I have to begin by saying how thankful I am for everything that has transpired in the past month. I am still in shock over everything that has taken place in both San Diego and Pennsylvania. The Baseball Winter Meetings were absolutely incredible and I am going to try and recap everything that happened to the best of my ability.
Saturday, December 6
I'll start by saying that the three people that I went on the trip with couldn't have been anymore fantastic:
Nate - Senior Accounting and Business major looking to get into player development and scouting
Nick - Junior Sports Management major looking to get into stadium operations
Micky - The Center for Sports Media & Marketing graduate assistant
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| World's smallest plane |
Our flight was supposed to leave around 9 a.m. We learned the night before that our flight was canceled for some reason the night before we were scheduled to leave. After rearranging our flights, we were able to leave late Wednesday afternoon and land in San Diego around 7:30 that night. My ears didn't fare well on our flight to Chicago where we had just around a two hour layover.
The airplane from Pittsburgh to Chicago was the smallest one that I have ever been in. The flight from Chicago to San Diego was much better. I had intended on watching Netflix on the flight, but learned that the Wifi on the plane A) cost money and B) did not support Netflix. So that plan was a bust. I instead spent the flight studying the teams, listening to the plane's radio accessible via a headphone port in the armrest and watching the bad movie and NBC primetime programming promos that were played during the flight. My ears didn't hold up well on that flight either.
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| Our outdoor dinner |
We landed at the small San Diego International Airport, got our luggage and caught a cab to go to our hotel, an Embassy Suite. Nate went to meet up with his brother who was in town for a business conference. Nick Micky and I went to the Pacific Fish Co. restaurant attached to the hotel and got burgers for a late dinner. It may have only been 58 degrees, but that didn't stop us from wearing shorts and eating outside. It was raining and 35 degrees when we left Pittsburgh.
After we ate, we were exhausted but decided to explore a little bit. Because our flight's got rescheduled, we lost an entire day of exploring. Saturday was devoted to just exploring so we took advantage of the free time that we did have.
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| Seaport Village overlooking the bay |
We went to the Seaport Village area and walked on the sidewalk along the shore. I climbed over the wall and was venturing down into the rocks and trying to see how close I could get to the water. A security guard came from around the corner AFTER I had gotten back over the wall and told me to stay on their side of the wall. In my defense, there were no signs saying to not climb over the two foot tall wall which was begging for people to cross over.
We went back to our hotel room and prepared for the next morning. Micky was on the premium floor and therefore had access to free Wifi and a complementary vending machine. We of course took advantage of both of those. The view from the room was gorgeous. There were two beds and a couch in the suite. I of course claimed the couch, not because it was a couch, but because it had it's own room and TV separate from the main room. I discovered later that the couch actually turned into a queen sized bed. It was pretty nice, not going to lie.
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| The incredible view from my hotel room. |
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| The Saturday Morning sunrise |
Sunday, December 7
It was the first day. I put on my navy suit after enjoying breakfast in the hotel and we ventured off to the San Diego Convention Center. Our hotel was a 20 minute walk from the convention center. We took the longer of the two ways and enjoyed the sunrise along the bay.
We arrived at the convention center and went upstairs for a day full of workshops. We sat in a large banquet hall and listened to a number of panels and individual speakers from MiLB and PBEO (Minor League Baseball's Official Employment Service). The Business of Baseball Workshop included speakers from all areas of baseball from general managers to broadcasters, including the Houston Astro's play-by-play announcer, Rob Ford. The event was hosted by the comical Rob Crain, GM of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Tripple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.
Our lunch break took us to the Subway restaurant downtown and right back to the convention center to finish the afternoon.
After the afternoon speakers concluded their speeches and we were told how the job fair process would work, the 500 people at the workshop wearing the same lanyard with a name badge labeled "job seeker" quickly moved from one end of the convention center to the other where the job posting room was located.
The giant room was nothing but black cork boards with hundreds of jobs posted. Each job sheet had a lot of information on it, but the only important information was the job number, the position title and the team name. I was searching for any job or internship in the media field. There were over 325 jobs posted on the first day. I applied for around 15 positions ranging from media relations, broadcast production, and even ticket sales.
The idea was to apply for as many jobs as possible and let the teams decide whether or not you were worthy of an interview.
"Don't reject yourself," the PBEO president told us. "Let them reject you. You never know what can happen."
Outside the room, there were a number of trays labeled 1-50, 51-100, etc., where you put your resume. At the top right-hand corner, not the left, as they stressed a little too much, should be the job number, position title, and team name. The PBEO staff then would sort through the dozens of applications to hand to team executives to quickly scan and decide who to interview.
There were a lot of positions posted that I had already seen on the PBEO website before attending the job fair. I had an idea of what to look for and what teams were going to be there before I even left. I sent over 50 emails to a number of teams informing them that I would be there and that I looked forward to seeing them there as well. In the email, I attached a link to my
website because, why not? I heard back from only a few teams... more on that later. I browsed the giant room and isles of black cork boards with my official Point Park padfolio filled with resumes and information for jobs that were fit my needs. I was aiming for short season A teams and single-A teams, location didn't matter, with media and broadcast positions. Every internship and job had some type of pay, so there were no unpaid internships. Labor laws got rid of those two years ago.
