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June is not for the weak
Greetings from Baseballtown!!!
Once again, it has been a while since I’ve updated you on the happenings from Baseballtown, and I apologize for that. We are currently in the middle of a very long seven-game home stand. The past three weeks have been nuts, but somehow we’ve made it through unscathed.
Everyone in the front office has been working non-stop since June 6th. The past three weeks have been filled with two seven-game home sta
nds, long hours, and unfortunately quite a few losses for the R-Phils.
Although the R-Phils are currently in a six-game losing streak, there have been a few positive aspects to this long home stand. Earlier this week, I tried a new thing with the R-Phils twitter account. On Monday fans started lining up outside of VIST Financial Plaza around noon in order to ensure that they received a Cole Hamels Garden Gnome. It was bizarre to see all of those people waiting in line for many hours to a giveaway. In order to try and get more fans to come out to the ballpark, I tweeted a picture of the garden gnome (left), and it was viewed by over 600 people! We received a lot comments about the gnome, and the picture was later shown on 6 ABC news in Philly. Since we had so many impressions from the image, Tommy and I decided that it would benefit our marketing capabilities to post more pictures like this through our Twitter page. Since then I’ve sent out pictures about the events going on at the ballpark for the rest of the home stand. Hopefully fans will see these images and are more inclined to come to some of our games!
Brian Schneider has been here all week, which has brought some Philadelphia Phillies fans out to the ballpark to see him play in his rehab appearance with Reading. He’s played in five games so far this week, three in the catcher’s position, and two as a designated hitter. It seems that he is focusing most of his time in Reading on getting good at bats. While playing for the R-Phils he has been hitting .313 with five hits, one run scored, and one RBI.
Yesterday we had a tribute to the Philadelphia Phillies night, and the Phillie Phanatic and the 1980 & 2008 World Series Trophies were here for fans to see. The trophies got here around 3, so everyone in the front office staff was able to get pictures with it before all of the fans showed up. It seemed to be a perfect time to get the 2011 R-Phils Intern photo, so 11 out of 12 of us (sorry Gosselin) got together for the picture (right).
Tonight Mr. Belding is gracing Baseballtown with his presence and I cannot be more excited. Although I have heard that my favorite TV principle does not necessarily look the same way he did while on the show, I hope he blurts out some Saved By the Bell catch phrases throughout the day. He’s going to be hosting an Adult Spelling Bee and Karaoke Jam before the game, and I’m interested in what tunes he’ll be singing to.
After tonight’s game, there is one more game in the home stand, and then it’s a (much deserved) weekend off for the R-Phils front office. June is/has been the busiest month for the R-Phils this season, so I am looking forward to only 14 games, and three home stands in the month of July. Oh, and the All-Star break which takes place during the week of July 12. I can’t believe that the season and the summer are half way over. Working in baseball surely makes time fly by faster!
I’ll be back again sooner than later to update you on life in Baseballtown. But until then, enjoy the summer sunshine!
Dreary Day in Baseballtown
Hello all!
It’s a rainy, foggy day in Baseballtown. I am sitting at my desk, watching the groundskeeping crew make adjustments to the field, while a slight drizzle comes down from the sky. It has rained for the past few days, and it seems like the springtime showers will continue throughout the week. (As soon as I finished typing that sentence, the tarp crew came out of the front office to cover the field for this afternoon’s rain.)
We finished up the third homestand of the 2011 season on Sunday, and even though it was only four days, it felt a lot much longer. I believe that was due to the double-header on Friday night, the early afternoon game on Sunday, the ever impending rain, and the struggle to win that came about this past weekend. Although the R-Phils managed to salvage the weekend with a 2-3 record, it was tough to watch the Fisher Cats come into FirstEnergy Stadium and take over a second series in a row.
The work week this week has dragged by, as there weren’t any week day games. The Baseballtown Gazette for the fourth homestand (starting Friday) was finished and sent off to the Reading Eagle press, and the graphics for this upcoming and the following homestands were completed. Yesterday and Monday I wrote a few short stories for the upcoming homestand — explaining all of the events that are going to take place. They are now posted onto the website, which is nice because I get to see my work firsthand.
