Early birds are here, but the worm doesn't seem to be
I have absolutely nothing to post on this blog, so I thought perhaps you would be interested in knowing what goes on in the press box at 3:30 p.m. (10 minutes BEFORE the clubhouse opens to the media). Most of us arrive at 3. Right now, there are three Phillies beat writers sitting together at the third-base end of the front row. To their right, on the first-base end, are Dylan Hernandez from the Times and Joe Resnick from the AP ... oh, and Al Balderas from the Register just showed up down there, too. I'm in the second row, two seats to the right of the center aisle, where I sit every night (the Daily News has two front-row seats, but for a variety of reasons, I established squatter's rights here a few years ago). To me left, on the other side of the aisle, are Ken Gurnick of mlb.com and Josh Suchon, who is having a conversation with Matt Hurst of the Press-Enterprise, who is in his final couple of weeks there because he just took a job as an assistant sports information director at UC-Santa Barbara. There is nobody in the back row yet. Almost everyone is checking their email. That's what we do between 3 and 3:40, maybe fill out expense forms, read the daily clips packet that the Dodgers provide with all of the day's media coverage.. Tony Kinkella from Dodgers on Demand just walked in and patted me on the shoulders. He has a thing about patting people on the shoulders. Think it's a compulsion. Times blogger Brian Kamenetzky just walked in and sat down by the Phillies writers. Tony just walked by and patted me on the shoulders again. Alex Torres from the Dodgers' clubhouse staff walked in and is now talking on his cell phone. Our own Steve Dilbeck just walked in with John Nadel of the AP. That's about it. Hope you found this fascinating. Clubhouse opens in three minutes.
Sadly that is fascinating compared to what most of us do for our jobs, I'm sure. Tony, how come so little on penny in today's paper...Penny is kind of an issue going forward, seeing as how horrible he was last night. Any word on possible replacements...McDonald, Maddux, etc?
Mr. Hurst becoming Assistant SID at UCSB? Another journalist who thinks the sports publicity world is easier - spoken as a former college sports publicist who is now out of the game. Just a media stats guy who used to work with Joe Resnick on the Raiders stat crew (yes, here in LA).
Being at the ballpark, stadium, arena three to four hours ahead of time was my favorite part of the day. Enjoying the peace and quiet that would become loud with lots of energy. The Coliseum...Sports Arena...Assembly Hall at Illinois...Dee Events Center at Weber State...Toomey Field at UC Davis and even the Special Events Center at UCSB were fun to be one of the few in the "building."
Tony, thanks for making me "homesick." It was great while it lasted. Now back to the banking world.
I liked the report, Tony. I wish I could just hang there before a game and just soak it in. I took a Dodger Stadium tour one afternoon and it was really cool just hanging out in a near-empty stadium. At the end of the tour they had to practically force me to leave the field.
This is the second time you have stated you sit in the second row for a "variety of reasons" without stating any of the reasons. Why sit in the second row when you can have a first row seat? Is it more of a matter of having an established spot where everyone knows you like to be? Like Norm on his familiar corner of the bar at Cheers?
Sigh. I work in a locked office counting money, answering phones, and giving out change orders to people for 8 hours a day. What I would do to just sit outside Dodger stadium or even in Lot 8 for that matter hearing the sounds of baseball and the ghetto. If you ever need an assistant Tony, I will work for free to swat Kinkella for you, bring you food, and sharpen your pencils. Or charge your laptop...whatever you kids use these days to report! Keep up the great and fun work, Tony!
Why don't you learn to post pictures on your blog?
Hey Fire. I actually do know how to post pictures. It's just that the process is so long and aggravating and involves so many steps that it isn't worth the trouble. This blog isn't terribly user-friendly, as many of you have figured when you try to post comments. I love doing it, and I love the response it has gotten. But it is still (I hope) a work in progress that (I hope) will receive gradual improvements going forward. When there is a way to post a photo with two or three easy mouse clicks, I'll be more than happy to do it.
Hey Tony,
What's up with the moves to the DL?
How's the grub?
The grub is about like it is in every other media dining room in every other major-league ballpark. I'm hungry when I go in there, I eat, and I'm no longer hungry when I come out. That's about the nicest thing I can say for any of them anymore. They all kind of remind me of the lunch room back in elementary school.
Hey tony,
Have line up's been posted yet?
Thanks for the blog,
LDUN
TJ,
Great post, but what's up with the front row?
My guess is that it has something to do with the neighborhood. Too close to Simers when he bullies his way into the press box?
Keep it up.
Hey Tony, love the blog. Last week I took the Stadium tour and sat in your seat in the press box. It's very cool to read this today.