Here are the teams that I applied for jobs/internships for on day one. Some teams had multiple positions that I applied for:
Helena Brewers
High Desert Mavericks
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Danville Braves
Brooklyn Cyclones
West Virginia Power
Ripken Baseball INC
Pittsburgh Pirates
Everett Aquasox
Hudson Valley Renegades
New jobs were posted every half hour. Here are the rest of the teams that I applied for after day one:
New Britain Rock Cats
Altoona Curve
Missoula Osprey
Again, many teams had multiple positions that I applied for that also were posted on multiple days. I didn't feel the need to list each specific position. I applied for 17 jobs over the course of the two and a half days.
It was wild, crazy and crowded. After the four of us were done browsing the job posting room, we headed back to our hotel to prepare for dinner - and what a dinner it was.
First of all, the walk along the bay heading back from the convention center to the hotel was gorgeous. There wasn't one night where it wasn't gorgeous, and our first look at the West Coast sunset was amazing.
Everyone who was anyone in baseball was at the banquet. It started with a video tribute and interview with the commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig. He sat down and talked with the legendary voice of the Padres, Dick Enberg and discussed his feelings in his final days as commissioner. Multiple standing ovations were rightfully given to Selig, who has ultimately changed the game as we know it.
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The view from our table as
Selig was interviewed by Enberg |
A number of individual and organization awards were given out including the King of Baseball award and the Organization of the Year award. The banquet was sponsored by New Era and each seat had a 2014 Winter Meetings hat in it. I snagged one of the extra hats and gave it to my brother when I returned.
It was really amazing to see so many people from baseball all come together for a really nice night. Many were probably there for the food which was jebvasdfbefeasfes amazing. It was the juiciest steak ever with salad with a dressing that nobody had ever heard of and a chocolate desert that melted my heart. It was so good and the highlight of my night. You know, besides hearing the commissioner give his farewell speech.
Another highlight of the event was listening to Branch Rickey give his acceptance speech for the Warren Giles Award, the league president of the year award. It was his grandfather who famously signed Jackie Robinson and brought him on to the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. His speech went on forever and after him, the final three men who received awards busted his chops about it, telling him that they were going to put him on the pace of game committee in charge of speeding up the pace of major league games.
The banquet was held in the Hilton Hotel, which neighbored the convention center. The Hilton was made up of entirely MiLB people. On the opposite side of the Hilton was the Hyatt hotel, where everyone in MLB stayed. Our hotel was a 20 minute walk from the Hilton and therefore we had to walk past the Hyatt to get to our hotel. On our way back, we decided to pop into the Hyatt and explore a little bit - my favorite.
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| The entrance to the Hyatt Hotel. |
No sooner did I walk in, I saw about five faces that I recognized from TV: former players, analysts, sabrmetrics guys and so many more. The large media room was located down the steps right when you walked into the hotel.
To the right, there was a small restaurant inside the massive hotel. To the left, there was a bar area and lounge. There had to be over 200 people in that small area. Everyone, again, from former players, to members of the media to executives were just hanging out. We stayed for about an hour and a half just talking to anyone that we could. We met a few other guys who were also attending the job fair and have attended in the past who gave us tips. At the corner of the bar sat six-time All-Star, three-time World Series Champion and World Series MVP Curt Shilling. Shilling is now an analyst with ESPN and just finished a show. Shilling was talking to about 5 people at any one time with his sweatpants and Beats headphones around his neck, cool as can be. Beside him was Karl Ravech, ESPN's Baseball Tonight host just minding his own business, trying to wind down after a long day. Quickly pacing around the lobby was the short Ken Rosenthal, who is one of the best baseball reporters in the country and who has sources out the wazoo.
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One part of the lobby, just beside
the bar area of the hotel |
The number of significant people here was incredible. On a Sunday Night when the Chargers were playing on prime time against the Patriots, the town was buzzing. It was such a neat experience. Oh, and there were far more Patriots fans roaming the streets then there were Chargers fans. Tom McMillan, VP of the Penguins and co-founder of the Center told me that he used to work as a sports reporter in San Diego, but quit his job there to come back to Pittsburgh.
He said that they didn't care enough about there sports teams. If they won, they could celebrate by heading to the beach. If they lost, eh, they could just go to the beach. No big deal. I could tell that right away.
Back at our hotel, we again raided the vending machine for sodas, waters, and snacks. I had the code for the vending machine memorized by the time that I left. We prepared for an early morning breakfast and a long day ahead of us that brought about even more excitement.
Monday, December 8
Monday morning came quickly to San Diego and a long day awaited us. And when I say long, I mean long. This day could be divided up into three separate parts, so have a bookmark handy. I may run out of paper typing this.