I have almost completed the fourth edition of the Baseballtown Gazette but am currently on hold due to computer malfunctions. Its okay though, because I have been filling my time with planning a new approach to social media. The R-Phils have both a Twitter and Facebook page that allows fans to be kept up to date with all of the happenings in Baseballtown. We have started new campaigns to promote certain events including game events and off-day events, and using these social media platforms seem to help. The world has turned technology into a must-have when it comes to information, and communication, therefore the R-Phils are trying to stay on top of the technology improvements. Yesterday the new R-Phils iPhone and Android applications launched, and we received great feedback so far. It is exciting to see the new improvements that the R-Phils have made.
Friday marks the beginning of the fourth homestand of the season. The R-Phils are currently on a short three-day road trip to play the Portland Sea Dogs, and will be back on Friday for a three game series against the Richmond Flying Squirrels. It is the first meeting of these two teams in the 2011 season, and it should be an exciting one. There are a lot of things going on at FirstEnergy Stadium throughout the weekend, including two fireworks shows, a beer tasting at the pool, a “SPAM” carving contest, a mascot band concert, and a “Cat in the Hat” meet and greet on Kids Club Sunday! Although most of my weekend will be spent playing music from the press box, I cannot wait to see the turnout for this weekend – hopefully the weather will hold out for us.
The team has an off-day on Monday, and then they pick it back up again in a three game match up with the Trenton Thunder from Tuesday until Thursday. Thursday game is an Education Day game, and the stands will be filled with young kids from different school programs. The first Education Day was rained out, and there were a lot of kids that were disappointed that they had to go back to school instead of watching a baseball game. The second Education Day was a lot of fun (from a music standpoint), because all of the kids got heavily involved in the chants and were dancing to the music. Because of this, I am very excited to be playing music for the game on Thursday afternoon.
It is going to be a long week and half, as the work will just keep on coming. I have enjoyed working for the Reading Phillies so far, and am looking forward to the rest of the season. Even though June is filled with more home games than I know was possible, I am glad the my summer will be filled with good people and good baseball to watch.
I’ll be back sooner than later, but in the meantime I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week!
Made it through Round 1
Again, it has been a while since I have updated the passionate fans of Baseballtown on what I have been doing. Although I am very sorry for this, there has been very little time to even think about blogging! As you all know, we made it through the first home stand, not sure how, but we did!
The two weeks before April 14 were very hectic, as the entire front office staff was trying to prepare a newly renovated stadium to hold thousands of eager R-Phils fans. The construction continued, the players arrived, and run-through day occurred to give us all a glimpse of the season to come. Through the final stretch of the “off-season,” everyone was on edge and trying to cram everything in to be finished; only because we wanted all operations to proceed smoothly. There were late hours arranging rosters, double-checking credentials, setting up the press box, and doing all sorts of other odds-and-ends. By April 14th, we were set to go… almost.
The morning of Opening Day 2011 was spent racing around the lingering construction workers and machinery. Although they did finish everything before the gates opened at 3:50, we were all tight for time on that first day. Ostriches arrived in the front plaza, and fans began lining up at 9:30 am in hopes to get a Ryan Howard Garden Gnome. The ribbons were cut and fans swarmed Vist Financial Plaza; a sight I truly enjoyed. It was amazing to see the entire ballpark fill up with people; for the last month and a half it was more or less empty.
The team played 6 games in that first home stand; in 5 days. They went 4-2 with one loss to both Akron and Erie. I must say, the first home stand was a bit of a blur because of all the crazy things that happened, but I will do my best to give you a rundown of what I do remember.
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The team played 4 games against Akron, where they lost the first, and won the following three.
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Saturday’s game ended up being rained out, therefore the 3rd and 4th games against Akron occurred as a double header on Sunday.
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The team only played 2 games against Erie, splitting the series 1-1.
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Tommy and I switched on and off with playing music through click effects so that I was able to get the hang of it.
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The press box was filled to capacity on Opening Night 2011 as newspaper and magazine writers, bloggers, videographers and photographers all wanted to experience and share the Opening Night extravaganza.
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114 dogs attended the first Bark in the Park Night where this year the dogs are allowed anywhere in the park!
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There were many late nights after the games ended, and early mornings to prepare for the games to follow.
The highlight of my week however, surrounded the action in the press box during the first
home stand. There were THREE foul balls that broke press box windows, making it very cold and windy up here. The first one (right) went completely through the glass, leaving glass shards all over our brand-new carpets on Opening Night. The other two broke the outer glass pans, but did not come completely through. In total we broke 3 windows in 4 days, pretty much unheard of at FirstEnergy Stadium. Luckily all of the windows got replaced (and not with glass this time).
