For the first time since my first season broadcasting (2002) I have purchased a scorebook. My scorecard is more involved than the kind on sale at the local sporting goods store. I need to have a place to keep notes, write down the defensive alignment, detailed pitcher information and plenty of room for subs. Since 2002 I’ve created my own scoresheet but this year I decided not to mess with that and to purchase the Bob Carpenter Scorebook. As some of you may know, Bob is the TV voice of the Washington Nationals and has been for the past several seasons. His scorebook has just about everything a broadcaster needs in the way of a scorebook. My only complaint/problem is that it was hard for me to write against the spine when keeping score on the left hand scoresheet.  We’ll see how it goes this year. I’m hopeful that I can make it work without any issues. I’ll keep you posted.

Have I ever mentioned that I consider myself a Parrothead? Unfortunately I haven’t been to a concert in over 10 years now which is a bummer. I keep hoping that he (Jimmy Buffett) will do a show in the spring or fall close to central Pennsylvania. I’m not sure I should admit this or not, but I’ve seen him in the Bay Area (two venues); Washington state; Indianapolis; Chicago; Nashville; and West Palm Beach. I think that covers all the locations.  One of my favorite stations on my XM is the Jimmy Buffett channel.

Music and baseball seem to go hand in hand, at least to me they do. Since I’m at a ballpark for many hours each day during the season,  I hear a lot of music. It’s nearly impossible for teams to take batting practice now without music. It was always this way, especially considering there weren’t even sound systems in ballparks until the early 80s. I have no idea how teams took batting practice for 80+ years without music. Nowadays if the sound system isn’t on when BP starts, they’ll yell or scream or at times throw baseballs at the press box window trying to get our attention. And then, the music has to be at just the right level and it has to be the right type of music as well.  Some of the music played is just awful. And I don’t say that just because of my age, but because the music is awful.

My other favorite channel, the radio classic channel. I love hearing the old the mysteries such as The Shadow, The Green Hornet etc., the old police shows such as Dragnet and Broadway is My Beat, and the westerns like Gunsmoke. When I’m on a trip listening to the old radio shows really seems to pass the time, much better than music.  It’s amazing to me that those shows were mostly done on a stage, live, in front of an audience. They sound so realistic, the sound of a gunfight in Dodge City or walking down an alley in Boston. I find that I probably enjoy listening to the old radio versions of shows more than watching the TV version since it allows me to use my imagination.

I used to love sports on the radio for the same reason. Listening to Bill King describe a 3 on 1 fast break for the Warriors made it seem like I was sitting courtside.  Long before I ever went to game I had an idea about what the arena was like. In those days, of course, smoking was allowed in ballparks and arenas so there was a layer of haze in the arena and the smell of cigarettes and cigars and more. The level of description was amazing, then my imagination took over. “Seeing” a Nate Thurmond block or a Rick Barry 23-foot jump shot, they were bigger than life in my mind. I can recall seeing for myself, the first time I was at a Giants game in person, Willie Mays “shading” towards right; Bobby Bonds playing “shallow”; Chris Speier and Tito Fuentes at “double-play depth”, all things I had heard Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons describe.  In my mind, Candlestick Park was the perfect place for baseball, a heaven on earth place, in reality, it was horrible for both players and fans.

I’m looking forward to this season, more than any season in recent memory, and looking forward to becoming more descriptive, less analytical, and to having more fun on the air this year. I hope you join me for the ride.

Earlier this week Emily Winslow, our Director of Community Relations, signed me up to be a speaker at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Harrisburg. About an hour before we headed over she came into my office and told me that I needed to talk about goals. The group of kids I spoked to ranged from the 1st grade to 8th grade, somewhat difficult to relate to all of them at the same time. Oh well, I think they had fun and I used the word goal probably two dozen times, making the teachers happy as well.