We all met up and walked to the Hilton, the MiLB hotel where we were to meet with Mike Fetchko, the other co-director of the Center, and Ton Kayser for breakfast.
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| Tom Kayser |
Kayser graduated from Point Park in 1974 from Point Park with a journalism degree. He has since became one of the biggest names in minor league baseball. I'm not exaggerating either. We had an hour long phone conversation with him the month before we left. He gave us advice and tips that we could use in San Diego.
We got to the breakfast hall in the hotel which was large and elegant. The breakfast menu started at $18. Insane. I got the buffet, which was of course $18. I also got a cup of coffee and orange juice. While Tom and Mike talked to us, I had no idea whether I should go to the buffet and eat, sip on my coffee, or just stay still. I sat still, listening intently to every word Tom said.
Every five minutes or so, Tom pointed out a different person in the room that he knew, went up and talked to them briefly, and brought them back to our table to talk to us. Meanwhile Pirate's manager Clint Hurdle limped along the sidewalk outside the restaurant. No big deal. He introduced us to:
Chick Domino - Consultant for multiple teams, CEM for one and senior advisor for another. He was once offered the MiLB commissioner job but turned it down in order to get more experience. He's a big name in the sport, and had a lot of good things to say about Kayser, as everybody did.
Ken Schrom - President and former Texas League Executive of the Year of the Corpus Christi Hooks. He also pitched in the majors for Toronto, Minnesota and Cleveland. He was running late, but took about 5 minutes to talk to us and tell us what teams are looking for.
There were almost a dozen or so more people that he waved to or chatted to that he didn't bring over, including one of the richest men in Mexico apparently who owns a few teams in MiLB. He knew everyone and everyone knew him.
During the breakfast, Tom told me that he wanted me to try and meet Matt Vasgersian while I was in San Diego. He also told me to try and contact a few play-by-play guys with major league teams, and Mike told him that he was going to hook me up with Greg Brown with the Pirates.
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| Matt Vasgersian |
Matt Vasgersian currently works for MLB Network and was a longtime broadcaster for the Padres and Brewers. Vasgersian was one of the first PBP voices that I began to imitate as a kid. Him, Greg Brown and Lanny Frattare were the first broadcasters that I really began to imitate. Brown and Frattare were of course with the Pirates, and Vasgersian was the voice of MLB The Show, a
PlayStation video game that I lived on when I was in elementary school and junior high. I still play the game today.
When Tom told me that I had to try and find Matt when he was filming a show, I had full intentions of doing so. The MLB Network set was on the second floor in the Hyatt, and the ESPN Baseball Tonight set was on the first floor. I knew where the set was, just not when he was going to be there or how I was going to introduce myself.
"Use my name," Kayser said.
He said that in regards to anyone we met. He told us that if they were there, he probably knew them. Or they knew him. Everyone there knew Tom Kayser.
We went back to the convention center after breakfast and checked the newest jobs posted in the postings room. There were new jobs posted every 30 minutes. About 45 more jobs were posted overnight.
A new room that opened up that day was the interview posting room. This was a room similar to the job posting room, except instead of black bulletin boards covered with job postings, they were covered with interview schedules. Once a team sorted through resumes, they selected upwards of 14 people to interview and wrote their names on the top half of a sheet of paper. The bottom half had time slots and blank spaces to the right of them. Your job was to scan the interview postings for your name and sign up for a time slot. Interviews were taking place anywhere from an hour after they were posted to two days after they were posted.
This created the tedious task of checking both rooms every half-hour, while also browsing the Trade Show downstairs, and trying not to miss the opportunity of meeting someone outside of the convention center. If you missed the chance to sign up for an interview, tough luck. It was a balancing act for sure. You want to explore and network, but you also don't want to miss a posting. Also, teams may not check the resume boxes multiple times. If you don't put your resume in the drop off box in a timely manner, they may not even know that you applied.
Around two hours after the interview room opened, I saw my name on one of the interview postings. It was listed as a video/photography and editing internship with the Hudson Valley Renegades, Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. I was so excited. I wasn't expecting to get an interview while I was out there, but I got one and suddenly a huge load was lifted off of my shoulders. The interview was scheduled for 3.45 that day.
4:00 seemed like a lifetime away at 11:00.
In the meantime, we stayed near the posting rooms, checking them frequently. When we weren't in the posting rooms, we found a designated work room where we could sit down for a change and gather ourselves for whatever came next. It was there that we talked, joked with and got to know three other guys that were at the job fair. They were all really down to earth and really cool guys who I'm sure some of us, if not all of us, will cross paths with later down the road.
We headed out to lunch, back to the Hilton, for another Minor League awards banquet. This time, a major league surprise awaited me.
This awards luncheon in the Sapphire Ballroom of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront included awards such as the Baseball America Organization of the Year award, the Woman Executive of the Year award, and many others. The dish of the afternoon was chicken with another fantastic desert. I had three of the deserts that were served at our table because, why not? The gift that awaited us at our table this time was a Winter Meetings baseball. I ended up snagging a second one, again, for my brother.