My to-do list for this week has been a little bit more relaxed and simple; for we already went through the rodeo once. I finished up work on the 2nd edition of the Baseballtown Gazette, and I must say it will end up looking pretty cool. It was awesome to see my hard work from the 1st Gazette finished, printed, distributed to fans. I was really glad to hear that a lot of the players had been signing autographs on the autograph page I created in the back of the gazette! Pretty neat to hear that people enjoy and use things that I have helped create! Because of the positive feedback, we included an autograph page in the 2nd edition as well, featuring a picture from Michael Spidale’s game-winning RBI from game 2 of our double header last week. It is an awesome picture and I can’t wait to see what the fans think of it.
Day one of the work-week is almost over, and there are only 3 more days until the second home stand of the 2011 season begins. With 7 back-to-back games beginning on Friday, it is going to be a long weekend. Luckily we have two 11am games next week, which will help change things up a bit and trick us all into thinking the week is flying by. Hopefully during this home stand we have less rain, more wins, and more fans that come to enjoy America’s Classic Ballpark.
Slacker Nation….Somewhat
It’s been a week and a half since I have updated on my life as a PR intern for the Reading Phillies, and for that, I apologize. I have been completely slacking with updating blogs the past ten days, and there is only one reason for that… there is just too much other fun stuff going on!
All of last week, and up until about 10 minutes ago, Tommy and I have been working very hard at putting together the 2011 R-Phils Media Guide. This 60+ page media guide is goingto be used throughout the entire season by not only R-Phils employees, but important members of the media as well. Although it saddens me that all of this hard work won’t be distributed to every loyal R-Phils fan that attends games, I am glad to be (almost) finished creating it. On the right is a picture of the front cover of the media guide, featuring Reading Phillies’ Michael Spidale that I made earlier last week. If you could only see what the inside pages consist of, you would understand why it has taken so long to finish!
The media guide for 2011 consists of information relevant to several different aspects of Reading Phillies baseball. Staff directories, media contact information and broadcast schedules are featured in the opening pages, and is then followed by a section entitled “2010 in review.” The review section of the media guide is a baseball fan’s dream. It consists of day-by-day results from the 2010 season, individual stats for every player that put on an R-Phils’ jersey, player notes and highlights, and team and league statistics.
In addition to all of that, we also included pages that are focused around the R-Phils’ Eastern league opponents. With a page per team (11 in all), there is plenty of viable information listed about each EL organization. Also included was the Reading Phillies All-Time Roster, all-time R-Phils’ records, and updates on the newly, although not quite finished yet, FirstEnergy Stadium.
As you can see, a lot of information has been compiled in just a week and a half. The “rough draft” is now finished and we’re just waiting for final rosters to be made to complete the project all together. After that, all that will have to be done is binding the pages together to make our official 2011 R-Phils Media Guide.
As the 2011 season is edging closer and closer, things are starting to fall into place and be efficiently completed ahead of schedule. Only 29 more days until opening day, and there is still so much yet to be done.
On a side note, the Reading Phillies announced today that the promotion for the August 2nd game against Harrisburg will be a Carlos Ruiz “Choocing Owl.” This owl will feature the Philadelphia Phillies catcher and will also have “chooching” sound effects. Just after this was released, PhoulBallz.com wrote a story on the promotional giveaway which can be found at http://misterballz.blogspot.com/2011/03/premiere-2011-giveaway-readings.html
That’s all that I have for you today, but I promise to give you more updates in the days to come.
So Far, So Good.
Monday morning, waking up at 6am, was not the highlight of my week. Starting my internship with the Reading Phillies, however, was. As March has fallen upon us, the 6 month internship I have been waiting months to begin came into full swing this past Monday, and I couldn’t be more excited.
Before I started working with the Reading Phillies, I found myself constantly wondering what the internship would be like, whether I would be busy all of the time, or if I would be able to use this internship to its fullest potential. I wondered if I would like my new co-workers, if I 
would be stuck in a cubicle, and most of all, if I would be the worst at playing music during the games. Although I do not have the answers to most of my over-analyzed thoughts, I do know one thing….. I have the best view from my desk. Looking out the window in front of me and seeing the field is not a bad deal.
