The View from the Press Box

I live in a town that loves baseball. The love for baseball came to the Lehigh Valley along with the addition of Coca-Cola Park last year, which now houses the AAA Affiliate of the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies--The IronPigs. 

Maybe it is the endless oinking signs that flash on screen, or the creative mascots named respectively after the element "Iron," or maybe it is the pig masks that are sold around the stadium, or the attachment to the Phillies--whatever it is, the fans love it. Two nights ago I spent my first night at the ballpark, and it was one to remember.

My first experience viewing a game at Coca-Cola Park was not in the stands. My first experience viewing a game at Coca-Cola Park was from the Press Box, and it was with the opposing team's announcers Steve Hyder and Dan Hoard of the Pawtucket Red Sox broadcast team..

I originally contacted Steve in order to do an information interview for an internship seminar class. After getting into a car accident, I was unable to meet with Steve as I had to travel from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania to get my car fixed. Due to the circumstances, Steve agreed to meet with me another time, but when no other times seemed to work, we found the perfect alternate. Steve was going to be broadcasting the Pawtucket Red Sox game when they came to Coca-Cola Park to take on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Instead of an informative interview, I was going to experience the press box and everything that goes into the radio broadcast for a minor league game.

Steve left a press pass for me at the will call ticket box. The pass gave me unlimited access to the Press Box and the field itself. If I have never mentioned before how much I love baseball fields...GOSH do I love baseball fields---the soft grass, the clay dirt...I just love it. So when Steve invited me to join him on the field for the Sox batting practice, I jumped at the opportunity. This is when Steve and his partner get the pre-game interviews with players, catch up with the manager, and try to get nice little bits. 

While Dan did the pre-game interviews, Steve introduced me to several players and the manager, explaining to them who I was and what I was interested in doing. Everyone was great. I even got to meet the league MVP last year: Jeff Bailey. I watched as he tossed a ball to a fan, and realized how much I just love being around baseball players.

As batting practice continued, Steve and I talked about the profession a bit more and what it is like to do broadcasting in the minor leagues. The minor leagues is different from the majors because these guys are all competing with each-other, but each of the guys still respects one another. Steve explained to me that going for a commentating job in the big leagues is much harder because they get past players to do all that stuff now. He added that working for a minor league team is better to break into and you still get the insides of everything. He said he never has any problems interviewing the guys.

As batting practice wrapped up, we headed back up to the press box, and soon after the game was to start. Prior to the game starting, I watched as Steve highlighted statistics that he wanted to be sure to mention in his broadcast, and then I watched as Dan and him rotated back and forth in doing play-by-play and color during the game. I could really see how their personalities shines in the broadcast--and it really got me more interested in going into the profession that i have been so interested in all along. While Dan and Steve rattled off statistics of past players and present players I just kept thinking how much baseball has to mean to someone to do this job...

In fact, Steve even said it to me: "You gotta really love baseball to do this job."

And man, do I love baseball.