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Tony Kemp is back with the Athletics.
After spending four of his nine Major League seasons with the green and gold, Kemp was hired back as a broadcaster, providing A’s pre- and postgame coverage on A’s Cast on NBC California, as well as serving as a television and radio analyst for select series this summer.
We caught up with the former fan favorite to discuss his new role with the A’s.
MLB.com: How did this opportunity to come back to the A’s come about?
Kemp: During Spring Training, I kind of knew. I didn’t have any offers yet. I was monitoring players around the league and I kind of figured, talking to my wife, that it might be getting close to that time to retire. My agent said that Maxx Sports & Entertainment had been pursuing me. I ended up talking to their president Mark Lepselter and he’s like, ‘Hey, I think you have potential to be good in the media world and the broadcasting world if you want to.’ A week or two goes by, and I end up signing with them. Probably a week or two later, they reached out to the A’s in early May, and they said, ‘Hey, would you be interested in coming out to do some pre- and postgame and some radio?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’d be cool.’ So, that’s pretty much how it got started.
MLB.com: Throughout your career, everyone in the media complimented you about how great you were to deal with. Do you feel like it was always in your future to do something like this?
Kemp: When I majored in communications at Vanderbilt, I was always so interested in interpersonal communication and just body language. Public speaking always came naturally to me. Then, I would see guys in the booth, and I was like, ‘I think I can do that.’ I didn’t know if I wanted to hop into coaching right away because it’s like the same schedule with more hours. My first plan was just to take a summer off and let it slowly build. Talking to my wife, I wanted to be respectful and ask, ‘Hey, should I pursue this?’ She was like, ‘Listen, there’s no better time than the present.’ So, I went for it.
MLB.com: A lot of former players have gone into this field. Have you reached out to anybody for advice?
Kemp: One good guy I’ve been talking with is Xavier Scruggs. I’ve been going back and forth with him talking about a few pointers. Jon Morosi reached out. Scruggs, Morosi and Josh Reddick are three guys I’ve been bouncing ideas off of, and it’s helped a lot.
MLB.com: What’s been the most challenging or surprising thing about this new role?
Kemp: The challenging thing is, you know what it’s like to be out there and giving everything you have every day. You want to be respectful of the players when you’re breaking down an unfortunate play like an error or misread or bad pitch. I’m trying to put myself back in their shoes and say how I would feel if somebody said this about me. It’s the way you say it. … There’s a way to go about it. I’m enjoying it so far.
MLB.com: You’re still pretty young. Is this something that you want to do for the long term?
Kemp: I’ve always enjoyed talking the game, whether it be with my brother or with guys in the offseason. When I start to talk about the game, it almost feels like I’m just talking to a friend. It’s been nice to just keep it loose. We’ll see where this goes. I’m just kind of treating this as like a little audition in case maybe in the future the A’s want to hire me. I’m trying to do the best I can and take baby steps.
MLB.com: Fans loved you when you played with the A’s. You’ve been walking around the stadium and having people recognize you. What’s it like to be back with this organization again with this new opportunity?
Kemp: It’s special. When you have an organization that truly believed in you, I knew my metrics were never jumping off the board, but for me, I just wanted to give it my all each day and always pretend like someone was going to watch me for the first time. I really think that the A’s valued that. To be back, it almost feels like a mini homecoming just to see familiar faces. … It feels good to be back.