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Reflections on 2131 after ESPN Aired the Game Last Night
* Last night as I was grading papers and preparing a lecture for online delivery, my husband called me into the family room. “ESPN is airing the full 2131 game,” he said. He was referring to Cal Ripken’s historic night at Camden Yards with the Baltimore Orioles when he surpassed Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak record, a record we will most likely never see broken again. The quality of the video wasn’t good, and my husband and I watched Mike Mussina on the mound. A wave of nostalgia came over me. I was on the field that night, as an employee of the ballclub, executing my duties. That was a…
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Thoughts on Missing Working in Baseball
It’s a question I get asked a lot. “Do you miss working in baseball?” Students ask me this often; then they ask what it was like to work in baseball, in sports, for a Major League baseball team. I have often blogged about how working in baseball changed my life in so many ways. I became a serious student when I got my job with the Orioles as a sophomore in college. I learned how to budget my time and work long hours. I loved every minute of it. I even roped my best friend and college roommate into working there during my second year when I supervised a small…
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On the Road to Event Planning
This week, my colleagues Leeanne Bell McManus, Chip Rouse, and I received page proofs of our textbook entitled “Event Planning: Communicating Theory and Practice” which is being published by Kendall Hunt. The year plus of work on this book has been interesting for me, to say the least. As someone who was trained in academia later in life, having worked in the field of public relations, community relations, and publications first, writing a textbook required a whole different set of skills than does writing fiction. And yet both endeavors are rewarding. I wanted to take a moment to thank Leeanne and Chip for working with me on this project. I…
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Baseball = Love : Reflections on Ripken, Gehrig, and 2131; Baseball Girl Receives an Award; and Thoughts on Moments in Time
Reflections on Cal Ripken and 2131 * * * Twenty years ago this week Cal Ripken tied and broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games record. Twenty years ago. It seems difficult to fathom, actually. I was proud to have been a part of such a wonderful front office — people who cared about the game of baseball and wanted it represented well both on and off the field. If I could have picked any time in history to have been with the club — including that 1983 season when the Orioles took home the World Series trophy — I would not change a thing. I started out on the ground floor…
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The True Meaning of Friendship
Last Friday night, I organized a reunion. It wasn’t a high school or college reunion. It was a reunion of people who worked together in Baltimore for a baseball team called the Orioles. Having spent many seasons as an employee of the club, and having many friends who did the same (some of them still there enjoying last year’s great season as well as this one), we decided it was time for a big get-together. Many folks may say that it sounds crazy that former colleagues want to get together—but the fact of the matter is—that’s where many of us “grew up” in our 20s and 30s when we were…
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The Pink Panther, Mark, and Me
Last night, my family and I went to Camden Yards. Some of you readers know that I worked for the Orioles for many years. The Orioles and Camden Yards are sentimental to me for so many reasons, namely because I met my husband and some of my best friends there, and also because it was just a great place to work. Time spent at the Orioles was a pleasure, and one that I remember fondly. The pictured Pink Panther is no longer mine. He belongs to my friend Mark Hromalik, the assistant director of sales. Mark and I worked together, and when I left, I bestowed my Pink Panther to…
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Orioles Magic, Old & New
* * * It was 1995. Cal was set to tie—and then break—Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak record. I worked for the Orioles as the Director of Publishing. It was a great year to be a member of the Orioles front office. In about seven weeks, we put together Cal’s Commemorative Book, a publication created by our organization that celebrated Cal and his accomplishments that was sold on September 6, 1995. Besides my debut novel that was released in March, it’s the only other print publication I’m immensely proud to have been a part of, and it was an honor to serve as its editor. On the evening of 2131,…
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The Perils of Being a Baseball Pitcher
There I sat, Saturday night, in some pretty fantastic seats at Camden Yards, watching the Orioles take on the Nationals at home. It’s a relatively friendly rivalry, but still, I was rooting my Birds on that evening. As the game neared the 8th and 9th innings, I got strange butterflies in my stomach, as I watched our pitcher hurl ball after ball into the catcher’s glove. I know why I got butterflies. For years, I’ve always believed that being a Major League Baseball pitcher is not only be the hardest job on the field, but also the loneliest. I don’t mind working hard, but I don’t like to be lonely.…
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The Way I See Baseball: Waiting to Hear the Crack of the Bat
*** Mother Nature has blessed us with an incredible day. It’s sunny and warm, and now it’s official: I yearn to hear the crack of the baseball bat. I’m ready for Orioles baseball and for Opening Day at Camden Yards in Baltimore. It’s still in my blood. For thirteen years of my life, I bled black and orange. As a front office employee for the Baltimore Orioles many moons ago, I looked forward to the season starting. It was a sign of spring and rebirth. Baseball is America’s pastime. Some say baseball is slow moving, that it can be equated with watching the grass grow. As for me, I can’t…
