. Now you'll have two hours. How will the shift to radio impact the way you present your thoughts?
Richardson: That’s actually one of the reasons I wanted to switch to a different medium. Having more than 60 seconds will allow me to go more in-depth with thoughts and commentary, and more importantly, interviews. I love long-form interviews. I’m also going to focus on some multi-platform NFL work, including articles, podcasts and videos.
SportsMap: Paul, gambling and fantasy leagues are big parts of sports talk now. Is that a good thing or bad thing? Do you partake of the wagering arts?
Gallant: In some ways it's good. Listeners may be looking for insight so they can win an extra buck or two. But in some ways it’s not so good. No one wants to hear about somebody else’s fantasy football team. We’ve got to evolve and adopt. If people are looking for it, we have to give it to them. At my last job I had to stay away from all public mentions of gambling. Same with alcohol. Now I’m back in a place where I can be a proper degen. I plan on giving myself a crash course in gambling by partaking. But only a little. I think I’ll be too pissed when the house wins.
SportsMap: Vanessa, after you left Channel 2, how important was it for you to stay in Houston?
Richardson: I love Houston. The people are kind, the sports fans are loyal, and it’s a huge sports market. It doesn’t get much better! Luckily, I feel like sports fans have been receptive to me here, so I wasn’t looking to leave Houston.
SportsMap: Paul, guests or no guests? Callers or no callers? Describe the show that you and Vanessa will bring to ESPN 97.5 and 92.5.
Gallant: If you're bringing on a guest, it better be a big name. We'll certainly be hunting for them. Callers are another story. I love them! Listeners deserve to be a part of the show. Sports talk has the ability to be interactive through texts, tweets, twitch and, of course, old-school calls. Vanessa and I did a couple of practice shows and found we had a pretty natural chemistry. We’ll be busting each other’s chops while focusing on all things NFL, the Astros and whatever nonsense the Texans stumble into. I can’t wait for Monday.
SportsMap: Vanessa, rank your five favorite sports and explain why No. 1.
Richardson: Football, basketball, auto racing, baseball, hockey. Being from Indiana, basketball was king. But I’ve covered way more football. Football and basketball are tied in my book, but I’m well aware of what’s more important in Texas; and nothing beats postseason baseball.
SportsMap: Paul, after your time in Seattle, how much are you looking forward to having an NBA team in your hometown?
Gallant: You have no idea. Much like it's a crime that Tennessee stole the Oilers away (and rub it in our faces with those throwbacks, the bastards), it's ridiculous that a city in Oklahoma has a basketball team and Seattle doesn't. While the Rockets are pretty dreadful right now, I don’t feel gross rooting for them like when James Harden was here. Harden played basketball without honor. I’m glad I won’t have to rant about all the ways – flops, no defense, way too many 3-point attempts for a shooter who’s got the 262nd best 3-point percentage of all time. His game disgusts me.
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The NFL Draft, NBA playoffs, and NHL playoffs all dwarf baseball in the sports pecking order this week, but that doesn’t detract from the Astros playing their best stretch of baseball in the still young season. Following up taking two of three from the previously sizzling hot Padres by sweeping the Blue Jays three straight has the Astros’ record at a just fine 13-11 as they open a three-game weekend series in Kansas City. 13-11 may not sound special, because it isn’t, but having come home from St. Louis last week with the record at 8-10 makes 13-11 a quality leap. Plus, a 13-11 pace over 162 games extrapolates to 87 wins, which last season were enough to win the American League West and for an AL Wild Card spot.
Batter up!
While no one will be confusing the potency of this Astros’ lineup with those of the 2017 or 2019 juggernauts, some welcome perking up may have kicked in, despite Yordan Alvarez still not getting rolling. After Joe Espada gave Christian Walker a “mental rest” game off Monday, Walker produced a three-hit game Tuesday and a two-hit follow-up Wednesday, including a home run. Walker’s .202 batting average and .640 OPS are still lousy, but a much lesser grade of lousy than the statistical abyss he was in starting the Toronto series. Yainer Diaz has been much worse than Walker to this point. Diaz managed at least one hit in all three games of the Jays series. Baby steps. He is still sitting on an unacceptable three walks in 78 plate appearances.
Speaking of hits and walks, Jeremy Pena carries a 14-game hitting streak into the weekend. One-quarter of the way to Joe DiMaggio’s big league record! Willy Taveras set the Astros’ record with a 30-gamer back in 2006. Pena hasn’t been crushing it during the streak, during which he has just two multi-hit games. He’s had stretches where he has hit better and slugged harder (2022 postseason anyone?), but while too small a stretch to declare a leap has been made, it is noteworthy that over the 14 games Pena has drawn six walks. That gives him eight free passes in 24 games this season. More math fun! That’s one walk drawn per three games, which over 162 games would make for 54. Last season in 157 games played Pena drew a paltry 25 walks. Add in that his defense has been superb so far this season with a number of fabulous plays made and just one error committed, and Pena could be making modest offensive improvement that makes him a meaningfully better player.
Furthermore speaking of hits and walks, it’s been a struggle on both fronts the last couple of weeks for Jose Altuve. A two-week funk does not represent a crisis, but there are troubling trends that bear watching as Altuve sets to turn 35 years old May 6. Over his last 14 games, Altuve’s OPS is a sub-Maldonadian .547. In this stretch he has two doubles as his lone extra base hits and drawn just two walks. Altuve has struck out 22 times in 24 games. Setting aside the short 2020 COVID season when Altuve never got it going, last year he had the worst strikeout percentage of his career, while his walk rate was his worst since 2015. So far this season, Altuve’s strikeout rate is more than 20 percent worse than last year’s, with his walk rate down 30 percent from 2024. He is hitting line drives at a much lower rate than ever before, and struggling to get the ball in the air. The season still isn’t 20 percent old, but since Altuve last season finished with his lowest OPS (.790, again, exempting 2020) since 2013, and his current .728 OPS is 62 points lower than that, the antennae of at least mild concern are up. This is the first season of Altuve’s five-year 125 million dollar contract extension. Remember, the Astros would not offer Kyle Tucker a contract that took him to age 35.
Bringing the heat!
Hunter Brown makes his next start Sunday in Kansas City. Good luck Royals! Until getting a doubleheader against the pathetic Rockies Thursday, K.C. was averaging under three runs per game. Brown's earned run average through five starts is 1.16! It's waaaaay early to focus on this, but the best season ERA for an Astro pitcher who qualified for the statistical lead (one inning pitched per team game played) belongs to Nolan Ryan who posted a 1.69 in the strike-shortened 1981 season. Over a full-schedule season, Justin Verlander's 1.75 in 2022 is the standard. Brown has fired 24 consecutive shutout innings. Ryan Pressly holds the Astros’ record with 38 consecutive scoreless innings pitched. Orel Hershiser set the Major League record by finishing the 1988 regular season with a ridiculous 59 straight shutout innings. Yes he won the National League Cy Young Award. The Cy Young is strictly a regular season award. Hershiser in 1988 also won the League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award, and World Series MVP.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday.
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