Getting in the game : inside baseball's winter meetings / Josh Lewin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lewin, Josh.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Baseball--United States--Management.

Baseball.

Major League Baseball (Organization).

Sports executives--United States.

Sports executives.

Job hunting--United States.

Job hunting.

Management.

United States.

Physical Description:

xvi, 279 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Brasseys, [2004]

Summary:

Baseball's winter meetings are where dreamers come. Whether their dreams live or die depends on their tenacity, experience, resume, and sometimes just dumb luck. It's where decisions get made on who gets the jobs working in minor league baseball, usually auctioned off to those willing to work the most hours for the least pay. And why? That answer is easy: Because it's baseball. Author Josh Lewin -- who started off as a fresh-faced job-seeker looking for a chance at these same meetings and now is one of baseball's top broadcasters -- follows the efforts of three people who want to get in the game. They want to work in the game they love, to broadcast it, to sell it, to market it -- just to be a part of it in some small way. That is the dream.

Lewin reports on the endeavors of those three of the many who came to Nashville's luxurious Gaylord Opryland Hotel, chasing that elusive dream. Told in a real-time diary format, Lewin lets you see their optimism, their game plans, their hopes, their excitement, and occasionally their disappointment. And you find out how they react to receiving no job offers, the wrong job offers, or even too many job offers. Along the way Lewin breaks from the action to take the reader on a number of fascinating side journeys. He explores how minor league baseball became big business, discusses the evolution of mascot performances, and surveys the annual trade show where teams go to find the hot new items for their promotional giveaways and souvenir sales. He talks to a number of minor league executives as they make the decisions that kill and fulfill dozens of dreams all at once and conducts an impromptu roundtable, a "state of the union" discussion with some of the top brass on where the minor leagues are and where they've come from. For the first time, baseball's winter meetings are captured from the inside. Thanks to Josh Lewin, getting in the game has never been easier. Experience the dream yourself with Getting in the Game.

Contents:

2 Pregame: Who's Here? 7

3 Friday Early Morning: Chaos After Dawn 37

4 Friday Midmorning: A Little History, a Little Lunch 75

5 Friday Afternoon: Midland, Mascots, and Finding an Announcer 101

6 Trade Show: A Celebration of American Ingenuity and Overkill 135

7 Friday Night: A Roundtable, Some Ice Cream, and Then Some Beer 163

8 Saturday Morning: Diving Back In 189

9 Saturday Afternoon: Let's Meet the Candidates 201

10 Saturday Night: Reflection 225

11 Sunday: Multiple Choice: (A) Move Your Bowels, (B) Get Off the Pot 241.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-278).

ISBN:

1574887912

OCLC:

52902621