A couple of hours before the first pitch of the 2005 baseball season crosses the home plate, Ed Randall sits in front of his microphone in the WFAN (660) studio, talking to Jackie Robinson’s wife, Rachel Robinson, about the Dodgers team that signed Robinson to his first major league contract.

ED RANDALL: "Have you ever wondered what if would've been like if it wasn't Brooklyn. What if it was one of the southern outposts, like Cincinnati or St. Louis?"

RACHEL ROBINSON: "No, that's beyond my thinking. It's enough to have to deal with what actually happened and the situation we found ourselves in."

Randall’s voice, at once calm and enthusiastic, betrays his respect for the sport that he’s been covering, in one capacity or another, for more than 30 years. Although he is widely acknowledged as a first-class baseball authority, he keeps a manila folder full of clips and statistics close at hand, in case neither his memory nor the two computer monitors by his desk can provide the information he needs. The Jackie Robinson folder in front of him is part of his massive filing system, which ranges from Hank Aaron to Don Zimmer and helps him organize reams of statistics compiled over decades of baseball seasons.

“If you’re going to take the time to watch my show on television or listen to me on the radio, I will certainly make every possible effort to be as prepared as I can. It’s all about preparation,” Randall says. “When interviewing,  I’m not unlike a trial attorney. I have a pretty good idea of what the answer is going to be before I ask the question. And, I know I don’t have to do this, but I know no other way. It’s in my DNA. It is what I do.”

Ed Randall interviews Rachel Robinson, Jackie Robinson's widow, on baseball's Opening Day PHOTO: Gennady Sheyner WATCH VIDEO: Backstage at Talking Baseball Photos in video courtesy AP Photo Archive. Having trouble seeing the video? Download the free QuickTime viewer here.

Inside Baseball was born on 1050 ESPN in 2002 as a series of one-minute vignettes on human-interest subjects such as Baltimore outfielder B.J. Surhoff’s son, Mason, who is autistic. In March 2003, Randall was recruited by WFAN and, since then, his invariably polite tone has functioned like an aspirin after the hangover brought on by his more boisterous colleagues, like station’s superstar weekday duo Mike and the Mad Dog.

Although Randall has spent many years reporting scores and breaking news for a host of radio and television stations, including WABC, CNN and ESPN, his two-hour morning show, which begins at 9 a.m. on WFAN, is more national in scope and more issue-driven in content. As a result, his callers tend to be fewer in number but higher in quality than the ones who flood the weekday lineup of other sports talk shows. While the latter generally call to say “Mets suck!” or demand a trade, the Randall’s listeners call in because they want to discuss a pertinent sports topic in greater depth, said the show’s producer, John Schmeelk.

Randall, who claims to “see the world through baseball eyes,” is happy to be back at WFAN, where he worked as a reporter and anchor 16 years ago. He is also pleased to see the way his base of listeners has grown since the show’s inception.

“I could come in here and take three hours of calls. And now that the show is in its third year, for whatever reason, people are listening. I have the good fortune that if I give out the phone number, all the lines light up. I can’t say that year or two ago. So I guess I gained their trust and confidence.”