DES MOINES, Iowa — Alex Cohen has been the Director of Broadcasting for the Iowa Cubs since 2017. But his "call-up" to AAA isn't that far from the players on the field.
"It's a similar type of process where we're trying to get better each and every day to get that, that one phone call to say, 'Hey, you're going up to Chicago, or you're going to one of the 29 other big league teams,'" Cohen said.
Cohen has traveled all over the world pursuing his dream and he's grown across the board, but there's one area of improvement that sticks out from the rest.
"Being comfortable in my own skin, you know, everyone wants to be the next Vin Scully, John Miller, Pat Hughes, but there's only one of those and recognizing that and finding parts of their broadcasts that are really good and combining it into what I do best and cultivating my own style and own strengths," he said.
150 games a season and the prep that goes into that isn't where Cohen's duties end.
"I also sell advertising for the team, I also handle team travel for the team," Cohen said. "So when we're flying out [at] 4:45 in the morning, from Memphis, taking two flights, and then coming here, I mean, that's stuff that that I have to handle."
To keep things fresh, he has one daily goal on the job.
"My main goal every day was to come to the ballpark and have one unique conversation with a player or coach, a staff member, just something different to break out the monotony of the season, because we have 150 of these games," Cohen said. "So that one conversation, whether it's a 10-10 game or a 12-2 game to really make the difference."
In the MLB, there are just 30 teams. Those 30 teams each have two play-by-play personalities, one for TV and one for radio. Cohen recognizes how hard those jobs are to come by.
"Recognizing where we stand in the pecking order of that and just enjoying the baseball game, when I don't enjoy the baseball game anymore and calling a game, whether it's high school or at this level will be the day that I put away the mic and go do something else," he said.
Luckily for Iowa Cubs fans, that day doesn't seem to coming anytime soon.
"Coming here on a weekend night in the summer - [those are] some of the best experiences in the games that I've had in my entire life," Cohen said. "[I've] been very fortunate to be here."