Most of my days thus far have been filled with creating images and graphics that have been and will be used on the Reading Phillies website. You know those large pictures on the left hand side of the R-Phils homepage that change every 10 seconds and are accompanied by articles? Yeah, I made (some of) those. Pretty cool, if I do say so myself. It seems like all of those hours spent in the advertising computer labs at PSU learning the ins-and-outs of Adobe Photoshop actually paid off.
Creating graphics is one of my favorite things to do, and I am very glad that I have spent a decent amount of my time during my first week working on things of this nature. To me, working within Photoshop isn’t work, but more rather fun! I know that there will be more of this to come in the future, and am looking forward to it. Maybe as the season goes on, you’ll be able to notice that the quality of these images are getting better; and therefore, my knowledge in the matter will have expanded. At least I hope it will!
All in all, my first week with the Reading Phillies has been a success thus far. Tommy and I moved up to the Press Box and out of the trailers, we filmed a video of the renovations going on throughout the stadium, and I met some really awesome people that I am excited to be working with for the next few months.
Food For All
Humphrey Bogart once said “a hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz.” Obviously, Mr. Bogart never made it to FirstEnergy Stadium, and eaten things that are even better than a legendary ballpark frank.
Due to the recent $10 million renovations to FirstEnergy Stadium, the 2011 Reading Phillies will be able to welcome a new and improved menu offered within the ballpark gates. Yesterday, there was a press conference held at Good Eatz Green Café in West Reading that announced and featured samples of some of the new items that have been added to the ball park menu. Although the event at Good Eatz served its purpose of releasing new information about the Re
ading Phillies, it doubled as a grand feast that allowed media representatives, Reading Phillies employees, and a few passing by fans to taste the new food items that will be offered at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Well, maybe a feast is a little overstated, but there was surely more than enough food to go around. In all, 7 different vendors piled into the dining area of Good Eatz Green Café to provide samples of their new products. These vendors included Good Eatz Green Café, Tyson, Taste of Italy, J&J Snack Foods, Willie Jack’s BBQ, Kathryn’s Katering, and Adelphia Seafood.
Being someone who loves and appreciates food, I was anxious for all of the vendors to bring out their featured dishes so that I could plan out my attack. With so many different types of food and only so much space in my stomach I had to choose wisely as to which food items I would try.
Good Eatz Cafe featured some delicious wraps, fresh hummus, and gluten-free sugar cookies that helped me feel like I was eating healthy for a change. Good Eatz Green Café is known for their healthier food choices and will bring a great deal of variety to the stadium this year. By having “green choices,” within a menu will allow for fans to explore better eating habits in the ballpark – but only if they want to!
My favorite dish throughout the entire ordeal, the Philly cheesesteak sliders, came from Taste of Italy. When they first brought out samples of the sliders, I was very confused as to what it was that I was going to be eating. I am somewhat of a picky eater, so waited until the slider was cut in half before divulging. When it was split into two, the small cheesesteak sliders oozed cheese from its sides, and had an aroma of red meat and onions. With my mouth watering incessantly, I tried these simple sliders and instantly fell in love. Afterwards, I then went around the room and told everyone that I knew that they had to taste these delicious mini cheesesteaks. If Taste of Italy doesn’t sell out of cheesesteak sliders at least once this season, I will be surprised; for I KNOW they will be a big hit.
In order to round out the afternoon, my sweet-tooth kicked in and I headed over to visit the J & J Snack Food section within Good Eatz Green Café. As I walked over to 
their area, located in the front of the room, memories of summer carnivals and funnel cake wafted in my direction. Approaching, their display table, I found that my sense’s weren’t far off; there was funnel cake, but not made traditionally. Instead, placed in front of me was a large quantity of funnel cake french fries. Funnel cake is made into short strips mimicking the shape of french fries. Instead of using ketchup for these fries however, they are sprinkled with light confectioner sugar! These delicious dessert items will be distributed in french fry containers and will allow for more variety in dessert options at the ballpark.
In addition to all of the great food options being made available this year at FirstEnergy Stadium, fans will still be able to locate the more traditional ballpark foods such as pretzels, hot dogs and peanuts. With all the choices in food, fans won’t go hungry while watching the Reading Phillies this season.
