Game Day in a Nutshell

The season is always a blur for me. For the last 6 years I have looked at the calendar in early June excited for Opening Day, I've blinked and magically arrived in August with the season winding down. I always feel a bit like Dorthy in the land of Oz when the season winds down, and I'm guessing it's because game days are stuffed full of work, planning, and finally baseball. When I sat down to write this post I realized just how chaotic and unorganized most of my days usually are. Below is my attempt at generalizing what I do on a daily basis.

During the season, game day usually starts off for me with a 6:30 AM wake up (I certainly hope Ariana doesn't wake me any earlier this year), a trip to Starbucks, and then off to the office no later than 8 for the day to begin. The day always starts by wrapping up everything from the night before including logging employee hours and double checking all of our spreadsheets for accounting. After that I touch base with our broadcaster to make sure that everything we need for that night's promotion is ready to go and we're fully prepared for radio, social media, etc. Depending on when the next road series is scheduled the next item on my agenda is preparing travel documents, finalizing meal money, and touching base with the road hotel.

After a quick break for lunch (usually eaten at my desk) it's time to prepare the game script for the night. That involves making sure we have the right promotions set, have all of our PA announcements correct, and know which staff members will be executing certain tasks. Anyone on the staff can tell you I usually miss at least one correction which is all part of the fun each night. Once the game script is printed and ready for the night, I move on to any miscellaneous tasks that have accumulated over the last few days. Usually that entails touching base with staff on upcoming promotions, sending out an e-newsletter, emailing with corporate partners and season ticket holders, etc.

After afternoon tasks are completed I usually take a quick hour break to run home, hydrate, and eat a healthy snack before heading to the ballpark. Since I double as the stadium operations manager on game nights, I am one of the first to arrive at the stadium to get the box office open, get the BP music going, and make sure that our food and beverage manager has everything they need. Once 5:30 rolls around most things are ready to go for the night and everyone is busy making last minute preparations for gates open. Once we welcome fans through the gate the real fun can begin. Game nights are truly my favorite part of the job. I mostly just have to troubleshoot any issues - ticket printers, merchandise POS systems cause the most headache. Hopefully though I get to sit back and enjoy some home town baseball with family and friends with everyone else in the ballpark.