Baseball Hall of Famers Shine on Weekly Podcast

Baseball history is uniquely revisited every Saturday morning on SiriusXM Radio’s The Road to Cooperstown podcast.

After listening to the first 16 weeks of The Road to Cooperstown hosted by Jon Morosi, without any reservations, I can honestly claim that it’s the next best thing to being in the baseball museum. The one-hour in-depth interviews with the greatest names in the history of the game is episodic radio at its best.

While the weekly talk between Morosi, a longtime fixture on MLB Network, and his guest can be first heard at 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays on SiriusXM channel 89 and the SiriusXM app, the program is available on all major podcast platforms each Tuesday.

When the show debuted back in June with the former Cincinnati Reds’ Johnny Bench (Class of 1989) as the first guest, it became obvious that The Road to Cooperstown wouldn’t be a generic, yes-no question-and-answer session.

Not by a long shot.

The die-hard Detroit Tigers fan, the kid who at age 5 attended his first game at Tiger Stadium, understands the importance of distributing accurate and, at times, very personal and never-revealed news by the greatest that ever played the game.

“It’s a dream job every single week,” Morosi said earlier this week by phone. “When prepping for the show, it’s the best homework that I’ve done.”

Prepping to talk with legendary names from the game, where last names such as Torre, Glavine, Trammell, and Bench are all that is needed to identify their contributions during their illustrious careers, Morosi first reviews their induction acceptance speeches. It is from the hall of famers looking back at their highlights and acknowledging those who played a part in them reaching Cooperstown, this inspires Morosi when forming the questions he’ll ask.

The one to two hours prep Morosi dedicates for each episode illustrates just how he wants to get “it right”, both for the guest and listeners. Along with his work with MLB Network, Morosi’s successful interviewing skills shine in The Road to Cooperstown, in part, due to his extensive background writing for newspapers.

The Michigander served for several seasons as the beat writer covering the hometown Tigers for the Detroit Free Press and in a similar role reporting on the Mariners for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. From presenting questions to ballplayers and managers in the clubhouses, Morosi continues his mastering of getting answers on the podcast as an extension of the baseball fan.

“The questions I have (for the Hall of Famers) are directed to the general baseball fan; what would they like to ask the player or manager? All of us remember what went on the field. Then, I ask about what went on in the clubhouses.”

While sharing stories with Hall of Famer Jim Thome (Class of 2018), Morosi took a deeper dive into one of the most emotional games of his lengthy MLB playing career—Game 7 of the 1997 World Series. Thome and his Cleveland Indians teammates lost to the Florida Marlins in extra innings.

“I wanted to learn something new. Baseball fans knew what was going on in the Marlins’ clubhouse; the celebrating. What was going on in the Cleveland clubhouse was a story to be told,” explains Morosi, who is from Marquette, on the shores of Lake Superior.

Ultimately, Morosi is aiming to get the Hall of Famers comfortable sharing all aspects of their careers, knowing that it all ended in Cooperstown.

When Alan Trammell (Class of 2018) first appeared on The Road to Cooperstown on August 13, 2024, this was a treat that the fan in Morosi cheered silently. To be able to speak with his favorite Tigers player is a gift that will no doubt keep on giving.

“Tram knows he’s my all-time favorite,” Morosi says of the former Tigers’ shortstop. “He (Trammel) knows and appreciates what it means to represent an institution as the Hall of Fame; just how so special it is.”

Morosi’s goal with each episode he hosts of The Road to Cooperstown is for listeners to learn something new. Hall of Famers reflecting on their participation in such a super challenging game and reflecting on the journey that brought them to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is precious time spent wisely.

As the guide for baseball fans’ curiosity about the game’s greatest, Morosi has already established The Road to Cooperstown as a “must listen to” weekly baseball briefing.