Winter Meetings Blog Writer Journal, December 9
Last week, I dedicated my little slice of internet infinity to the recollections and reflections of four Winter Meetings job seekers. This week, I’m provide my own Twitter-centric account of the week that was. It all ends here, with this recap of my third and final full day in Nashville.
Wednesday, December 9
Wednesday, the third and final day of the Winter Meetings, is always a wild card. There are, of course, places to go and people to talk to, but I generally don’t have plans to attend or cover any one specific event. That was the case this year, but it still turned out to be a supremely busy day. Per usual, I found myself running around like the proverbial headless chicken. What else is new?
Wednesday morning was given over to Job Seeker Journals blog posts and other such writerly tasks. While grabbing lunch in the Opryland, I ran into Chuck Greenberg (owner of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, Frisco RoughRiders and State College Spikes) and Pelicans president Andy “Milo” Milovich. In Milo’s possession was a recent prized acquisition, a baseball card from 1988 featuring Dave Oster during his reign with the Geneva Cubs. (Oster, now 50, recently stepped down from his position as Lake Elsinore Storm president). The card cost 99 cents on eBay, plus $2.75 shipping and handling, and was the source of much merriment for industry veterans.
While waiting in line for food, I also ran into Inland Empire 66ers director of marketing Matt Kowallis. I casually asked him how things have been going, standard Winter Meetings small talk, but his somber response quickly busted me out of casual conversation mode. The 66ers are based in San Bernardino, the site of a horrific mass shooting the week prior. For the 66ers staff, and everyone in their community, it was impossible not to feel the heavy weight of the tragedy. The Winter Meetings, meanwhile, are a surreal week-long dose of fantasyland unreality. It felt strange to suddenly be contemplating something so horrific within such an atmosphere, but I wanted to give this topic its due. Matt put me in touch with 66ers general manager Joe Hudson, and a bit later in the afternoon I interviewed him about the team’s response to the shooting for MiLB.com’s “Show Before the Show” podcast. (That episode can be found HERE.)
As I ate lunch, I amused myself by eavesdropping on Kannapolis Intimidators director of communications Josh Feldman as he reviewed a pile of resumes submitted by Job Fair attendees. (Josh isn’t too impressed with those who note their proficiency with Microsoft Office, as it is the year 2015.)
Okay, what next? Oh, right, a final lap through the Trade Show to say hello to people who I had missed the day prior. But on the way there, I ran into Tyler Glaser. Tyler, who works at Grimey’s, a venerated Nashville record store, served as my designated eater when I visited the Nashville Sounds in August. Prior to the Meetings I had gotten in touch about maybe getting a drink or checking out a show, but this was before I arrived in Nashville and immediately resigned myself to a week of all Opryland, all of the time. At least we were able to chat for a few minutes.
And, hey! There’s Lansing Lugnuts broadcaster/noted author Jesse Goldberg-Strassler, a wise and kind individual whom I had not yet spoken to at this year’s event. I had to have a conversation with him as well.
And, oh, right, the Trade Show was still going on, though at this point it was in its death throes. I just had enough time to introduce myself to Rookies app founder Matt Sebek, whose product allows users to create their own baseball cards. It’s pretty cool. And, look, he even created one for me.
That was the tone of the afternoon — one conversation to another to another, all imbued with the sense that time was running out. After meeting with Joe Hudson for an interview on the 66ers’ response to the San Bernardino shooting, I hustled back over to Presidential Ballroom D (my favorite of the Presidential Ballrooms) to meet once again with 2015’s group of Job Seeker Journal writers. We recorded a series of “after” interviews, which were later incorporated into this video.
[milbvideo id=”534615183" width=”480" height=”270" /]
Finally, I returned to the media room and began work on an article summing up the myriad news and notes from the past few days.
The media room is a strange place to work. As I pecked away at the keyboard, the Cubs’ newest free agent acquisition was introducing himself to the assembled media. We were separated by the thinnest of veneers.
Pay no attention to the Ben Zobrist behind the curtain. https://t.co/NUn23ZzLa2
— Benjamin Hill (@bensbiz) December 9, 2015
I had a very specific deadline while working on this article. At 6:30, buses would be departing the Opryland for the Wild Horse Saloon in downtown Nashville. This was the site of this year’s Gala, a three-hour party that represents 2015’s final opportunity for large-scale mingling.
Personal arrogance and ego-boosting aside, I have always enjoyed the Gala. The Winter Meetings are chaotic and stressful, but once the Gala hits you can take a deep breath and just be. Enjoy some booze and drinks and be glad to have made it through another year.
And go figure: This was my most popular tweet of the entire Winter Meetings. People love to see the industry get down.
After the Gala, I took a bus back to the Opryland. But most of the Gala attendees must have gone to a piano bar (they always do), because the hotel bar scene was listless and seemed more populated by Major League types. I’ve got no interest in that sort. There was nothing left to do but, yes, write and disseminate another Groundbreaking and Subversive Joke.
Your groundbreaking and subversive joke, Winter Meetings Night Four. https://t.co/epvkdAbrHA
— Benjamin Hill (@bensbiz) December 10, 2015
I can’t remember the last time I felt so tired. I had no one left to talk to. I could feel myself starting to get sick. But, yet, I kept wandering around, on the lookout for joke material, or whatever flimsy excuse I could make in order to keep the night going. Why do I have these compulsions? Why do I feel that it is mandatory to indulge them? I sometimes feel that there is something wrong with me.
Your bonus groundbreaking and subversive joke, Winter Meetings Night Four. https://t.co/dCyv4kUxVk — Benjamin Hill (@bensbiz) December 10, 2015
And that was it for the Winter Meetings. I really enjoyed getting to (re)connect with so many people who work in this great business, even if you may not have been entirely sure who I was.
Finally, mercifully, I’ve got nothing left. Here’s to another year of making dreams come true.
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benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
instagram.com/thebensbiz