The four of us sat at a table with a couple executives with one minor league team. There were so many extra baseballs in the room afterwards because, well they've all collected their fair share of baseballs in their careers.
This banquet began with the introduction of the front table. And of course, who sat there, but none other than Tom Kayser. The master of ceremonies even name dropped Kayser during his introductory speech.
Oh, the emcee?
Matt. Vasgersian.
He name dropped Kayser, something that I was supposed to do when I met him. It was all set up perfectly. I would go and introduce myself after the luncheon concluded and try to get at least a hand shake or a small piece of the same advice that everyone gives. The "you have to work hard and meet the right people" advice.
I planned on leaving the luncheon early so I could be around the interview room. I didn't want to miss a chance of having an interview. I scratched that idea as soon as Micky and Nate both left to go do the same. Micky offered to keep an eye out for my name. Nick and I stayed for the remainder of the luncheon which seemed like an eternity. Halfway through the awards portion of the program, Micky texted me and told me that I had landed another interview. This time, a media relations internship with the High Desert Mavericks - Class A - Advanced affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
Instead of paying attention to the awards ceremony, I researched the team and Vasgersian. Oddly enough, Vasgersian was the Mavericks' first broadcaster during the teams' first radio broadcaster in 1991.
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| The corner of the program from the awards luncheon |
Nick left at the conclusion of the luncheon and I bolted, giant padfolio, gift bag, baseballs and all, up to the front stage. En route, I ran into Tom Kayser. His face glowed when he saw me. He didn't smile much at breakfast, besides the occasional grin whenever he spotted someone that he knew. He smiled and walked up to me, shook my hand and asked how things were going. I could see Vasgersian behind him and I didn't want to loose him out of my sight. I wasn't missing this chance.
While I told Kayser everything that had happened, he was half listening, half browsing the room to spot everyone that he knew that he wanted to see. I kept it brief. He said, "come with me, a broadcaster for the Kansas City Royals is here that I want to introduce you to." I responded, "okay great, I was just going to try and see Matt like you said."
What followed couldn't have been any more perfect.
"Fantastic! I'll introduce you. We were going up to my room after this to get a book and go out somewhere. Wait right here."
I waited as he said hello to every remaining person in the balloom and a small line of people formed in front of the stage to greet Matt. He knew the first three guys, and the rest were students and job seekers like me wanting to meet their role model.
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| Our view of the front table in the ballroom |
You could tell that he was trying to leave the stage, but he took time to speak to each person that awaited him. There were still four students that didn't get to see him when he left the stage because they weren't in the designated "line" of people.
Matt was walking off the stage when he eyed up Kayser and said, "hey TK, I'm ready." Kayser walked over to Matt with me following close behind. Tom looked at Matt when he approached him and said, "Matt, this is the kid I was telling you about. He's going to be big."
Matt looked at me and said with a smile, "You're Josh? Josh nice to meet you, I'm Matt."
I was in awe and disbelief. The fact that he knew my name was one thing. The fact that he introduced himself to me was another. I was in shock, really. Tom told Matt that he would run up to his room by himself and grab the book and told him to stay there and chat with me.
Matt and I went to leave the Ballroom and talk in the hallway outside. Meanwhile, the students that were waiting for him in front of the stage were standing behind us. He made sure to take time to speak to each one of them individually. One of them re-introduced himself, saying that the two met at the World Series. Vasgersian said that he remembered and carried on a short conversation. After taking time to speak to each one, he and I walked out and headed to the hallway where we waited for Kayser.
We talked about everything from his career, to what I was doing, to what I wanted to do. He gave me advice that was more than just the same work hard, meet people advice. He told me what to do in certain situations. He told me how to approach certain things. He offered to mentor me and gave me his email address and told me to never hesitate to ask him for help with something.
That was the highlight of my entire trip right there.
Kayser came back downstairs and joined in on the conversation. Kayser would tell him to tell me this, and tell me about that, and he did. We were there for 20 minutes. A long time for two guys with busy schedules. Well, Matt's show filmed 8-10 PST, so he was done for the day. I told him about my interview with High Desert and he told me to drop his name. He also invited me to the studio to see him after the show the next morning. I told him that I would try to but didn't know what interviews or other things I would have that day.
Before leaving and shaking my hand one more time, I gave him my business card. He said that it was one of the best cards that he has seen. He loved it. He was a total class act and made me one of the happiest people in the state of California.
I didn't care anymore if i got a job offer or even another interview. I got to meet Matt Vasgersian, and he introduced himself to me and chatted for 20 minutes. It was incredible.
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A previous year's
job posting room |
And now it's 1:00.
I went back to the convention center and told everyone what had happened. I was shaking and so excited. I put my name down on the 4:30 Tuesday slot for the High Desert interview. I was the 14th out of 14 people.