With spring training right around the corner, meaning the season is closer and closer, the talk of goals had me thinking about my life and my goals.  So I’ve been thinking the past couple of days about what I would like to accomplish both personally and professionally over the next few months. These are in no particular order…

• Break 2:30 in the half-marathon I’m running on March 18 (I use the term running loosely!)
• Run (again using that term loosely) 400 miles during the course of the season
• Break 80 in a round of golf (yes, playing all 18 holes)
• Be kinder and more entertaining on the radio broadcasts (my new partner, Matt Dudas, will help with this)
• Go to bed earlier and wake up earlier (watching west coast baseball on TV in a hotel room is a killer for falling asleep early)
• Eat fewer french fries
• Eat more vegetables
• Eat less chocolate
• Eat more vegetables
• Be kinder and nicer to those close to me (no, I’m not going to say I want world peace, I’m not a beauty contestant)
• Not to let four-pitch walks to .220 hitters to cause my blood pressure to rise
• Enjoy watching every minute of every game and realize there are a lot worse things to be doing, regardless of the score of the game
• Write more blogs
• To not let the radio setup in New Britain bother me
• See the “real” Beach Boys in concert one final time

I warned you that there was no rhyme or reason to the list.

Okay, onto actual baseball related topics. I’m personally very excited for this season to start. First and foremost, things look pretty good for the Nationals to make some waves this year. And what makes that thought even more fun is the number of players on their roster that played here in Harrisburg.  Secondly, I think we will see a whole bunch of really good younger talent this year at Metro Bank Park. I’m looking forward to seeing the group of players that I’ve heard about for the past two or three seasons.  I don’t have any particulars but am guessing we will be pretty young this year. I should know a lot more when I make my annual trip to spring training in the middle of March.

I was saddened yesterday to hear about the passing of Gary Carter. The older I am the harder it is to hear about athletes passing that I watched their entire careers. I didn’t see the Expos play a whole lot of times in the 70s against the Giants, but I do remember a night game in about 1975 or 1976 that is probably the coldest night I’ve ever paid to watch a game in. I have no idea what the temperature was that evening at Candlestick, but extra socks, blankets, jackets, hot chocolate, none of it was nearly enough. And it was in July or August!

In the immediate future here at Metro Bank Park, we are beginning the process of getting everything ready for the season. The office is busy with selling tickets, advertising, and merchandise. The guys outside are busy getting the field ready (it looks great especially considering it was under 4″ of mud in September), clubhouses and the rest of the ballpark. I guess we’re still about eight weeks away from the home opener on April 12 against Reading.

Okay, that’s it for today. I’ll be back sooner than later and plan to write mini-blogs over the next six weeks updating you all on spring training, the office, and my goals.  Have a great weekend!

• I’m rooting for the Rangers to win the World Series. Making the World Series in consecutive seasons is no easy feat, and it would be great for their loyal fans to experience a baseball championship parade.

• I still don’t understand how in the biggest game of the season there was such a big communications breakdown between the Cards dugout and bullpen.

• Does anyone really care whether the NBA ever plays a game again or not? Okay, that’s not nice of me since I have some friends employed by NBA teams and I’d hate to see them lose their jobs. So for the sake of my friends I hope the NBA figures out how to save their season.

• Is it time for spring training yet?

• In a strange scheduling quirk, we’ll start the 2012 season ahead of several major league teams as the big leagues don’t start until we do this year.

• I just spent a week in California and did I mention it was nearly cloudless and 75 for the whole week? A guy could get used to that type of weather.  Oh wait, for 35 years I was used to it.

• I’m personally rooting for Tony Beasley to return to Harrisburg as the Sens manager in 2012.

• Can you really get used to the cold and snow?

• Kudos to new Caps radio guy John Walton on a great start in DC, but then, did you expect anything different? He’s the consummate professional.

• Thanks to Tim Foreman, Brandon Forsburg, and Ben Moyer (and many more), Metro Bank Park is nearly ready for baseball after the floods in mid-September. Those guys have done an amazing job cleaning the field and the ballpark.

• Did you notice that over the past two seasons the Senators have the best record in the Eastern League at 157 wins and 127 losses for a winning percentage of .553?

• Is it time for spring training yet?

