Backup baseball beat writers

I run on streaks, sir. Work, beer, celibacy, masturbation-less, and I'm sure there are more, too. What can I say, I always looked up to Cal Ripken, Jr.

 

I couldn't see doing 162 games of regular season baseball plus each spring training game and each postseason game if you happen to cover one of the eight teams that makes it that far. That would drive me insane.

Then again, I work a pretty crazy schedule as it is.

 

Notwithstanding my good friend Tony Jackson, it can't be done sanely. The sheer logistics of the travel make it damn-near impossible. Just consider covering a night game on the East Coast followed by a night game on the West Coast, which is legal. Most East-West flights are in the morning. Say you take an 8 a.m. flight after working till midnight the previous night. That's 5 a.m. West Coast time. You really going to stay up till 12 or 1 a.m. the next morning covering that game? Last time I did that, I was actually pulled over by a cop for weaving on my way home.

I speak from 20 years experience covering big-league ball. I'm nearly 48 and in better shape physically than I was when I started at 28, and let me tell you, even covering 130 a year year plus all of spring training is taxing.

My editor wisely requires us to take two home games off a week and 10 or so road games off, not only to recharge our batteries for September and the postseason, which we cover regardless of whether our team is there or not, but also to give our backups valuable bonding time with the players on the road.

 

I think it'd drive your significant other and/or family crazier. That's underrated about our profession -- the crazy fucking hours. No one thinks about that when you get to "watch sports all day and get paid for it."

A baseball beat writer is that on steroids, and I bet I know where he/she could find them, if necessary.

 

I think your editor's philosophy is a great one, with the benefits paying off, I'm sure. As I've said on previous threads not too long ago, I'm a workaholic, so when I get going on something, I don't know when to turn it off. I'd like to at least go the entire season one time -- if I ever get to the beat -- just to see if I can do it.

 

Just a question that matters maybe to nobody but us, but...

Do the readers notice that two of the six or seven stories don't have your byline? And if so, do they care?

In some places, I've noticed they do (my area; see the Gatehouse Super Bowl thread for another). In others, I doubt they do.

 

I am not sure if I should call the cops or ask if he is single. But dedication to your beat and he must be good friends with everyone on the team if they see him that much.

Sometimes I don't think people care to much if 1-3 games don't have your byline as long as its written by a member of the sports department and does not have the AP tag in it.

 

I did 153 one year, plus every spring training game, and the entire baseball special section. I also wrote features and columns and pretty much was a one-woman show.

I was on pace to do the same the following year until I had a near-death experience in San Francisco. Ten days in the hospital with a 107-degree fever, a night-owl flight across the continent after they finally discharged me, a day off, then a Montreal-> Florida -> Philly -> San Juan -> Seattle -> Oakland -> Pittsburgh -> Montreal road trip.
I took a week off after that.
When I fielded offers to do baseball again, I thought of that period. That made me come to my senses right quick.

 

In 1981, my first year as a beat guy, I went to every Dodgers game. I think there were about 110 (strike year), plus every spring game, two rounds of playoffs and the World Series. My paper didn't publish in Sundays, but I went anyway.
The only game I didn't go to was in September in Houston. It was a Saturday (again, no Sunday paper) and I was sicker than hell. USC was playing Oklahoma so I decided to stay at the hotel, rest and watch the football game.
Nolan Ryan throws a no-hitter and I was in the only city in the country where that game wasn't televised.

 

ah, to be young and stupid

 

Meanwhile, good workers in other industries get two days off A FUCKING WEEK!

Yeah, we're in the right biz.

 

I loved baseball until I covered it... The schedule is so much tougher than any other beat it's not even funny... Games are almost every day, they don't usually take a full day to travel and the clubhouse opens really early, which usually makes for a brutally long day.

Imagine covering a series in New York that ends with a night game and then having to fly down to Florida in time to be ready when the clubhouse opens...

Some big papers give their writers a break from spring training, but a lot don't. Imagine being away from your family for that whole time... It drove me insane and I wasn't even married at the time...