Everything is shaken up, even the Phillies after the Astros swept them. Haha, kudos to the defending World Champions!
What has changed with my routine? First point, the hours. Second, the speed of which tasks have to be completed.
Remember that cozy 8:30-5:30 day I talked about? Yeah, that’s gone! As an athlete, you never really know how much work goes into the game you play outside of the lines. For the past couple days I have come to the stadium anywhere from 9:30 a.m. (7:05 p.m. games) to 6:30 a.m. (1:05 p.m. games) and not left until around two hours after the final pitch, which is three hours after the start time. I’ll let you do the math, it’s not my strong point.
Needless to say, I’m exhausted.
It was fun going through my day and chronicling my every move, so we’re going to do it again, game day style. Since I came in two days in a row at 6:30 a.m., we’re going to document how those crazy days were, ok?
Sunday, September 6:
5:20 a.m.: G.R.I.T.S. by Brantley Gilbert wakes up me and Kayleigh (who came to visit!)
5:50 a.m.: Leaving our humble abode. Side note: with roosters crowing. Yes, real roosters, and three of them!
6:20 a.m.: Pull into Minute Maid Park. Side note: Absolutely no traffic, and it was probably more like 6:17, SO much faster.
6:30 a.m.: Say goodbye to sleepy Kayleigh as she takes my car home to sleep (LUCKY), and hello to MJ.
6:35 a.m.: After settling in, we have to start our crazy work. It takes her and I the longest to get done what we have, hence why absolutely no one else is in the office. It’s the same morning routine: clips, stats and minor league reports. Usually she takes the minors because she can read a stat sheet like no ones business, while I take the slower processes.
8:00 a.m.: Head to the press box to set up for the day. The pictures below show what it looks like when we first get in there. We:
Roll up those faux windows (yes, we crank them by hand. I’ll try to get a picture of the cranks. I’m going to have some SWEET arms doing this every day).
Run COPIES. Tons and tons of copies. Minors, stats, rosters, and game notes.
Deliver those copies. We set up the broadcasting (radio and t.v.), general manager, VP booths. There are about 10 booths total, and their requirements are pretty specific. High maintenance.
We also take the copies to the clubhouse. For the new baseball readers, that is where the locker rooms are, but they’re really more like houses with all the accommodations down there. This is my favorite part, excited like a little kid I might see someone. I try to play it cool, but I’m not.
The other copies we make get put into bins. These are for the media that are in the press box. There is any source of information their writing hearts could wish for in there. Everything and anything.
9:00 a.m.: Media credentials window. Anyone that is permitted into Minute Maid Park for media purposes, must have a pass saying they are allowed into certain areas. There is a list that is printed before every game saying these people have been cleared. Three tags are given out: green= field/pressbox only before games, black= field/pressbox, red= clubhouse/field/pressbox. I sit here until 12:00, when MJ comes to relieve me. She stays until an hour after game time. We also hand out tickets to scouts, and sometimes for the national anthem singers or other daily entertainment.
12:30 p.m.: After checking in with the pressbox, I head up to media dining. This is Heaven and Hell in one run. Buffets are my worst enemy, especially good buffets. On top of that, this room is full of TVs and sports junkies. I can sit, eat and talk sports all day. I hate that I’m allowed in there.
12:05 p.m.: Change all the TVs in the press box to channel 23 (FSH), and start the recording of the game. This is incase any call is controversial and a review is needed. I got a high-five for knowing what “SP/LP” meant on a VCR. Guess my age-bracket is getting past this knowledge with technology advancements.
The TVs throughout the pressbox are actually really funny/helpful. Their time is about 10 seconds behind the actual game, so it’s like an instant replay on every second of the game. Super helpful.
1:05 p.m.: Back in the press box, and watching the game. It’s crazy in the pressbox. There are people everywhere buzzing like bees. It’s a cool experience, and definitely where I want to end up. I haven’t decided what seat I want to be in (or “hat I want to wear” to be more colloquial), but it’s somewhere in that box.
During the game I am an errand runner. Whatever the media needs, I can help them get to it. We are media RELATIONS people. That second word is very important for my job.
7th inning stretch: Giveaways are distributed. For every home game that has a giveaway to the fans, we give them to the media. MJ and I start on the broadcast level, going box by box giving away that day’s prize, then we cover the pressbox. It’s funny to hand an El Caballo Webkins to a grown man, but they are just as excited to get them!
Post game: Hope that the Astros won. Which, as of me typing this (Tuesday, Sept. 8) they swept the Phillies so I haven’t seen a loss. Today, the Astros are about to play the first game against the Braves, so maybe by tomorrow this post will be dated.
Start breaking down the pressbox. It’s back to the crank as we let down the faux windows, turn off the TVs, stop and rewind the video.
Then, it’s stats time again, ladies and gents. We wait for the official scorekeeper to go through his box scores, and make sure that everything is right, then we fax it to the official scorekeeper company, Elias.
After they have received the box, we send the post-game notes and the statistics to other media outlets. Ya know, I would say who but I just know that it’s numbers 1,2,18,19,20,22,35,42 on the fax machine. Weird.
5:40/10:30ish: Head home, getting ready to do it all over the next day.
It’s a long day, but it’s an office that doubles as a baseball stadium. That works for me ;)
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