• When all is said and done, does Albert stay with the Cards or does he end up somewhere else?

• How many out there remember when the Kansas City Royals weren’t a small market team, but a franchise blueprint to follow?

• Can the 49ers keep it up and a respectable season?

• I’d like to watch one more night baseball game at Candlestick Park to see if it was really as bad as I remember!?!

• Best Senators game this season you ask? Too many to chose from but it’s hard to argue against September 1st with the Cowboy Monkeys Rodeo and Stephen Strasburg on the mound.  And did I mention the Senators clinched the regular season division championship that night!?!?

• I can’t wait for the gates to open to Metro Bank Park in 2012 as we have some pretty cool changes in store for fans this coming season along with more interesting entertainment.

• Only because my wife watches, but am I the only one that thinks Chas Bono can’t dance? I don’t care about anything else, I thought the show was about dancing!?!?

• Do we really still need a video on how to buckle the lap buckle on an airplane? Really?

Okay, I think that’s it with the random thoughts on this dreary Thursday.  It’ll be a nice night to prepare  for Saturdays broadcast and to watch game 6, if it’s not rained out.

Until next time be sure to follow me on twitter at @hbgsensradio.

The season is a little more than a month old and the Senators are a game under .500, but all is going to be okay with the team. When all is said and done, fans are really going to enjoy watching this team all season long.

The season is an interesting time. People in baseball talk about the grind, the day in and day out of being at the baseball park, waiting to play the game that day in whatever city it is.

For those of us in the front office, we point towards the season nearly the moment the previous season ends. All we do is talk about wanting the season to get here so there is baseball again and not the cold winter and somewhat drudgery of the off-season.

So then why does everyone in the game want time to go by so quickly? I’m guilty of it. During games I’ll mention how long it has taken to play five or six innings as if I really have something better to do at 10:30pm on a Tuesday night.

A baseball game, the baseball season, they should be cherished like a fine glass of wine, or a nice thick, juicy steak. It’s not something to rush. A game and the season should be something to enjoy, savored. No two games or no two seasons are alike.

Someone very smart years ago said that if you come to the ballpark every day, you’re sure to see something you never have before. That phrase has been true this season and was true tonight for sure.

Because of my job, I get caught up in the game(s) while I’m broadcasting and I certainly want the Senators to win. But after the game is over, and there is time to reflect, I’m back into my more normal mode of not letting the wins and losses affect me one way or the other. Their are just too many games and too many long days to let one game affect you.

My alarm went off at 6am this morning. The bus left the ballpark for Richmond at 8am. We arrived in Richmond sometime around noon. And then I headed to the ballpark at 3:30pm. The game started a minute early at 7:04pm and finished at 11:06pm.  What I just described is why I don’t/can’t get caught up in the wins and losses. The day is too long and there are too many games to worry about one game. In mid-August is when the team will start worrying about a loss.

Tomorrow (Friday), the team leaves the hotel at 10:30am to go workout at a local gym. Then it’s lunch time, followed by a short nap (maybe) and then onto the ballpark at either 2:30 or 3:30pm. Game time is at 7:05pm and we’ll hope for a shorter game than 4:02.

Well, it’s now after 2am and 10am is going to come early. Here’s to hoping the Senators bounce back on Friday night and start a road winning streak.

The season is a little more than a month old and the Senators are a game under .500, but all is going to be okay with the team. When all is said and done, fans are really going to enjoy watching this team all season long.

The season is an interesting time. People in baseball talk about the grind, the day in and day out of being at the baseball park, waiting to play the game that day in whatever city it is.

For those of us in the front office, we point towards the season nearly the moment the previous season ends. All we do is talk about wanting the season to get here so there is baseball again and not the cold winter and somewhat drudgery of the off-season.

So then why does everyone in the game want time to go by so quickly? I’m guilty of it. During games I’ll mention how long it has taken to play five or six innings as if I really have something better to do at 10:30pm on a Tuesday night.

