15 Comments

Fantastic Geff.

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Thank you, Jim. I’ll happily talk prep at some point soon.

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Totally engrossing. Sounds like every trip was an adventure. Thanks for sharing a truly inside view of the game. Would be interested in hearing the specifics of your prep work for each game. Thanks Glenn!

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Loved this article! You have a flair for writing! A++

I do miss your voice though.

Looking forward to the article about Jose.

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Thanks so much, Nancy. Something with Jose looks like it’s coming Sunday. Did some schedule juggling today.

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Do families ever travel with players? Does your family ever travel with you?

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Great question, Jackie. Different teams have different policies, but families do not travel on any kind of a regular basis. Remember, these are technically business trips.

Some teams do an annual family trip where wives and children are allowed on the charter although the Marlins haven’t done that at all under the current ownership. Some teams allow wives on occasion. Generally, if families travel, they travel on their own, separate from the team.

One of the most generous things I can recall was when there was the threat of a hurricane headed our way some years ago, Jeffrey Loria and David Samson invited everyone to take their entire family on a multi-city trip. Wives, children and even, in a couple of instances, parents.

My family would occasionally meet me on the road years ago, but that was before our kids got older and busier.

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Great, fantastic, very rarely does a fan have access to that kind of information, that kind of anecdotes, thank you very much for sharing Geff. I remember one in which José Fernández served lunch or breakfast to you and Geff during the trip. From this excellent story I was curious: what were your and Dave's pre-game routines? Best regards and thanks again

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Thanks so much, Raul. You mentioned Jose. I actually have something very special related to Jose coming up tomorrow.

As for my routine…

On the road, after arriving at the ballpark, I’d usually spend a few minutes in the clubhouse. Grab the lineups, which often weren’t public at that time. Talk to a few people. Maybe go out to the field for a few minutes because the home team would be taking BP at that time. Then I’d go up to the booth to get organized for the night. I’d write the lineups into my scorebook and get my book set up and my notes organized. Often catch up with the other team’s broadcasters. Then I’d go back downstairs for the manager’s pre-game media session and the start of batting practice before returning to the booth. Maybe walk the concourse of the ballpark for a little bit to get a feel for the atmosphere and sometimes grab some food. But I usually had a late lunch on the road, so I’d generally wait until postgame to eat.

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Sorry in my first answer I made a mistake, I wanted to say: José serving Dave and you during the flight

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Great and interesting, thanks for sharing

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Crazy that guy had an unknown suitcase in his room and didn't say anything. I think they have tracking devices that you can now put in your suitcase.

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iTags are great. Definitely could have saved me a headache in this case.

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Glenn, this was your best post and probably one of the best stories I’ve read. This year I’ve been reading a lot of baseball books, but none give this level of inside information. Have you thought about writing one?

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Thanks for your very kind words, Gustavo. I have had some thoughts and may well do something down the road. I know where a lot of bodies are buried! 🤣 For now, I plan to use this forum.

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