My Experience at the 2011 Phils Winter Banquet…
My second day on the job, as the PR intern for the upcoming 2011 R-Phils season, was spent in a crowded banquet hall at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Wyomissing, PA. Filled with R-Phils and Philadelphia Phillies baseball enthusiasts, the atmosphere consisted of baseballs, bats, autographs, and Charlie Manuel. Although there were other baseball “celebrities” found in attendance, the main focus was on the big guy with the white hair, rosy cheeks, and inside scoop on Phillies’ new famous pitching rotation.
The crowd sat on the edge of their 
seats waiting for a murmur from Phillies manager about the pitching line-up for the rapidly approaching season. After avoiding the question about the line-up, Manuel quickly proclaimed that he believed that this year the Phillies would bring the World Series back to the City of Brotherly Love. After hearing that, a smile crept up on my face, along with those others in attendance.
In addition to Charlie, another importantmember of the Phillies franchise, assistant GM Benny Looper discussed the acquisition of the highly coveted Cliff Lee. While describing how the Phillies were able to obtain Lee, Looper explained that he and Phillies’ GM Reuben Amaro were two out of the three people who even know that obtaining Lee was a possibility. Even Charlie claimed that he was not informed of the decision until after it was made. When hearing this, it made sense to the crowd how the Phillies were able to sneak completely under the media’s radar in obtaining this crucial part of the new Phillies pitching line-up.
One of my favorite points in the night was when Charlie did open up about some of his Phillies players besides the “Fantastic Four.” Although one expects a baseball manager to have a close relationship with his players, it was nice to hear Charlie talk about the relationships he has with some of Philly’s favorite athletes. Manuel informed the audience that 1st baseman Ryan Howard has been training and practicing in the batting cages in preparation for the 2011 season since the day after the 2010 season ended.
In addition, Manuel claimed that Rollins has been getting healthier in the off-season, Lee is excited to be back, former R-Phils player Domonic Brown is the in the running for the vacant right-field position, and that Chase Utley doesn’t return his phone calls. With news updates like these, the audience became privy to enough exciting information that will hold them over until spring training starts next month.
Also, as part of the evening’s festivities, the R-Phils crowned Dick Ludy as the ninth King of Baseballtown. When I met him before the formal dinner began, I found Ludy to be a very sweet and nice man who reminded me of my grandfather. He had a few wise cracks, and I found myself smirking in response to his quirky jokes.
All in all, the night was a success, with the R-Phils raising large amounts of money for Baseballtown Charities and local Reading little league teams. The food was delicious, the entertainment was lively, and the crowd was enticing. After all was said and done, fans walked away with full stomachs, words of wisdom from Charlie, Ryne Sandberg, and the witty Tom McCarthy, autographs from former R-Phils 1st baseman Matt Rizzotti, and the hopes of a successful 2011 baseball season.
The event was a great stepping stone for me, as I am slowly being integrated into the Reading Phillies organization. Although I still have a month before I am submersed in the pre-season mayhem, it was nice to see how everyone in the organization works well and effectively together. I am looking forward to working not only with the front office staff, but the media, players, and fans as well. Hopefully this will be a season that not only fans in Reading, but fans of the Phillies franchise will never forget.
New PR/Media Intern…
Alex Knodel, a recent graduate of Penn State University, was hired as the R-Phils new PR/Media Intern for the 2011 season. While she has yet to officially start — her first day is February 28, she has already been busy helping out in the PR/Media Relations department.
Throughout the 2011 season, fans will become familiar with Alex through this blog. She will give fans a glimpse into her daily tasks, as well as share all of her experiences working in the PR/Media Relations department. Stay tuned for some informative blogs this season.
Alex replaces Aaron Gottlieb, who served as the PR/Media Relations intern for the 2010 season. Gottlieb, a Temple University product, did a great job in his first tour of duty with Reading. Everyone in Reading wishes Aaron good luck in his future endeavors!
Please note: All of the blog entries written before this blog were from Aaron Gottlieb. All of the entries written after this blog will be written by Alex Knodel.
I am confident that Alex will do an outstanding job with this blog, much like Aaron Gottlieb did in 2010.
Thanks,
Tommy Viola
R-Phils Director of PR/Media Relations
One Last Time
September 2nd: the final home game of the 2010 season. When I looked at the R-Phils schedule back in early March, this date was irrelevant to me because it was so far away. To put it in perspective…when I first came into work with the Reading Phillies as the PR/Media Relations Intern, here’s what was going on in the world.