A baseball game, the baseball season, they should be cherished like a fine glass of wine, or a nice thick, juicy steak. It’s not something to rush. A game and the season should be something to enjoy, savored. No two games or no two seasons are alike.

Someone very smart years ago said that if you come to the ballpark every day, you’re sure to see something you never have before. That phrase has been true this season and was true tonight for sure.

Because of my job, I get caught up in the game(s) while I’m broadcasting and I certainly want the Senators to win. But after the game is over, and there is time to reflect, I’m back into my more normal mode of not letting the wins and losses affect me one way or the other. Their are just too many games and too many long days to let one game affect you.

My alarm went off at 6am this morning. The bus left the ballpark for Richmond at 8am. We arrived in Richmond sometime around noon. And then I headed to the ballpark at 3:30pm. The game started a minute early at 7:04pm and finished at 11:06pm.  What I just described is why I don’t/can’t get caught up in the wins and losses. The day is too long and there are too many games to worry about one game. In mid-August is when the team will start worrying about a loss.

Tomorrow (Friday), the team leaves the hotel at 10:30am to go workout at a local gym. Then it’s lunch time, followed by a short nap (maybe) and then onto the ballpark at either 2:30 or 3:30pm. Game time is at 7:05pm and we’ll hope for a shorter game than 4:02.

Well, it’s now after 2am and 10am is going to come early. Here’s to hoping the Senators bounce back on Friday night and start a road winning streak.

1987 – lost to the Cards 4-3 and didn’t score in the final two games in St. Louis.

1989 – Beat the Cubs 4-1, lost to the A’s 4-0.

1997 – Lost to the Marlins 3-0.

2000 – Lost to the Mets 3-1.

2002 – Beat Atlanta and the Cards, dropped the WS to the Angels 4-3.

2003 – Lost to the Marlins 3-1.

2010 – ???????

Growing up in Northern California and being a Giants fan longer than I can remember being anything else, those are the years that they have reached the post-season that I’ve been alive. There have been several well-documented near misses (1993 and 1998 among) them, but these are the only years I’ve really cared about post-season baseball.

I’ve been lucky enough to be at the 1987 games against St. Louis, the 1989 games against the Cubs and the A’s (yes, including the Earthquake game) and the one 1997 game against the Marlins.

There’s just something about following a baseball team, through thick and thin, that makes it different than following a football team.

Quick, off the top of your head, when did the Buffalo Bills last win a championship? Okay, how about the Chicago Cubs? I’m guessing that many of the people reading this know the last time the Cubs made a World Series Appearance was in 1945.

So what makes it different following baseball as compared to football, basketball, or hockey? Fans of other sports will argue with this, no doubt, but there is nothing like the opening game of spring training or certainly opening day in baseball. 

As a kid in Sacramento, I would mysteriously have a stomach ache or cold on the day of the first spring training game on the radio. It just seemed that the world was right again when I could hear baseball on the radio. It meant the school year was closer to being over than not. It meant that spring and summer were around the corner. And it meant that maybe, just maybe, the Giants would make the playoffs and win the World Series.

Well I’m 47 years old and am still waiting for the World Series win.

The Giants were poised to finally win one in 2002. They led the Angels 5-0 into the 7th inning only to watch the Angels rally and win forcing a game seven. Unfortunately, I, along with thousands of other Giants fans, knew that they had no chance in game seven.

So here we are for the first time since 2003. Seven long seasons of not really caring about playoff baseball have come to an end and this year, I do care.

Go Giants!

*  *  *  *  *

Now onto our regularly scheduled, albeit short, blog. Seven other teams have made the postseason this year along with the Giants. I perused the season ending 40-man rosters for all eight teams and I came up with the following former Sens on those 40-man rosters that could potentially be on their teams playoff roster.

Yankees – Jonathan Albaladejo & Javier Vasquez

Reds – Bill Bray, Brandon Phillips & Orlando Cabrera (added note, Chris Heisey played his college baseball at Messiah College)

Phillies – Brian Schneider

Rangers – Cliff Lee and Vladimir Guerrero

Four of the eight teams have affiliates in the Eastern League (Giants, Phillies, Yankees, and Twins) so without counting, there are a ton of former EL players and Sens opponents that are in the playoffs.

