This is a Q&A with Tom Sedlacek of the Baysox that I posted over at Baseball Daily Digest last week.
The hours may be long and the demands many, but Bowie Baysox communications manager Tom Sedlacek has a front row seat for revival of the Baltimore Orioles organization. Recently, Tom gave Baseball Daily Digest an idea of what it takes to sit in the hot seat in a Double-A press box, recalled the day Chris Tillman faced off against David Ortiz, and confirmed that in addition to everything else Matt Wieters is a nice guy and a good interview.
Walk me through your schedule one the day of a Baysox home game. What is your routine? What are some of the surprises that come up? What’s your favorite part of the day?
It’s hard to define a “typical” day. Our PR/Baseball information team is a two-man operation. The workday starts when the office opens at 9:00 a.m. My assistant will spend the day preparing game notes, stats packs, rosters and any other information the folks in the press box may need. I work on a number of different things, from scanning for the Baysox in the news, setting up interviews, sitting in on interviews, writing stories for our free game day program, writing stories for the Web site, conducting interviews and trying to get different newspapers and news outlets to pick up more Baysox news. Surprises can include players being moved and reporters showing up unexpectedly. My favorite part of the day comes after the game on fireworks nights. I bring box scores to both clubhouses, and as I’m walking across the outfield with the lights on, with the scoreboard on and smoke from the fireworks still hanging in the air, it never fails to strike me that I have a pretty cool job.
What were your top three favorite moments during the Baysox 2008 season?
Nolan Reimold’s big day in the playoffs. Matt LaPorta hit a pair of homeruns to lead Akron to a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five playoff series, and Reimold stormed back with three home runs and eight RBI in game two. One of the blasts cleared the scoreboard in left field.
Brad Bergesen setting the franchise record for wins in a season. It’s a tough call between Bergesen setting the record, or the Baysox clinching their first playoff appearance in over a decade, but I’ll give Bergesen the nod. He didn’t play with us the first month of the season, and then he came up from Frederick and refused to lose. He beat a great Trenton team here at Prince George’s Stadium for his 15th victory of the season.
My favorite moment of 2008 was Steve Torrealba and Ryan Finan’s heroics August 6. Lou Montanez had already made his debut for the Orioles, and wouldn’t be back. We were down 8-2 to the Binghamton Mets. Finan and Torrealba both went deep twice in the game, including a walk-off two run home run by Torrealba. Finan had drawn a walk with a full count to get on base in front of him. The two combined to score five of the team’s nine runs, and they also drove in eight of those nine runs. It sent a message: even without the best player in the league, the Baysox were still a dangerous team.
A roster full of prospects probably meant that the 2008 Baysox got a lot of media attention. What was the funniest or most surprising moment during your interaction with the press last season?
Chris Tillman was talking with Jim Hunter and Rick Dempsey at MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) before an interview for the pre-game show. They laid out a scenario: Tillman’s pitching in Fenway Park, it’s late in the game, there are two outs and runners on, and David Ortiz is coming up to bat. What do you do?
Tillman replied, “Get him out.”
I know in print it might come off as arrogant, but it wasn’t. He didn’t say he was going to strike Ortiz out. His job is to get batters out, and he and his catcher will do it at any level.
Which player gave the best interviews during the 2008 season?
I would have to say there were three players who deserve credit for their interviews: Ryan Finan, Jonathan Tucker and Matt Wieters. Finan was a great interview because he is incredibly smart. He gives great analysis. Tucker was arguably the most charismatic person on the team. He is funny and engaging and everybody loved talking to him. An explosive player with a great personality. And last but not least, there was Wieters. It seemed like everyone wanted to talk to him, and he never turned an interview down. He answered every question, every time. His knowledge of the game is outstanding, and he always conducted himself as a professional.
What are you looking forward to in 2009? Are there any likely Baysox who you are particularly excited about working with or watching?
The biggest thing I look forward to in 2009 is seeing how the pitching staff will shake out. The O’s have so many talented arms it will be exciting to see who will wind up in Bowie. Chris Waters was 5-0 in April with us, and has a shot at making the big league roster. Bergesen, Jason Berken, David Hernandez, and Tillman were all fantastic last year, and deserve a shot to be in Norfolk. There are a couple of exciting guys in Frederick. Chorye Spoone, will be back some time this year. There are so many great arms, we should have another outstanding staff here in Bowie.
Do you have any exciting marketing ideas dreamed up?
Our promotional schedule hasn’t been finalized yet, but we do have some interesting things lined up. We are having a “Penny Pincher” program for Tuesdays that include t-shirts giveaways and food specials. We may party like it’s 1929, we’ll attempt a new world record and there might be a day to bark in the park. We hope to have an official announcement made in the next couple of weeks!
Where will fans be able to find Baysox games on the radio and Internet? Is there chance you might expand your broadcasting relationships?
We’re always looking to expand our broadcasting relationships, and we are still evaluating a couple of possibilities for the 2009 season. We will have a link to a feed for all of our games on www.baysox.com, and we hope to announce a radio deal at some point in the next couple of weeks.
The Baltimore Business Journal is reporting that the Baysox are shopping the naming rights of Prince George’s Stadium. Is there anything new to report on the candidates? Would the naming rights include any other public relations or marketing opportunities for the selected company?
We are indeed offering the naming rights to the field at Prince George’s Stadium. There has been some interest, but that’s about all I can tell you. The package includes a company logo in the fungo circles, it is the only advertising we allow on the actual field of play. There are a lot of options, we will work very hard to be sure our partner is getting the most out of their investment.
I know part of your responsibility include updating the news on baysox.com. How much traffic does baysox.com get and what are its most popular features?
Over the last few months of the season last year, we were drawing more than 11,000,000 hits in a month. The most popular section is the news section, and people spend a lot of time looking at player bios. There is a ton of stuff to check out, though. We post our games note on the Web site every day, we have a number of photo galleries, we have all the transactions from the season and links to the other O’s affiliates.
Aside from baysox.com, what are some of your favorite sources for Baysox news and opinion?
Orioles Hangout is great, they have a large and active fanbase. I often check out their message boards. They also have a beat writer (Mike Miller) cover all of our games, so I’ll check out his recaps every now and then. I also check out Roch Kubatko’s and Peter Schmuck’s blogs, they often have inside information on what the O’s are thinking.
