Tom Rinaldi Is Telling the Emotional Story of ESPN Right Now Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images When Willie Mays would drive a double or a triple in the gap, Giants announcers — whether from the shores of the Harlem River or a California bay — would say that the only man who could have caught the ball, hit it. Tom Rinaldi, an unassuming dynamo who slowly but surely reshaped the role of on-air sports reporters through emotion and minor chords struck in production bays, is the latest in ESPN's exodus. He's the Willie Mays in this narrative. The person most suited to handle the delicate and depressed reaction at the Worldwide Leader, to offer hope with a nod of resilience, is out on Jan. 1, bound for the fast-charging Fox where he'll add to a steady trickle of what's become a trendy kinetic energy pipeline. There's no doubt the power balance is shifting with ESPN appearing more outwardly vulnerable than it has in a long time.