To me, it’s more fun to watch these games knowing we’ve seen players that have played against the Senators.

Speaking of the Senators, it’s raining on the Island today. We’ve had a great couple of weeks to start our off-season and later this week we head to New Britain for the annual Eastern League Meetings. A lot of great ideas come out of the two days meetings.  Next week, we’ll hold our own two day meeting to talk about what went right and wrong during 2010 and then get things pointed in the 2011 direction. I love the meeting process as it is exciting to talk about ideas and to get them started. I’m sure you’ll all be thrilled with what we come up with for 2011!

Coming up in the next few days I’m still going to write a recap of the Sens 2010 season.

Yesterday really hit home why it’s fun to be so close to Washington DC and able to see some of our favorite former Senators. The Nats used four pitchers in their win yesterday starting with Ross Detwiler, then Craig Stammen, followed by Drew Storen and then finally Collin Balester. All four of them have appeared on City Island sometime during the past four seasons.

Offensively, Roger Bernadina and Danny Espinosa both hit home runs for the Nats (along with Mike Morse).  Bernadina and Espinosa are both former Senators as well. Joining them in the starting line up was Justin Maxwell in center field. Ryan Zimmerman (a former Sen) was a late scratch.

I don’t know about you, but it’s fun to me to go down and watch them and see players that we’ve seen here. For years and years the Senators were great, winning championships, but fans didn’t much of a chance to see those players in person in the big leagues unless they wanted to travel to Philly, NY or Pittsburgh, when the Expos were in town.

Now you have 81 chances to see these players in Washington DC. Last night driving down, getting into DC, it struck me just how amazing it is to see the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, the White House, US Capitol, WWII Memorial, and much, much, more on the way to a ballgame! I thought going to San Francisco and seeing or driving over the Golden Gate Bridge was pretty cool, but it’s nothing compared to driving through so much history.

Of the current Nats roster, 13 of them played in the minor leagues for the Senators. several of the remaining Nats players appeared on City Island as part of the Sens opposition and they are: Tyler Clippard – Trenton (2006 & 2007) (he threw a no-hitter at then Commerce Bank Park against the Senators); Nyjer Morgan – Altoona (2006); Sean Burnett – Altoona (2003); Wilson Ramos – New Britain (2009); Alberto Gonzalez – Trenton (2007); and Willie Harris – Bowie (2001).  Including Jason Marquis, he rehabbed with the Sens this year, half of the current 40-man active roster either played for the Sens or against the Sens.

Getting back to yesterday, the Nats won 7-2 and are now 65-88 which doesn’t sound great, but, it means the first time in the past two seasons they won’t lose 100 games. And with a decent last week, they could win 70+ games which would represent a pretty nice increase from the past two seasons in which they’ve only won 59 games.

Sometime in the not to distant future, the Nats will be in a pennant race with a whole lot of former Sens, now won’t that be fun!

Have a great weekend everyone! I have two more Nats games to attend… go Nats!!!