I waited for my interview with Hudson Valley. I sat in the work room, studied their team and their management and just mentally prepared.
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A sample interview schedule sheet
from a previous year |
I waited outside the other giant room in our section of the convention center which was designated for interviews. It was a large room with several small round tables and chairs surrounding them. I went right in at 3:44.
They were already interviewing somebody and were running behind. They did have two tables reserved for two separate positions. I sat down and was greeted by a very nice lady. I was hoping that she would interview me just because of how nice and un intimidating she seemed. What a great first interview that would have been. Instead, she told me that I would be meeting with Rick, their vice president.
This interview wasn't very standard. He asked a lot of... different questions, and I gave a lot of...different answers.
It started out with the standard tell me about yourself. He was confused and asked condescendingly how one gets a 4.2 GPA. He thought that I was graduating from college, not just graduated from high school.
He asked me which one of the seven dwarfs I was most like.
I've never seen Snow White. I had no idea who the seven dwarfs were. I knew grumpy and sleepy, and I wasn't either of those.
He told me to just name one. I insisted that I didn't know, but that I wasn't grumpy or sleepy.
He said that he was trying to see how I think under pressure and in tough situations. "You struck out there," he said.
The next question was which cartoon character are you most alike. I said the Road Runner. I have never seen that either. I just said that he can think on his feet and always get out of a tough situation and no matter how fast the coyote chases him, he can always escape. I think I got a base hit on that one.
Then he asked what I did in my spare time that had nothing to do with sports. Easy. Drums.
Then I grounded into an unassisted triple play (that's a bad thing to do if you're hitting in baseball).
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| Dinner with Putin? Well then |
He said that I had to pick two people to have dinner with. One that's alive and one that's dead. And they can't be Americans.
I said that for the alive person, I'd have to go with Vladimir Putin. Why that was the first person that wasn't American that came into my mind, I have no idea. I said that I don't agree with what he's doing, but he seems like a cool and fun guy and I like being around fun people. For the dead person... George Washington.
I guess he wasn't American at one point. But I don't think you would consider the first US President a foreign figure. Oh well. I should have said Roberto Clemente.
He told me that he would contact me within the next week with a decision. The position that he described had nothing to do with the description, rather a graphics coordinator position. So I wasn't devastated that the interview didn't go so well. I have still not heard back from Hudson Valley.
After the interview was over, I had to hurry over to the Hilton Hotel. The Odysea Lounge & Bar was the site for my next meeting. This time, with the
Sportscaster's Talent Agency of America (STAA) CEO/longtime sportscaster Jon Chelesnik, and members of the STAA.
Jon sends out a monthly newsletter and the November issue from the STAA, he mentioned that he would be at the Winter Meetings. I emailed him saying that I wanted to meet up. He also
complimented me on my website.
I met up with him along with other members of the STAA and we all got Cokes and just sat around a small table. As more people showed up, Jon and others moved away from the table and I small talked with a few of the guys at the table. One person in particular that I talked to was a senior at Cal State Fullerton. We exchanged info and planned to meet the next day. We just talked about baseball for an hour. He was such a cool guy. His name was Steve. Go Steve.
While I was having my conversation with him, someone came over to me and said, "are you Josh?"
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| West Virginia Power logo |
It was Adam Marco, broadcaster and advertising director of the West Virginia Power, single-A affiliate of the Pirates. He is one of the 50 that I emailed before the trip, and one of the few to actually reply. In his response, he encouraged me to apply for the broadcast production internship. I did apply for that, as well as a couple others with WV.
He told me that there were around 50 people that applied and he made sure to get me an interview. The interview room had just closed when he told me about the interview, but assured me that I would get one. He encouraged me to come out to the Starbucks patio the next morning for the interview because it was too nice outside to sit in an interview room.
The fact that he recognized me from my website meant a lot. He was the second person to introduce themselves to me that day. That was awesome.
When I was done talking to Steve, I went to talk to Jon for a little bit. We talked for about five minutes about what I was doing and wanted to do, showed him my business card, he gave me advise, and that was that. He couldn't have been any nicer. Just like a lot of people out there. He later included me in a
blog post about his trip to San Diego.
After I was done, I went back to the convention center and met up with Nate and Micky. Nick was going to another interview at a restaurant so we got something to eat for ourselves. I found a cheap burger shop along the water where we ate that was accompanied by the cool breeze from the bay.
After we finished eating, we decided to go back to the Hyatt and see who we could meet and see that night. We took the long way, however, as we detoured to go see PETCO Park, home of the San
Diego Padres. We had intended to go see the Tony Gwynn statue, but it was not accessible. A bit disappointing. If you know anything about baseball, you know that Gwynn means as much to that city as Clemente or Mazeroski means to Pittsburgh.
