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Wednesday March 10, 2010 Jupiter is about 20 miles north of West Palm Beach on I-95 along Florida's Atlantic coast. Roger Dean Stadium is the spring training home of both the Florida Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Nationals are playing the Cardinals.
Here's the view from the left field bleachers during the game:
This will bug me all day, so let me find out how this works…
The schedule is worked out so one team is home while the other is on the road. They have two completely different buildings for offices, training rooms, equipment storage, etc. According to the home-team(s) press guys, they even have separate training fields so the only thing the two teams share is the game-day field.
The stadium seats 7,000 which is about double the capacity of the Nats' field up in Viera.
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One of the worst parts about being a Major League Manager - according to at least one former MLB manager, Manny Acta - is the pre-game chat with reporters. Acta once said that he didn't even realize that the manager had to meet with the press before a game.
Beat reporter Mark Zuckerman told me that at home the sit-down with reporters usually takes place about three hours before game time. On the road, it is more like the conversation Nats manager Jim Riggleman had today - in the dugout while his team was stretching prior to taking batting practice.
The big news today was that Jose Flores, the Nationals' best hope to be their long-term starting catcher, is going to miss the next 10 days to two weeks because the surgery he had on his shoulder last year does not appear to be healing properly. Flores went to an orthopedic specialist in Alabama to try and figure out what's going on.
Given that, Riggleman said, even if they figure it out "we couldn't get Flores enough games between the time he gets back to be ready for opening day so he'll probably start the season on the disabled list.
Over the winter, the Nats signed legendary catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez who will be entering his 19th season and, at 39 years old [I guess you can't be "legendary" and be 26] will probably not be able to go every day behind the plate.
Pudge caught Monday's game, sat out yesterday, and caught six innings today. In the first three of those six innings, Rodriguez threw out two batters at second base. Here's a good rule: Don't run on Pudge.
Back to Riggleman: These sessions are not the kinds of high-octane probes we are used to in the political world where reporters glory in picking up on the most arcane change in language and ping-pong the principal with questions until (a) they run out of steam or (b) a press aide says "last question" and then hustles the boss out of range of sight or sound.
At this morning's spring training pre-game discussion, Riggleman talked about players who are on the bubble as to making the 25-man opening day roster.
"You have to decide whether you think you'll need an additional left-handed bat in the line-up or whether another right-handed bat is likely to be more useful during the season," he said of one player.
Of another, Riggleman said, "He's making the decision very difficult for us," meaning a player who was probably going to start the season with the National's AAA team in Syracuse has played so well that the coaches have to decide where - or if - he fits on the big league roster.
The post-game press conference - at least at Nationals Park - is a much more formal affair, with the manager sitting behind a table full TV, radio, and print coverage talking about what went right and what went wrong within that specific game.
There must be a school that MLB managers do to so that can handle this stuff. The 2009 season was split between Acta (who was fired at the All-Star break) and Riggleman (who was "interim Manager" until November. The Nats did their due diligence by interviewing other men for the job, but decided they already had the guy they wanted and so dropped the "interim" tag and gave Riggleman the job.
Even if it means holding those pesky pre-game pressers, I suspect he's very happy to have the job.
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As I mentioned in yesterday's column, as a visiting non-Baseball Writers Association of America member I have to take what I can get as to press box seating.
This is not an issue in Washington where the press box is huge and, other than special days - like when Randy Johnson was going for his 300th win - the number of reporters covering the Nationals is in single digits.
Today I am squeezed in between the AP beat reporter covering the Marlins/Cardinals and the guy who reports to MLB.com every half-inning via phone. As would be the case in DC, having an extra body where there is usually extra space caused some sideways glances, but because of my very excellent, sunny personality I soon won them both over, which is to say they stopped putting their uneaten hotdog buns on top of my Blackberry.
Or, they might have just finished eating.
Here's my view from the press box at Roger Dean Stadium:
I suggested that having a post in my line of sight between the pitcher and the catcher, plus having the horizontal tops of the lower windows at exactly the right height to block all of the outfielders presented some challenges. The view for the regulars is not much better so I took their lack of response as a tacit agreement as opposed to a stony silence.
The Nationals made it a good game, but still came up short 6-4. They have yet to win a game this spring.
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More tomorrow.
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I'm not certain how they work all that out, but judging from all the red shirts in the stands today, the fans are not confused as to who is playing here when.
