Baseball -- Behind the Scenes

The top referring search terms for my blog this week were "tommy la stella" + "girlfriend" so I'm going to take that as a sign that I should write more about baseball. That led to my newest series "baseball behind the scenes." Other titles I considered: "baseball from the service level" "tales from the tarp pulls" "beyond the diamond"

This week I'm starting with questions that drive us nuts.

• What do you do in the off-season? 
• What time do fireworks start?
• What time does the game end? 
• What happens if it rains?
• Is the game next week going to get rained out? 
• It's raining at my house in Kentucky, is it raining at your ballpark? 
• Does the first baseman have a girlfriend? 
• Do you work in baseball to date the players? 
• What do you do when the team is out of town?
• Do you travel with the team? 
• Can you introduce me to [player's name]?
• Does that mean you can get me free tickets? 
• Can you send me autographed memorabilia? 
• That's your career?
• Can I propose to my girlfriend on the video board? 
• I know it says 'no outside food or beverages' on your website, but can I bring in... ?
• What can I get for free? 
• Is the game cancelled? 

If I made a nickle for every person who asked me "well what do you do in the off season?" or "so when the season is done you're just on vacation?" I would never actually have to work another day in my life. I don't know what it is about the sport industry that makes people think that we don't work in the off-season -- but that's when the work gets done. That's when you plan next year's events, try to sell season tickets to people who say "but the season doesn't start until April, call me back then."

The video board/on-field proposal is definitely one of my pet peeves. Nine times out of ten, the girl isn't a baseball fan, this isn't her idea of a great proposal, and the guy is hoping that we will do all of the work for them. As a field host who is super bad at lying, I always struggled with the whole signing the girl up for a game or leading into the "trivia" question that was really "Susie Jane, will you marry me?" That's not to say some girls dream of being proposed to on the field at an MiLB game, it's just not my idea of a good time.

So does anyone have a specific behind-the-scenes aspect of professional baseball you would like to see me write about? Let me know!