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| Tony Gwynn Drive sign |
We were a bit earlier than the previous night and ESPN was still filming Baseball Tonight live. I ventured over to their set for almost an hour and just observed. I didn't talk to anyone, I just observed. At the end of the show, I did speak to one person. He was a job seeker, a broadcast major, from Ohio University. He seemed cocky but couldn't have been any nicer. I don't remember his name, but he knows mine. I gave him my card but he didn't have one on him. Nice guy either way.
While I was standing there, dozens of familiar faces walked by. Most notably, Pirate's manager Clint Hurdle. Just recovering from hip surgery, only a slight limp and a bright red face that had the same ole Clint smile. He was headed up to his room for the night, I heard him tell the man he was talking to, because, "tomorrow is a long day." I didn't go up to him, because who wants to be bothered on their way to bed after a long day by some kid? Not me anyways.
The analysts were exhausted. It was almost 10:30 PST when they finished. They swapped insiders every other commercial, one got frustrated because he was late for his segment and they replaced him and bumped him down a slot. Another just looked drained. The host, Karl Ravech, looked even more tired. It was a long day, understandably. The crew looked ready to leave, anxiously checking their watches. The only person that didn't look tired was a producer.
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| The ESPN crew and the lady checking her phone |
She sat just outside of the roped off area where all of the equipment was, constantly checking her phone. She was trying to confirm a number of moves while at the same time telling people where and when they would be on. Ravech called her over during one break to ask what the status on one pitcher about to sign a deal was. She said that she was still trying to confirm.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, I saw multiple reports that he had signed with a team. The folks at the desk had no idea, but I did. It took until the next break for them to report it, because she wanted to get it right. You don't see that often. I've seen ESPN report false information before, at the fault of the sources and the producers/reporters not fact checking. The older woman who couldn't walk without her cane wouldn't tell Ravech that it was official until she got confirmation from multiple sources.
I looked over her shoulder at her iPhone which had enlarged texts. She was brief in her words, and her sources were just the same. The conversation I saw was:
- Robertson confirmed?
- Yes
- How much?
- 46
- Length?
- 4 year
- Ok thanks
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| MLB Network |
I twas pretty cool. I felt like I was spying. I had already seen the figures on Twitter, but it was cool to see it through a producer's eyes. Or phone.
After the show was over, they all stood up, wiped off their makeup and headed one way or the other.
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| From behind |
I headed upstairs to check out the MLB Network set. I personally liked the MLB Network set better. It was just a little prettier, that's all. There were gigantic pictures on the wall from the past season. I tried to capture them in the bottom picture on the right. The one not pictured is a giant picture of the World Series National Anthem presentation in Kansas City. A giant American flag in the outfield with both teams lined up along the first and third baselines. It was awesome.
After I was done exploring, I headed downstairs to the lounge area to meet up with the others. I ran into Nate who was looking for Jim Leyland. Him and his dad, who was an athletic director, knew each other apparently, and Nate wanted to see him and introduce himself. Well, as I learned, Jim was a bit busy at the moment.
The Detroit Tigers manager, Brad Ausmus, lets say, had a few too many. Leyland had to carry him out and take care of his manager. I walked around some more, later passed Leyland on his way outside, texted Nate about the Leyland sighting, and then saw Nate not too long afterwards quickly going outside. It turns out, Leyland was having a smoke break and was really nice with Nate. They exchanged info and it was a positive conversation.
Shilling and Ravech were at the same spots as last night, as if they had never moved.
Others that we met included: Joe Madden, former manager of the Rays and now Cubs.. Nate found him; the head international scout for the Yankees; a scout for the Dodgers and son of the Dodger's Spanish broadcaster; some random attorney who had a comical conversation with us; and a couple other guys in player development and scouting.
The night overall was a blast. It was our last night in San Diego, so we made the best of it. I think we got bak to the hotel around 1:30 or 1:45. I personally raided the vending machines again and stocked up on water, Coke, and other snacks because, why not? There were a lot of fun memories made that night and that night I grew closer to the three that were in San Diego with me than before. What a night.
Tuesday, December 9
It was interview day. I had West Virginia at 10:15 and High Desert at 4:30. In between, there wasn't too much going on. Our flight was scheduled to leave around 10:45 that evening.
We took the gorgeous walk from our hotel to the convention center, as you can see on the right, and dropped our stuff off in the work room.
I then headed down the escalator to check out the Trade Show. I was stopped at the entrance by security because the Trade Show didn't open for another couple of hours for normal people. I didn't have a special pass required to get in.
So I went to head back upstairs and go sit in the work room. Wouldn't you know who I run into on the escalator.. Adam Marco. The man who would be interviewing me in an hour. He said that he was just headed up to grab a couple of things and then he was heading to Starbucks. We had awkward small talk for a while on the long escalator and parted ways when we reached the top. I was feeling good about that interview.
I waited a short while and then left the work room. I ran into Kayser in the hallway before leaving. I updated him and he wished me luck, but told me to go away and to not be late.
Don't be late. That's what everybody told you as a word of advice before going to an interview. Well one person didn't get the message.
