On a whim I went to the 47th Annual Congressional Baseball game at Nationals Park.

Democrats versus Republicans.

Baseball like it was meant to be played.

What? Politicians playing baseball? Yes, it was baseball, not softball. Before you go laughing, know that these politicians are actually pretty good for their age. Most are former college athletes. I was impressed. Read on...

Led by manager Rep. Joe Barton (TX-6), the Republicans came in searching for the five-series sweep against their counterparts. To the winner went the coveted Roll Call Trophy along with bragging rights.

Last year's winning pitcher Rep. John Shimkus (R, IL-19) faced off against Rep. Joe Baca (D, CA-43). This year, the two Congressmen were both tapped to face off again.

Following the amazing defense of 2B Rep. Kevin Brady (R, TX-8), who threw out two Democrats at home plate to preserve an early 3-1 lead, the Democrats' so-called "good luck charm" Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, CA-8), showed up to the ballpark to a thunderous roar from the third base fans. With the appearance of Madam Speaker Pelosi, the second half of the game turned into a seesaw affair, as both sides put up multi-run innings.

After the Democrats took a one run lead in the top of the sixth, Rep. Chip Pickering (R, MS-3) led off the bottom of the sixth with a game-tying, inside-the-park home run, followed by a triple from Rep. Zach Wamp (R, TN-3).

The GOP put up a total of five runs in the sixth and headed into the final inning with a comfortable 8-4 lead. However, the Democrats weren't ready to call it a night yet.

After the Republicans' lone Senator, relief pitcher Sen. John Ensign (R, NV-1), loaded the bases and allowed a run to score in the seventh, the Republicans brought Rep. Shimkus back in as a relief pitcher. Rep. Shimkus fanned the first two Democrats he faced in relief, but the majority party proceeded to score six runs in the inning to take a 10-8 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.

After relief pitcher Rep. Bart Stupak (D, MI-1) showed signs of fatigue, the Democrats brought Rep. Baca back in to face the Republicans in the bottom of the seventh. But the GOP was not intimidated by Rep. Baca.

A few intentional walks, and bloop singles aided the GOP in bringing the game within one run to tie. The grandson of one of the greatest Major League managers of all-time, Hall of Famer Connie Mack, Jr., Rep. Connie Mack IV (R, FL-14) strolled into the batters box 0-for-2 on the evening. Looking to make his grandfather proud, Rep. Mack hit a ball between first and second base into shallow right field to bring home the tying run. On an errant throw into the infield, pinch-runner Rep. Adam Putnam (R, FL-12) chugged around third base and headed for home and the GOP's 10th victory.

As the throw came towards home plate, Rep. Putnam was well ahead of the ball and the Republicans took the game 11-10.

The Republicans have clearly dominated the Roll Call Congressional battle with a "franchise" record of 33-14. The Democrats have not won a game since 2000.

The event, which sold tickets for $8, usually raises over $100,000 for local Washington, D.C. nonprofits. The proceeds from tonight's game benefited the Washington Literacy Council and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington.



Images I took tonight are in a folder on Flickr. Since I am far from a professional sports photographer, I decided not to edit them. Sorry.

Labels: baseball

Today is my final day with the Florida Marlins Media Relations department. I have been here for just over a year. I've had a great time and have learned a lot and have experienced a lot. I'm sad to be leaving, especially since there is a full-time opening in my department but they are looking for someone with more full-time experience than I currently possess. I have enjoyed working with the people here and the weather can't be beat. It will be nice to be living with my wife again though. That has definitely been the hardest part of this whole experience, I have sacrificed much in my on-going quest for a full-time Major League Baseball Media Relations job. I am close, I am certain of that, I just hope that it's sooner than later.

Valerie and I plan on taking a few days off here in South Florida before driving back to Washington, D.C. What we do from there is anybody's guess.

I'm saddened to be leaving South Florida without a job, since there was an opening but understand that they need somebody who has done a bit more than I have. What I have gained from this experience has been far above what I imagined I would gain prior to coming down here.

My goal now is to have landed a full-time job by the time our baby is born.

