EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: KIMBERLY JONES

She’s in our living room most every night during baseball season, bringing us the most up-to-date Yankee news and field interviews. Most recently, Twitter was booming with kudos for a fantastic post-game interview with Mark Teixeira. We’ve seen her in the line of fire, getting hit with “walk-off” pies and doused with post-season champagne. To us, she seems to be our best friend that you can count on every day. Let’s get to know a little bit more about YES Network’s Kimberly Jones.

BYB: Where are you originally from and where do you call home now?



Kimberly Jones: I am from York County, Pa. I live in Bergen County, NJ.



BYB: Did you play sports in grammar or high school and when did you realize that sports journalism was the career path you’d choose for yourself?



Kimberly Jones: I played everything from kickball to flag football as a kid. I played tennis and basketball throughout high school. I knew early – my earliest memories are of fifth grade, in this respect – that I loved sports. I was always watching football, baseball and basketball, and by middle school I would write stories about the games I watched. No one read the stories; they were on little notebooks and hand-written. I wish I could find them now.



BYB: Who are your influences and source of inspiration?



Kimberly Jones: My parents, who’ve always encouraged me to pave my own way and to think for myself and provided great examples of work ethic for which I am grateful.



BYB: What was your first position in your career field and when did you start working for YES?



Kimberly Jones: My first post-graduate job was covering high school sports and Penn State sports, including football and basketball, at the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa. I started at YES in March 2005.



BYB: Have you ever been truly “star struck” doing an interview, and, if yes, with who and why?



Kimberly Jones: Maybe a little bit when I was a sophomore and Cal Ripken Jr. came to my high school. I interviewed him for the school paper. I still remember the striped sweater and yellow corduroys I was wearing.

(Photo: NY Daily News)

BYB: Which player has been the easiest to interview?



Kimberly Jones: If you mean in the post game interview setting in my current job, I'd say Mariano Rivera. Because win or lose, he is always gracious and unhurried and answers all the questions, even the dumb ones.



BYB: What are your interests or hobbies outside of Yankees baseball?



Kimberly Jones: My family, my friends, working out and sleeping.



BYB: Describe your perfect day and night off?



Kimberly Jones: What days off? Ha ha ….. Probably dinner and a movie.



BYB: You always look so rested and refreshed in your broadcasts. Do you have any special rituals or routines to keep yourself healthy and looking good during the season?



Kimberly Jones: Oh, that’s nice of you. I often feel like I’m fighting an uphill battle during more grueling parts of the schedule, and my voice tires. I also fight allergies every spring. Working out and sleeping well are key. So is a considerable amount of diet coke and trying to avoid the Peanut M&Ms that surround me.



BYB: Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?



Kimberly Jones: Hopefully happy and taking a few more vacations close to the ocean.



BYB: Stolen from Centerstage: Who’s the person you’d most want to be stuck in a foxhole with?



Kimberly Jones: The Navy Seal who killed bin Laden.BYB: If there was one legacy or mark you’ve made in your work, what would it be? What would you like to be “best known for”?



Kimberly Jones: Just for providing useful insight into the teams and players that fans love and for contributing to enjoyable broadcasts. It took me a couple years of full-time TV to understand that being genuine and being true to myself was more important than anything else in terms of doing this job. One day, Chris Carlin -- with whom I was co-hosting on WFAN radio -- said to me, "Screw everything else. Just be yourself." And Carlin was right.



BYB: Any advice for young ladies hoping to follow in your footsteps?



Kimberly Jones: To pursue their dreams without regret. But be practical enough to have a Plan B. Everyone needs a Plan B.



Kimberly, we’re glad that you took Carlin’s advice, we wouldn’t have you any other way. Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with Bleeding Yankee Blue.



Follow Kimberly Jones on twitter @YESKimJones.







--Christy Lee, BYB Staff Writer







--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Associate Editor







Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.