I got to the Starbucks at around 8:05 for my 8:15 interview with the intention to get a drink at Starbucks before sitting down with Adam for the interview. I saw that he was with two other people at an area on the patio. He noticed me when I approached the area and waved me over. I was puzzled because I thought he and the woman were interviewing someone. I was supposed to be the second one to go.
When I got there, I learned that the woman and other job seeker were with a totally different team, and Adam just didn't have anywhere else to sit. A lot of other people had the same idea as him. He told me that the first kid was going to be late. He apparently called the WV Power offices in Charleston asking where the Starbucks was in San Diego where the interview was being conducted. Great first impression.
We got up and headed to the opposite side of the patio and began the interview. He went to Mercyhurst College and knows the Western PA region. When I was preparing for the interview, I read a story that he was quoted in describing his choice to attend the small Mercyhurst College. He said that he went there because it was a small school and wanted to get involved right away. We have a very similar story there. He first asked me to tell me about myself. He was familiar with me because of my website, but wanted to know more. Then he asked why I chose Point Park. Of course, I told him that I chose it because it was a small school and I wanted to get involved right away, which I did. Boom.
The interview then turned to him telling me what I would do with the Power. The pay was a $600 stipend, and minimum wage hourly during the games. Housing depended on the year and how much money they had. They also have a very good relationship with the Pirates and Root Sports. It sounded like a great job.
Then he told me that he wasn't the one making the final decision. He was just doing preliminary interviews to see if he liked any of the candidates. He is the broadcaster and advertising manager, not the production coordinator. He couldn't make the trip to San Diego and would do second round interviews in January. Oh, and just as my interview was almost done, the kid that called their offices in Charleston showed up.
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Yadier Molina Gold Glove
Replica |
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San Antonio Spurs (NBA)
Championship Rings |
I felt really good about that interview. On my way back to the convention center, Steve texted me and told me that he was meeting up with a TSN reporter and invited me along. They were at the Hyatt, about a 10 minute walk from where I was. They were already there and I told him that I would be running late, but he told me that it wouldn't be a problem. Well, I got there and I couldn't find them. I wondered around the hotel for a while, observed the MLB Network show for a little bit, and again saw the short Ken Rosenthal scampering around the first floor of the hotel.
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Steve Garvey. His #6 retired
by SD in 1989 |
When I got back, I went to Starbucks and finally got my overpriced coffee and went back to the work room to regroup. Steve texted me and told me that he wanted to meet up and walk around the trade show, so we did. I didn't get a whole lot of pictures there, but I did see the Spurs championship rings, a Gold Glove award replica and Dodger/Padres great Steve Garvey.
After that, we went back to the work room and I met up with my people and he found people that he knew. Nick and I went to the same Subway that we went to on day one for lunch.
When we got back, there wasn't a lot left to do. The rest of us all had at least one interview. Mine was with High Desert at 4:30. I waited, relaxed and studied. I really didn't do a whole lot during that time.
I went to my interview at 4:15. I checked the board outside of the interview room to see what table number High Desert was at. Beside the team name wasn't a number, but a "see us here" note. So I saw the guy at the table. He said that they were tired from doing interviews all day and left, but they would contact me the next day or shortly after to schedule a phone interview.
I have still not heard from the High Desert Mavericks.
I went back and told the others the news. Disappointed, I wanted to catch the last West Coast sunset of my stay there. So Nick and I headed out and just made it in time. Here are some pictures:
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| MiLB hotel - Hilton |
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| A glimpse of the massive convention center |
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We took out group pictures
in front of the Job Fair registration
area, closed for the evening. |
Micky texted us and told us that we needed to come back for group pictures. I haven't seen them yet, but will include them here when they become available.
So we took the bittersweet walk back to the convention center and the work room to say our goodbyes to our new friends and take some pictures. We tried to explore the trade show before leaving. It was closed, but the doors were open. Nobody wanted to go in, so I did. I walked around a little bit looking for the free baseball cart that was available earlier. I got about halfway there and saw a security guard. I then turned around and met back up with the others.
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| Outside the FS1 grill |
We went to eat dinner at the Fox Sports 1 Grill at the Hilton. We had some time to kill before our flight, so after our meal, we took the long way home and took in the bay view one last time.
The actual job fair didn't end until Wednesday, but the school would only allow us to go until Tuesday because of finals week. There wasn't much that we were missing on Wednesday besides one of the main events of the Meetings: The Gala in PETCO Park. From what I saw, it wasn't too special, but was a great networking opportunity. Oh well.
We went back to our hotel, gathered our luggage, changed and prepared to leave. And of course I raided the vending machines one last time. I grabbed a bottle of water for each of us to have for the flight back along with a could of bags of chips.
On our way to the airport in the taxi, we passed a giant film set along the bay with pirate ships and people dressed like pirates. If I had to guess, I would say that they were filming a pirate movie of some sort.