Labels: baseball

As I write this blog entry I am riding the Marlins' team bus from Jupiter to Viera, Florida to play a night game against the Washington Nationals, who make their Spring Training home in Viera.

Bus trips like this are very similar to what minor leaguers go through everytime they travel. Miles on the road in buses from city to city playing the game they love, with hopes of making it to the Major Leagues.

The only difference between Spring Training bus trips and the regular season is that these cities are much closer. Some regular season bus trips can be up to 18 hours long! The longest trips during SpringTraining are no more than 2:45.

A number of guys on this bus have made it to "the Show." They have paid their price through the years travelling on buses. A number of them will return to the minors and travel on buses again.

FSN Florida will air their first episode of "Inside The Marlins" on April 15th. That episode will have a piece on what life is like travelling on the team bus.

Frank Forte, a reporter for FSN Florida, recorded a recent bus ride from Jupiter to Vero Beach (Dodgertown). In that episode fans will be able to see what a professional baseball teams' bus ride looks like: crossword puzzles, sleeping in the aisles, iPods in ears, videos or DirecTv being watched, or discussions about how to most effectively throw a 90 mph split-finger fastball.

Its not an easy life travelling on the road, but for these guys, and those who work in baseball, its the best time of their lives; for they get to play the best sport in the world: the game they love, the game of baseball.

Labels: baseball

Well baseball season is officially back in full swing (pun completely intended). Spring Training has started and the games begin next week.

I am leaving the office shortly to head north to Jupiter (city in Florida, not the planet) for 6 weeks with the team.

It's a pretty sweet deal, with Major League meal money, occasional travel with the team, a comped apartment/bills, etc. I will be assisting our director with all media relations tasks, essentially acting as the manager of Media Relations, who recently left for a director position with the Washington Nationals.

Valerie will continue to come down from Washington, DC when she can - instead of flying into Ft. Lauderdale now it will be West Palm Beach.

I'm sure Spring Training will go by quickly. I hope by the middle of March to have secured a full-time position. We will see how that goes.

Labels: baseball

I got an email from my mom tonight wondering what I was up to because this site hasn't been updated since April 30th!

I'm sorry. I just haven't been updating anything, kinda been busy and never thought about updating any progress in our rather mundane lives.

For starters, we are alive.

That's a good thing.

I am still with the Florida Marlins in Media Relations and love what I am doing. I am around baseball all the time, including the players and coaches and in and out of the locker rooms whenever the team is in town. Of course I have to work 14 hours days when there is a home game but I love it and it goes super fast. One of the best things about working in baseball is that when I am having a bad day at work or things just aren't going right I can always stop what I am doing, walk out of the office, down the tunnel and into the Marlins' dugout, sit on the bench in the dugout and look out at the field - enjoying the green grass and blue sky mixed with the unmistakable sight of the diamond.

Valerie is still commuting back and forth between DC and Florida. We are so used to it that it doesn't bother us at all. Her company is still paying for her flights and apartment in DC and we are very grateful for that. She still loves her job with Life Policy Dynamics and she does an excellent job there.

It's starting to get really hot here in Florida and there is always a threat of tropical storms (in fact we are expecting one here early this week). It rains hard then goes back to hot, sunny day. Florida is in the middle of a drought so they need all the rain they can get. I just hope that the rain storms come when the team is on the road because getting rained out means that we will have to make the game up later in the season, and that means a doubleheader. I already work 14 hours during home games, no need to extend that.

I started working out a lot more lately. We have a gym in our building and I frequent it two too three times a week. I've got myself a pretty good workout plan and am starting to explore the necessary components of diet and supplements (not illegal steroid type of supplements, just an extra boost of protein shakes and others that help repair and rebuild muscle quickly and faster than normal following a workout). Val and I are looking into getting a pass to Bally's gym nearby but that always seems like a girlie name to me, like it's main purpose is for aerobics and jazzercise.

Valerie has a college friend who is getting married in October out in Southern California so we are going to go out there to the wedding. We are excited for her. She used to date the guy, then they had a time apart and got back together and things worked out. We're looking forward to the wedding! Val is looking forward to the bachelorette party with all her college girlfriends!

