COLUMN: Shadowing the Tigers
Sports writing is a tougher gig than it appears.
It's a battle for time, articles and eyes.
I spent Thursday shadowing MLive Tigers beat writer Chris Iott as the Tigers took on the Boston Red Sox and, while in front of me was game between two first-place teams, my main focus was what was going on around me.
It's a 7:08 p.m. start time, so the media members show up at around 3 p.m. to do pre-game interviews with manager Jim Leyland and the players.
The question on everyone's mind, is Jose Valverde's days as the Tigers closer up after getting shelled the day before?
Seems like a yes or no question, to those on the outside. For those inside Leyland's office at 3:30 p.m., it was a game of dodgeball.
Leyland could not have seemed more mellow as he reclined on his love seat in compression shorts and a pullover while smoking a pack of Marlboro reds. But, as the questions on his closer kept coming, you couldn't help but hear the irritation in his voice.
"I would try and close the game with (Joaquin) Benoit if he's available and healthy," Leyland said.
That answer didn't stop writers from asking about Valverde for another 8-10 minutes as Leyland repeated that "Benoit was the closer, for (Thursday),".
Now, reporters quietly exit Leyland's office and into the clubhouse, all looking down as they tweet the same thing. Benoit is the closer, for today.
After they tweet, they look up and realize the incumbent Valverde and Benoit are side-by-side, so reporters wait for the two to separate to avoid the awkward situation.
Eventually, the two split and reporters get their quotes, now it's a race to the web. Who is going to get it online first and who wrote it best, which creates a test for a writers ability to tell a story in a small amount of time.
Sometimes a reporter is faced with a tough decision, do you retreat to the pressbox and write, or, do you stay because you have an interesting story that will attract viewers.
Iott went with the second option, a story about Miguel Cabrera and his early days. Getting time with a player of that caliber can be tough at times.
If you recall, the Tigers are playing the Red Sox, leader of the American League East and one of the biggest markets in sports. Games like this draw the networks, on this day, the MLB Network is in town.
Go back to 3:30 p.m. as we travel down to the clubhouse, somehow I forgot to mention we passed the likes of Bob Costas and John Smoltz. Cabrera had finished a 35 minute interview with MLB Network's Pedro Alvarez.
After heading to the pressbox after a failed attempt Iott with Cabrera writes two articles and continues to debate himself on if he should try again, he try again.
5:00 p.m. rolls around and the team is taking batting practice, he heads to the field and waits for Cabrera, he finishes and walks by, turns out he is not allowed to answer questions until batting practice is over
6:00 p.m. rolls around and Boston takes the field, time for dinner and to chat about the three stories that are now up and will be condensed later on in the night and about the shortcomings of getting ahold of a star player.
6:50 p.m., 18 minutes to game time and left fielder Matt Tuiasosopo is scratched and Andy Dirks gets the start, this is when reporters play doctor and to figure out what is wrong. It gives Iott an opportunity to report on other injuries, like catcher Alex Avila who is on the 15-day disabled list.
7:08 arrives, first pitch, now you wait and mull for nine innings on whether or not to go for that story one more time while more stories develop over the evening.
Jose Alvarez is making his second start ever for injured pitcher Anibal Sanchez, his first came a week earlier against the Cleveland Indians where he replaced Sanchez as well, and, was impressive in the win.
8:00 p.m., David Ortiz sends the first pitch in the fourth over the right field wall, breaking a scoreless tie.
Do the writers awe over Big Papi's blast, nope, instead a discussion begins among writers and a poll is taken, who is a better quote, Bryan Pena or former catcher Gerald Laird, no comment on the answer.
9:06 p.m., In a 2-2 tie, Luke Putkonen is relieved after a perfect 1.2 innings of work Phil Coke enters the game to face Jacoby Ellsbury. Coke gets the strikeout in three pitches.
9:21 p.m., Coke opens up the eighth with a four pitch walk as the crowd groans, pitching coach Jeff Jones makes a trip to the mound to which Coke responds with four more balls and the groans turn to boos.
Ortiz comes up and things look like they are getting out-of-hand, but, instead of a home run, he hits a single to right to give Boston a 3-2 lead.
9:26 p.m., Drew Smyly enters the game and was phenomenal. He delivers a strikeout, popup and flyout to end the inning with no further damage. He finishes with two inning pitched, no runs allowed and four strikeouts.
With all the hype pre-game about the closer situation, there will be no answer on this night as the Tigers trail 3-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
10:01 p.m., Jhonny Peralta wins the game with a two-run walk-off home run to left field. Iott now has to re-write his story in about two minutes and race down for interviews.
Smyly called the walk-off home run the most exciting play in baseball, to a writer, it can be frustrating, but it's something Iott has come accustomed to dealing with.
10:30 p.m., some reporters grill Leyland with questions about Coke and the bullpen while others rush to talk to Peralta and Smyly.
Iott gets a story on Coke and the bullpen, but misses the chance to talk to Peralta and Smyly.
This is where sports writing parts itself from news. Being in a pressbox for about 100 games a year you get to know the guys around you.
So, even though Iott didn't talk to Peralta or Smyly, his fellow writers did and are more than willing to exchange quotes.
Iott leaves Comerica Park having wrote about five articles in total, but not the one he wanted with Cabrera.
So, to recap, what I learned as I shadowed Iott for the day.
Sports writing is a grind with long days, high stress situations that become second-nature with time, lots of travel and sometimes a star player doesn't have time to talk so you talk to whoever you can to get something online ASAP and sometimes disappointment.
But, I wouldn't want to go into anything else.
11:05 p.m., leaving the ballpark.
