Ballpark Travel

Overview : In 2008, the Atlanta Braves ended their season at 72-90, their worst finish since 1990, the year before rattling off 14 consecutive division titles. The Braves seem to have reloaded themselves through trades and free agent acquisitions this offseason , uncharacteristic to their usual development of prospects, though with all out battle projected to occur throughout spring training between Jordan Schafer , Gregor Blanco , Brandon Jones and Josh Anderson there is plenty of youth looking to burst onto the scene in the 2009 season. The Braves do look like a team that will be very competitive in the division that produced the 2008 World Series Champions. Starting Pitching: Their strength in 2009 is going to be their greatest weakness from 2008. The Braves starting rotation is looking very deep with new acquisitions Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami couples with Jair Jurrjens and Tom Glavine . Lowe and Vazquez are proven durable starters and will give the top o...

Over the past couple of weeks I have been very fortunate to have been entrusted by the Braves to do some initial screening interviews for the job I held last summer, the Braves Around Town external marketing street team. I have heard some unreal responses to the questions I was asking and I figured that I would pass along some of the insight that this experience has given to me. First, the way to express that you want a job in baseball is to explain that you wish to make a career in the field. I am guilty of saying that I am a fan of the game or that I am passionate about the sport, because that is true, but that response is truly a dime a dozen. Everyone applying for a job in baseball is a fan of the sport or knows something about it. Those who specifically state that they wish to make a career are absolutely making it know that they are serious about working in sports and immediately show a more professional side. From the interviewee's that I spoke with that shared this desire t...

The other night, I was having a great conversation with a friend of mine regarding the new steroid controversies that have spread in baseball throughout the past week. Two former MVP's , Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Tejada , have admitted their former use of performance enhancers after previously stating that they had never tried these substances. In the society that has shunned steroid users is faced with an unusual predicament . The greatest statistical player of the last decade, a player on pace to shatter records in many power categories, is now a known steroid user. This is the game's most prominent player and baseball cannot hide or shun Alex Rodriguez as they have Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmiero . Rodriguez has another decade on his playing contract and is not going anywhere. I think that it is time for someone to make a bold statement. In a society that is so numbers oriented, I think that it is time to make it known that the steroid era is a significant par...

With pitchers and catchers reporting for duty in just under 9 days there are a ton of talented players still on the free agent market. More than any other year that I have seen in my time as a fan. This is an updated list of the top talent still available on the free agent market: Paul Lo Duca , C Moises Alou , OF Lvian Hernandez, P Braden Looper , P Paul Byrd, P Pedro Martinez, P Mark Mulder, P Odalis Perez, P Eric Gagne , P Will Ohman , P Jason Isringhausen , P Many of these players can certainly be classified as being either insurance policies or reclamation projects, yet in years past, they would have been snapped up quickly. There are former all-stars and there are potential future hall of fame players on that list (Ivan Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez). Is it be possible that a future hall of famer will have to beg for a job, sure, but three? I don't think so. This has been a crazy off season , and I think that teams have been very reluctant to spend their excess...

For the first time in many years, I get to say that the Baltimore Orioles made an excellent move. I would be very willing to say that the way that the Chicago Cubs treated Rich Hill in their 2008 season was probably as a result of their excellent pitching depth and the trade for Rich Harden and emergence of Ryan Dempster did not help either. Yet, I think it was a terrible move to demote a guy that was probably the second best pitcher on their staff and not give him a second chance to show his 2007 form, that was probably the second best pitcher on their staff (11-8; 3.92). He has a filthy curveball and is ready to get that second chance. What hurt him in 2008 was his control, walking 18 in 19.2 IP, and after allowing 63 walks in 195 IP the previous season, he will walk batters. Though, it is reasonable to expect that his control will improve. I am very excited to see Hill in an Orioles uniform. Further, I expect him to pitch better than Rich Harden and Ryan Dempster in 2009 as I antici...

When I was in transit over the past couple of weeks, I had the opportunity to sit down and write up a response to some of the economic troubles that the common fan brings attention to with baseball. These opinions come on the heels of large December spending and increasingly expensive ticket prices. Common fans do not like to see these two combine and when they do, their pessimism is hard to respond to. In a time where the entire country has felt the recession to an extent, fans are more deterred than ever. Baseball is an escape from the negativity of the world and I don't expect that to change, though perhaps the way that fans access the game may drastically change. The future of baseball and all of the entertainment industry moneymakers is successful use of media and new media. I have tried to give myself a glimpse into this by blogging and learning how online networks grow. The development of strong fan connections can be made through building a bridge from the team to the fans....

I figure that it is time to write an update with respect to my professional development as this blog is intended to shine some light as to how young professionals can get into Major League Baseball using my anecdotal stories as an example. The Waiting Game I recently went on a two week vacation to Egypt and the Dominican Republic. When I left, I had no job offers, few leads and no reason to feel hopeful that anything was coming. Yet I still had the feeling that when I checked my phone each night for messages that I would have good news. Before going to sleep in a timezone that was 7 hours ahead of the east coast, I would turn my cellphone on for five minutes to try and catch a signal to see if I had voice messages. The nerves making my stomach turn over each day that I either did not receive a message or there was no signal for the phone to pick up as we sailed along the Nile. After returning to Cairo, where cellphones work with ease, the message finally came through to me on January 7...