2008 Woodie Awards
A trip to remember
By: Thomas Lawrence
Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Sports
A lot of kids like me spend their childhoods envisioning being in the batter's box at Yankee Stadium, with Game 7 of the World Series on the line as the entire world watches.
Then, as time passes, you realize that while you trust your skills as a ballplayer, the pro clubs aren't exactly banging down your door to sign you to a gaudy, multi-year deal to hit white balls in batting practice and appear on SportsCenter nightly.
Some people move on, letting sports become a mild interest and a thing of the past, others, like me, want to be around them in any way they can.
Now, I play soccer, basketball and baseball for fun, and that's fine, in a lot of ways it's better that way: no coaches in your face everyday or paying for somebody else's mistakes. But I do want to be around the national sports world, as a writer or broadcaster, whatever happens to come my way.
Even in that arena, though, there's no guarantee you'll ever get farther than covering Central Valley high school golf for a bi-weekly in a ghost town. But, every now and then, life throws you an opportunity you have to take hold of, and that's exactly what I did recently.
Paul Scheet, the guy I was color commentator for doing Warrior basketball this winter offered me a chance to cover one of St. Mary's (Stockton) High School baseball games, a high school baseball showcase to be played at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland.
I jumped at the chance. I mean, how many people get a chance to sit in the press box at a major league ballpark and do radio? Who cares if it's a high school game: I would do radio for a tee ball game if it meant being in the "personnel only" parts of the Coliseum.
And, not only would I get to do a game in a big league stadium, but one that's seen six World Series in its time (1972, 73, 74, 88, 89 and 90).
Going behind that sign that said "authorized personnel only" gave me chills, and I got even more perusing the labels on the box tables like "KNBR," "San Francisco Chronicle" and "San Jose Mercury News."
The game itself was great, and St. Mary's ended up beating DeLaSalle of Concord, despite their starting pitcher who dealt at 93 MPH (seriously, these kids can barely drive and they have better fastballs than Greg Maddux).
I believe in my abilities as a writer/broadcaster as much as anyone, but, as I mentioned, life throws you a lot of curveballs (pun intended) and who knows if I'll ever get to go beyond that point in the stadium when the A's (or Raiders, I suppose) are actually playing.
It was an experience to remember, and I only hope that someday I can be up there, reliving those moments in the backyard when I was Ken Griffey, Jr., sending the Mariners to a World Series with a moonshot home run.
Do what you love people, and that inner child will keep smiling for years to come.
Then, as time passes, you realize that while you trust your skills as a ballplayer, the pro clubs aren't exactly banging down your door to sign you to a gaudy, multi-year deal to hit white balls in batting practice and appear on SportsCenter nightly.
Some people move on, letting sports become a mild interest and a thing of the past, others, like me, want to be around them in any way they can.
Now, I play soccer, basketball and baseball for fun, and that's fine, in a lot of ways it's better that way: no coaches in your face everyday or paying for somebody else's mistakes. But I do want to be around the national sports world, as a writer or broadcaster, whatever happens to come my way.
Even in that arena, though, there's no guarantee you'll ever get farther than covering Central Valley high school golf for a bi-weekly in a ghost town. But, every now and then, life throws you an opportunity you have to take hold of, and that's exactly what I did recently.
Paul Scheet, the guy I was color commentator for doing Warrior basketball this winter offered me a chance to cover one of St. Mary's (Stockton) High School baseball games, a high school baseball showcase to be played at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland.
I jumped at the chance. I mean, how many people get a chance to sit in the press box at a major league ballpark and do radio? Who cares if it's a high school game: I would do radio for a tee ball game if it meant being in the "personnel only" parts of the Coliseum.
And, not only would I get to do a game in a big league stadium, but one that's seen six World Series in its time (1972, 73, 74, 88, 89 and 90).
Going behind that sign that said "authorized personnel only" gave me chills, and I got even more perusing the labels on the box tables like "KNBR," "San Francisco Chronicle" and "San Jose Mercury News."
The game itself was great, and St. Mary's ended up beating DeLaSalle of Concord, despite their starting pitcher who dealt at 93 MPH (seriously, these kids can barely drive and they have better fastballs than Greg Maddux).
I believe in my abilities as a writer/broadcaster as much as anyone, but, as I mentioned, life throws you a lot of curveballs (pun intended) and who knows if I'll ever get to go beyond that point in the stadium when the A's (or Raiders, I suppose) are actually playing.
It was an experience to remember, and I only hope that someday I can be up there, reliving those moments in the backyard when I was Ken Griffey, Jr., sending the Mariners to a World Series with a moonshot home run.
Do what you love people, and that inner child will keep smiling for years to come.
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