AFter dropping us off at the wrong place, we eventually made our way into the airport. The lady that gave us our boarding passes was from the Cranberry area, if I remember correctly. After waiting in the TSA line, we had to get out of line and into a different line just to come out the same place. I didn't understand that part. Getting through security was much simpler than the first time where we had to remove our laptops and take off our shoes etc.
Everyone was drained. I was not. I was wired for some reason. It was 10:00 PST, 1:00 EST and I felt like it was 1:00 in the afternoon. I had so much energy. I turned in a paper for school, emailed a professor, and watched an episode of Prison Break on Netflix. I would finish the series over winter break.
I again checked my bag for free at the gate so I didn't have to worry about my luggage when we got to Charlotte at 6:01 EST.
We boarded the giant aircraft and everyone was asleep almost instantly. I had an aisle seat and decided to do some work. We left right on schedule. I decided to type up my reflection piece on the trip for the Center directors and the school. I got about two single-spaced pages out on the flight and finally went to sleep at 1:00 PST, 4:00 EST. We landed two hours later. My ears did survive, but still took a hit. They eventually popped while waiting for luggage in Pittsburgh, much earlier than the first time when they didn't pop until the next night.
Wednesday, December 10
I didn't sleep at all on the flight from Charlotte to Pittsburgh. I had a window seat and a cup of airline coffee which wasn't bad at all. Here are some airplane wing photos featuring the clouds:
It was a bumpy descent to Pittsburgh, as there was a light snow/freezing rain storm that was just passing through the area, hence the sketchy cloud picture on the right. By time we were below the clouds, there were only about two minutes until we landed, so I didn't see a lot of the brown Western PA land.
We landed and recovered our luggage, tired and worn out. Except me. I was wired. Still. I have no idea why. We went to Micky's car and drove back to campus. I went up to my room and received a warm welcome home from my friends. An hour after I got back, I had an interview for an apprenticeship in the TV Studio for next semester. The interview went well, but I didn't get the position, in part because, freshman. Same old story.
I eventually did sleep some. I slept for about a half hour before meeting up with more people to talk about the trip over lunch in the good old Point Park dining hall. I did get a couple hours of sleep later in the day before making a trip up to Duquesne.
I got hit with jet lag really bad. I didn't sleep until 3:00 a.m. for the next two weeks. I slept until at least 11:00 a.m. Then it was 2:00. And it stayed like that until the end of winter break when I finally began to go back to a normal, well a more sane sleep schedule.
In the days since...
It's been pretty quiet so far on my end. I've been enjoying the break and haven't heard much from teams. I recently received a rejection email from the Arkansas Travelers, who I didn't even apply with. I should hear from West Virginia soon, and haven't heard anything from High Desert or Hudson Valley, as previously mentioned. I will meet up with everybody again when I go back to school and talk about our experience and what has happened since.
But wait, there's more.
Fast forward to December 23. I'm in Wal-Mart of all places, doing some last minute Christmas shopping when I receive a phone call from a random 814 number in Altoona, PA. The store was crowded and I was near the pillows, where there was nobody. I walked into the empty aisle and answered the phone.
"Hello Josh?"
"Yes, this is him"
"Hi, this is *** of the Altoona Curve calling, do you have a minute?"
THE ALTOONA CURVE?!
The Altoona Curve, Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates and one of the first baseball teams that I watched in person when I was a kid? Yes. They were calling me to inform me that I had been picked as a finalist for their summer production internship. Virtually the same job as West Virginia, only with better pay, closer in proximity and higher up on the totem pole of baseball. Plus, my dad has more connections in Altoona than in Charleston.
We had a 10 minute conversation that ranged from editing equipment to different players that have came through Altoona. I told him about my first Curve game when I was young. I was so excited. He told me to email him during the first week of January to set up an official interview over the phone.
My interview is Thursday (1/8) at 11:00 a.m.
What's next?
Well I don't know either. I have basically four options for the summer, one of which just came about:
1. Altoona
2. West Virginia
3. a. Covering the Pirates for Pittsburgh Sporting News. I was just offered this unpaid internship a week ago. I would be required to go to at least 80% of all home games. I'd be perfectly fine with that.
b. Point Park summer orientation leader. I still have to apply and interview for this position, but it pays $1,000 for the summer along with housing.
4. Butler Blue Sox intern/everything that I would normally do in the summer in Butler
I'm not going to lie, I really want the Altoona job. I'm curious to see what happens after I get back to school as far as meetings and post-trip PR is concerned.
As far as the actual trip and experience goes, I couldn't have asked for a better time. I couldn't have asked to go with better people. It was incredible. I'm so thankful for the opportunity and can't wait to see what comes out of this.
I've spent the break relaxing. I've put off writing about the trip to just relax. It's something I haven't done in a while and something I probably won't get to do for a while. I'll work for the athletic office at Point Park for the second semester, write columns for the newspaper and write for PSN as well. Oh, and I have actual classes. It's going to be a hectic second semester, and hopefully a rewarding summer.
I can't wait.
Because, why not?
Josh