• When I used to pay money to go to games I paid to watch the games. Since when did things change to the point that if you don’t receive an autograph, the “game” experience is bad?
• Speaking of autographs, when Strasburg was here there was a lot of chatter about how many he didn’t sign. Okay folks, I’m guessing I was around him a lot more than any of you and I’m here to tell you he signed a lot. He signed every day without fail. He didn’t sign at the same time everyday, but he did sign.
• Speaking of Strasburg, he started the season as a 21-year-old with a ton of expectations both on the field and off. Raise your hand if you were mature enough to handle everything he has had to handle at 21? It’s easy to knock a professional athlete because they make “millions” but what does the money have to do with anything? I saw a pretty good guy here for a month that was dealing with a ton.
• Lastly on Strasburg… I expect him to come back better than ever. He is very competitive and is going to work very hard to come back to the Nats.
• Randy Knorr and staff did a great job this year with the baseball team. They went through nearly two completely different teams, yet managed to keep them together and pointed towards the playoffs. And though winning/losing isn’t the ultimate goal of a minor league manager, he also had many players promoted. The Nationals are a much better organization with him around, that’s for sure.
• Troy Gingrich really worked hard this year as the Sens hitting coach. They went from hitting about .235 as a team through most of the first half of the season to finishing at .251, that is quite an accomplishment.
• Randy Tomlin did another solid job with the pitching staff. The Senators used 21 different pitchers to start a game this year. Twenty. One. That is a ton. Several different pitchers were used as closers but no matter what, the Sens kept pitching well. That is a testament to Randy. The Sens lead the league in ERA this year with a 3.51 ERA.
• Atsushi Toriida and Tony Rogowski rounded out the terrific staff by keeping the players fit, healthy and ready to play. It wasn’t an easy year because of all the bumps and bruises

Off the field was amazing as well. The Sens staff led by Kevin Kulp and Randy Whitaker did a great job all season long keeping things together and going. Emily Winslow spearheaded a terrific 2010 Eastern League All-Star game. Aaron Margolis is the man behind the drape when it comes to our game entertainment and video production. I’m going to write more in few days about the rest of my co-workers and what a great season they had.

Now onto some interesting tidbits, or maybe not so interesting. People want to know what it’s like to be a ballplayer, how much time is spent doing things, at the park, etc. Well I took some time last week and came up with the following information. This information applies to me, but it also applies to them as well.

• We spent approximately 185 HOURS this year on the bus. That is nearly 8 full days.
• Approximately 1400 hours at various ballparks
• Nearly 500 hours on the air between pre-game/post-game/game
• There were 157 days from the start of the season to the last day (including playoffs) and there was a game on 146 of those days (147 including the All-Star Game)
• Approximately 42% of our time was spent at the ballpark or on the bus during the season and that does not count the countless number of hours wasting time at the hotel on getaway day

And I wouldn’t trade any of that for another job Something can be said for loving what you do and where you do it at. Coming to work at a ballpark sure beats just about anything else.

I would love to hear from you and my email is tbyrom@senatorsbaseball.com.  I’ll be writing my thoughts on the players in the next couple of days and more about the milestones achieved by the organization this season.
 

Can you believe today is the final day of May? Neither can I. We finish a four-game series here in Erie today and then head to Richmond, VA for a three-game weeknight series. The weather here has been warm for Erie, but really, beautiful. I spent Saturday afternoon bike riding with Liz and enjoying the weather before coming to the ballpark.

I think the weather is about to turn for the hot though!

On the bus to the ballpark Adam Carr and Brad Coon were talking about the weather forecast for Richmond and the temps are to be in the mid to high 90s this week with plenty of humidity. Sweet!

Today is getaway day, a day both loved and hated in minor league baseball. Loved when it’s time to head home. Hated when the players know they have to check out and be on a bus by 10:00am, play a game, then have another 8+ hours on the bus after the game. Who am I kidding, it’s not just the players that can’t stand that kind of travel, neither can I.

As for the baseball, things are going okay. If the Sens win today they’ll start June one game over .500. For those of you that remember last season, the Sens are just slightly better today than this day last year. After falling to Bowie a year ago today (and tomorrow to New Hampshire) the Sens were just 13-34.  I still get the feeling this team is going to get really hot sooner than later.

That’s it for the baseball part of the blog. Please indulge me while I take a few moments (lines) to move away from baseball.

Today is when Memorial Day is observed. While it is nice to thank those currently serving in the US Armed Forces, that is not what today is about. Today is a day to pause and reflect and to honor those that have given their life defending, and over 230 years ago, gaining our independence.  Today is a wonderful day to spend with family and friends, just don’t forget to pause and give thanks to those that made the BBQs and holidays possible.

Okay… so, I say this everytime but I really am going to blog much more often. It has been an interesting two months, to say the least, and in my next issue, I’ll talk about what Strasomania was like.