- there was two feet of snow on the ground
- the Flyers were on the outside looking in at the playoff picture
- the big Phillies had no players on the DL!
So, as you can tell by the 90+ degree weather, the Flyers Cup run, and 18 Phillies on the DL this season…time has flown by. Sitting here looking out at FirstEnergy Stadium from the press box, I can’t really believe that an entire season has nearly come and gone already. There are enough memories from this internship, from both on and off the field, to fill books on end. Listing everything would be impossible, and quite boring for you to read. But with just one homestand left, just a bit over a week left in this incredible time in Reading, I’ll take a look back at the past 6 months and a peek into the future too.
My first blog entry on this site came not that long into my stay here in Baseballtown, where I mentioned how excited I was to have this privilege. I talked about how my time at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Indianapolis had been an absolute blast and fantastic learning experience, but that this opportunity would absolutely work out for the best. Little did I know not just how much I would learn while with the R-Phils, but the unforgettable times I would have and the people I would meet that I’ll never forget.
This next paragraph isn’t necessarily informative, but for anyone that is considering taking an internship with the R-Phils or in baseball, or for anyone that wants to know who makes the R-Phils organization run, well…then this is for you to read. To say that the R-Phils are like a second family is a understatement – they become family. From day one, I’ve never felt more comfortable and welcomed in my entire life. People around Minor League baseball talk about the atmosphere here in Reading, and wonder if it’s truly that incredible. I can tell you firsthand – it’s the best work environment I’ve ever had, and probably will ever have.
It’s tough to imagine going to work at a baseball stadium, working on all things baseball, and your co-workers being amazing friends. However, that’s exactly what my internship was and remains as here with the R-Phils. This isn’t only with my fellow intern class either – it’s from the top down. Scott Hunsicker, our General Manager, is one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met in my life, and not for one moment did he treat me or anyone else like we were lower on the totem pole. And it’s like that around the office – nobody is better than anyone else. We’re all in the same boat pushing through the season, and it’s a team effort.
When I wasn’t at FirstEnergy Stadium, there were a number of amazing moments I had with my co-workers throughout the past six months. Going to Six Flags with front office staff, our softball league, bowling night, the intern dinner, etc etc. I could go on forever about the amazing things that happened, but they’re the type of moments that you as a reader might not grasp. You truly have to be here, to walk in my shoes, to understand how lucky one could be to work for the best Minor League organization in the country.
On the field has been one crazy ride in itself. The team started off 4-1, with a red-hot offense, and great pitching. It looked like this was going to be the second consecutive playoff year for the R-Phils. However, due to the common occurrences like call-ups, injuries, and other instances…the team has fallen short. As I right this blog post, they have an elimination number of 2, and would need something more than a miracle to make the post-season. It’s a shame because these are a great group of guys and I have no doubts that every single of them will be ready to go in 2011, whether for the R-Phils or another team.
During my time here, I got to see some ridiculously good players. The first one that comes to mind is the obvious choice – Domonic Brown. The top prospect in the Phillies organization, and later in this season the top prospect in all of baseball, showed off his freak-like skills night after night. He made huge crowds here in Reading “ooh” and “aah” at towering home runs, amazing defensive plays, and lightning fast speed. He was called-up to Lehigh Valley (AAA), and later to the big Phils, but it’s just an amazing thing that I got to watch a future big league star play in Double-A.
Speaking of stars playing in Double-A, I also got to watch uber-prospect Stephen Strasburg pitch twice: once in Harrisburg and once here in Reading. The trip to Harrisburg, with my boss Tommy Viola, was to take in the Senators ballpark, enjoy a game, and see this kid pitch. On both occasions, his fastball hit 98 or 99, and his off-speed stuff dipped all the way down to 77 or so. It’s not a huge surprise to me that he ended up striking out 14 batters in his Majors debut – he looked like the real deal from day one.