So that's it, not much to tell. Life is good, just plugging away, too early to tell if there will be a real full-time job after this season - probably NOT with the Florida Marlins - but we will see. I have contacts elsewhere.

Labels: baseball, family, friends

Yahoo is reporting that former soccer great, Mia Hamm, and her husband, Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Nomar Garciaparra, have had twin baby girls in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Twins are a handle (especially for new parents) and with their busy,hectic schedule it may be tough. At least Mia is retired from soccer and will be able to stay him and tend to the twins, I would suppose.

Poor Nomar, just as the new season is starting and BAM! -- twin girls he won't get to spend time with for awhile.

Labels: baseball

I made an interesting observation today while reading an article on ESPN. The article talks about the fact that Oakland A's centerfielder Mark Kotsay will miss the beginning of the 2007 season and that Milton Bradley (that name is a story in itself) will take his place to open the season.

My question is this: If Milton Bradley is now playing center field, then what is the name of the guy who is injured again?

Evidently the guys at ESPN don't know or have forgotten.

[Click on the image to enlarge - look at the caption beneath the mugshots]

Labels: baseball

Today ESPN reported that the city of Boston will no longer be using pellet guns which were blamed in a fan's death over two years ago during celebrations stemming from the Red Sox first World Series since 1912.

Boston Police Commissioner, Edward Davis, said "they'll never again be used in the city of Boston."

What is to become of the 13 pellet guns that the Boston Police Department owns? Naturally, they are to be melted down and recycled into sewer caps.

Sewer caps.

Strange.

So the next time you are driving down the streets in Boston and your car passes over a sewer cap, perhaps you will be driving over what used to be a pellet gun owned by the police department.

The parents of the student who was killed during the celebrations made out very nicely following the incident. The city of Boston paid a $5.1 million settlement to the student's parents, who also reached an undisclosed settlement with the gun's manufacturer.

Labels: baseball

After 3 agonizing months of frustrating interviews, where I seemed to keep coming in second, yesterday I landed a year long internship with the Florida Marlins in Media Relations.

I started emailing the Marlins Media Relations department back on October 13th, 2006and asked what they were doing for internships in 2007. Matt, the director of Media Relations, told me they were making some changes to their internship program and it would be available mid-January online.

I saw the job posted on teamworkonline.com and applied on January 16th.

On Tuesday, February 6th, I got a phone call from Mike, the Media Relations manager. He asked about my jobs with Bowie and Houston and that was it - short - he said he'd have the director, Matt, call me within a week to talk with me further.

A week came and went and I was worried that I hadn't heard from Matt, so I called Mike back on Tuesday the 13th and asked if the job was still open. Mike said the job was still unfilled and Matt was very busy with FanFest and getting ready for spring training but would be calling me shortly.

Wednesday came and went and still no phone call from area code 305.

Then Thursday at 3:41 EST my phone rang with a 305 area code.

Matt said that he was on his way out the door to go to Spring Training in Jupiter, FL, but wanted to call and talk with me.

Matt said my resume looks great (I'm sure he talked with Mike and went with Mike's decision based on our conversation earlier in the month). Matt's one concern was that I'd be bored doing the same things that I did in Houston. I told him that I understand what is entailed in the job and I am looking forward to doing it and that I'll do a great job.

So Matt offered the job to me (it's 1 of 2).

Valerie and I were talking about me starting on either the 12th or 19th of March. We have a lot of details to work out between now and then.

Labels: baseball

There is snow on the ground still, so baseball is not quite back yet, but down in Florida and Arizona some Major Leaguers have begun early practice.

As it is with every year, pitchers and catchers are set to report on February 15th. However, down in Florida some players, such as New York Yankees' shortstop (and future Hall of Famer) Derek Jeter, have already strapped on the glove and taken in some practice on the ol' diamond.

This is a shot of Jeter mishandling a ground ball today in a workout in Tampa. (If we can only geet him and the rest of the Evil Empire to field like this ALL SEASON LONG -- life would be just a little more perfect).


