After stepping away following seven seasons as the on-field reporter for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Alanna Rizzo will be back at Dodger Stadium on Friday night for an MLB Network Showcase broadcast of their series opener against the L.A. Angels.
It will mark Rizzo’s third time being part of a broadcast this season, but first involving the Dodgers. “I’m definitely looking forward to going back home and doing that again,” she told DodgerBlue.com. “I can’t wait for that.”
Being part of a game involving the Dodgers will not only have a familiar feel but also give Rizzo an opportunity to experience a sliver of what she enjoyed most as a team reporter. “I miss the interaction with the players and fans,” the seven-time Emmy Award winner said.
“I miss the interaction with the players and fans. I loved my time in L.A. There’s something to be said being with a team every day and going through that proverbial grind with them to the extent that you can as a broadcaster versus as a player.
“I do miss being in the know of everything that’s going on with them and being a part of the fabric of what creates a championship team. And I miss the weather.
“L.A. is such a wonderful place to live. To think I almost didn’t take the Dodger job because I thought I didn’t want to live in L.A., and now it’s the best place I’ve ever lived. The irony is not lost on me.”
Rizzo recently was part of the first ever all-female broadcast in MLB history, alongside Melanie Newman handling play-by-play duties, MLB.com’s Sarah Langs as an analyst, and MLB Network’s Heidi Watney and Lauren Gardner handling pregame and postgame shows.
“It was awesome. To be able to actually be on the field again for the first time since pre-COVID was awesome,” she said of the experience. “All of last year we were not and even after they won the World Series, I had to wait an hour to get a player and I was doing it from a suite. So that was very impersonal and not great.
“So just to be back on the field and have the ability to have conversations with players, coaches and managers was really good. It was nice to have the fans back too. I hadn’t experienced that in a year and a half. It was good. It was really good to be back in my element. I enjoyed doing it very much.”
Rizzo appreciative of Dodgers
The Dodgers sent Rizzo a 2020 World Series along with a video montage of congratulatory messages from manager Dave Roberts, Justin Turner and others.
“That was special. I really wish I could’ve been there at the field when the rest of the Dodger employees received their rings,” she said. “But they sent it to me and did a really nice tribute that they put together. Let’s be honest, I had nothing to do with why they won the World Series. But it was nice to be a very grateful benefactor of their kindness.
“It’s a classy move by an organization to do that for a broadcaster. I had been with them for seven seasons, so to experience that and cover three World Series trips and one championship was really nice. The video they put together of the guys thanking me and some significant moments of my career with them was incredibly special.
“The ring is beautiful and big and weighs 1,000 pounds. It’s awesome. I won’t wear it, obviously, but it’s something so beautiful. I will appreciate it and treasure it forever.”
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