So, memories pushed aside for the moment, it’s time to focus on the final homestand of the 2010 season. It’s time to work Click Effects to liven up the stadium one last time. It’s time to work with the media, get lineups, interact with players, all for just one last time. Binghamton comes to town tomorrow for 5 games in 4 nights, followed by the New Britain Rock Cats for a four-game set. With the Web site updated, articles written, and now…the blog updated, things are looking pretty set for this last go-around. It’s surreal, strange, sad, and amazing at the same time.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this blog as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. I feel like a part of the R-Phils, and that’s something special. There’s no possible way I could convey to you everything that happened, for a number of reasons. But in an unbiased sense, I can say that working for this team was the best 6 months ever, and I will never have a better group of co-workers. I urge you to get an internship here if you’re looking to work in baseball of any capacity. As usual, I feel like I’m rambling, so I suppose that’s the end of this post. Until next time…
All-Star Evening
Just a little while ago, six R-Phils were selected to the Eastern League All-Star roster, which was hosted in Harrisburg, PA. Michael Schwimer, the tremendously talented reliever, was named to the team, but called up to Lehigh Valley (AAA) just days before the game, making him unable to participate. So, Tagg Bozied, Freddy Galvis, Kevin Mahar, Drew Naylor, Matt Rizzotti, and Vance Worley were in our state’s capital to represent Baseballtown.
Being named an All-Star at this level has to be such a crowning achievement and honor, especially for the younger players. When you look at the general population and realize the minuscule percentage that makes up professional athletes, it gives you a sense of how talented these guys really are. But there are All-Stars in every level of baseball, every sport, and every walk of life, too. And while the Eastern League was having it’s best players clash in Harrisburg, I had the privilege to work the Triple-A All-Star Game.
Many of the R-Phils front office employees took the short trip to Harrisburg to catch the game, see how other teams put on a show of that magnitude, and enjoy a great competition on the field. A few days prior to the break, Matt Province of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs called and asked if I would be interested in helping out his staff at their All-Star game. I had met Matt once before, this past winter in Indianapolis during the PBEO Baseball Winter Meetings and Job Fair, and thought he was a great guy to learn from and work under. There was no way I could pass up this opportunity.
Coca Cola Park is almost the exact opposite to FirstEnergy Stadium in every way imaginable. I suppose you could say that for every stadium built within the last few decades though, as our stadium is historic and one-of-a-kind. Without delving into personal opinions and preferences between the two, it’s just interesting to walk into a baseball stadium where the same game of baseball will be played, but in such a drastically different backdrop.
After taking the elevator up to the second floor, I made my way over to the press box where I met up with Tim. He had the stressful, but exciting job (among others), of laying out where over 100 press members would sit for the game. Remember – this wasn’t an ordinary game, it’s the best of the best in Triple-A, between the Pacific Coast League and International League. MLB.com, MiLB.com, the New York Times, Philadelphia Daily News, and much more were in attendance to cover the game and scout the players abilities.
Press boxes can be big, they can sit up to 20 people sometimes in a newer stadium. But when there’s over 100 people you project that are going to come, you’re going to need some auxiliary ones as well. Before that however, I helped out Dave Schofield, a great photographer who comes to Reading on occasion, shoot the team photos on the field. It was a bit hectic getting all the players on the field, in order on the seats, and ready to smile before the grounds crew pulled tarp. The rain lasted just a little while, and it was still a few hours until game time, so the 7:05 pm first pitch was still alive and well.
My primary responsibility during the Triple-A All-Star Game was roving between the first and third base sides where a number of tables had been set up for press members. If any media member needed something, I was there to get it for them – whether that was questions on internet access, where to go to for interviews, and so forth. It was nice talking to people of varying ages and affiliations about the game itself and what they were looking for.
So much planning goes into an All-Star game, and like a wedding (so I hear), you can plan for months and months, and it’s over in the blink of an eye. Tim, Matt (who filled in for the TV broadcast), and all the employees were proud of themselves for the show they put on behind the scenes, and they had good reason. It was a tremendous experience not just for me obviously, but for all the 10,000 or so fans I saw having a great time. Lehigh Valley, like Reading, is a great place to watch and love baseball. The All-Star game was a perfect opportunity to show that, and I’m glad I got to be a part of it.
But for now, it’s all Reading, all the time. The R-Phils are currently on the road playing the Erie SeaWolves for the first time this season, and will return home on Thursday for a short homestand. I’ve been busy writing game previews, finishing the latest Baseballtown Gazette, doing plenty of articles, and more. It’s hard to believe it’s already late-July, and that 94 games are already in the books. Time flies, I suppose. For those of you brave enough to stick around to read all of this, thanks. Until next time…
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