(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Pretty soon boys and girls, pretty soon!!

Labels: baseball

I am a baseball fan, and also an avid fantasy baseball player (I like to think 'expert' - I'm pretty good).

So last night I went to yahoo's fantasy baseball page to see when they will start allowing the public to set up fantasy baseball leagues. Under the help section I found the following:

Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball runs throughout the entire 2006 baseball regular season, which begins on Sunday, April 2, and is scheduled to end on Sunday, October 1.

Full season sign-ups begin on Thursday, February 2 and continue until Saturday, April 29.

So after realizing that Thursday the 2nd of February was in 2006, I figured that the sign-ups must be starting right around that time this year as well too. You would think so, right?

Think again.

I took the liberty of emailing yahoo's customer care. I wrote:

Your website FAQ says the season registration starts Thursday, February 2nd (which occurred in 2006). It has never been updated for 2007....I would think that registration would be right around the same date in 07.

What is the projected date for registration signups?

I expected them to write back with something to the effect of: "you will be able to sign up for leagues beginning on [date]".

What I got back from yahoo's customer care center was the following:

Hello Nathan,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

We are currently in the planning process for our future offerings and cannot announce any release dates or game information at this time.

Please keep checking the Yahoo! Fantasy Sports home page at the
following URL for more information on upcoming offerings:
http://fantasysports.yahoo.com/

Whenever you have further comments or questions, please feel free to
email us again.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Customer Care.

Regards,
Marshall
Yahoo! Customer Care

What is that? Some top secret Yahoo! subject? Ooh, the release date of fantasy baseball signups can't be leaked to the public for fear of people getting excited!?

Strange.

Labels: baseball, computers

Well, we are well into 2007 so I figured I had better stick an update up here for nostalgia if nothing else.

Today, Sunday the 21st, was our first snow day of 2007. It started coming down lightly around noon and didn't stop until evening. The DC area got about an inch of snow. It began as light fluffy snow but by evening it had turned into icy snow - great for packing a mean snowball. We saw 5 accidents on the freeway and bridges tonight and my greatest fear is that some yahoo who thinks they are cool because they have a 4x4 SUV in the snow and that they know how to drive in snow and make sharp turns, yadda yadda yadda, will crunch into either one of our cars. So I am a little leary about driving in the snowm, even if I go slow.

In a job update...baseball is just around the corner. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in either Arizona or Florida on February 15th! Can you beleive it! Baseball is back! I love it!

I had a really great phone interview with the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday the 9th for their opening in the Media Relations department. Then, on Friday I flew from DC to Chicago (Midway) for a job interview with the Chicago White Sox. I was worried that the flight to Chicago would get cancelled due to weather in Chicago but the airlines website said everything was fine. When I got to the ticket counter at DC Reagan (DCA) I was instructed that the flight had been cancelled due to mechanical issues and that they were trying to book us on to a flight into Midway at 2pm. My interview was set for 2 pm CST.

So I called up Valerie and she came racing to get me at DCA and was kind enough to drive me the 30 miles p to Dulles airport at 80 mph and purchase me a one-way ticket to Midway airport on Southwest in the meantime. So I got to Southwest and hopped on the plane bound for Chicago.

When I got to Midway it was 20 degrees (but clear) and I had to figure out how their train system worked. The Chicago White Sox ballpark is situated just off of the SOX/35th exit on the red line. So I quickly looked at a map, purchased my train pass and hopped on the orange line northeast into Chicago to switch at Roosevelt and then take the red line due south to Sox/35th. I got to the ballpark with 7 minutes to spare!

The interviews went well. The first was with the Human Resources director and the next was with the Media Relations staff. I think I did a great job and that they all loved interviewing me. We shall see their decision towards the end of this week.

It's a little nerve-wracking just because I want/need it so bad. I am also still talking with a number of other teams as well in the meantime.

I just hope I get on track with the best job for me that will lead to something permanent in the shortest amount of time possible.

Labels: baseball, new years, winter