Field of Dreams
Covering baseball sure beats cutting grass

by Stephen Fastenau

The musty air beneath Philadelphia reeked, or so I was told.

Standing on the same subway platform each day made me glad not to have the best sense of smell.

Instead, I memorized the scene.

Children crying. Bums asking for a sip of water.

Soon the train would pull in, bringing a slight breeze and covering the two posters hanging above the tracks – one bearing the giant mug of actor Bruce Willis, who was starring in the summer's latest action flick, and the other a public service announcement.

I'd step through the open door of the train and speed away, part of my 45-minute commute to work each day at a Major League ballpark.

More than once, I retraced the path that brought me there.

It was journalism job fair day at the Coliseum.

I was among a sea of students who were dressed in similar business attire and vying for the same jobs and internships.

I tried to do all I could to stand out.

Blue blazer over the yellow dress shirt. No tie.

A resume with a distinctive font that showed I aspired for more than what the Times New Roman default stood for.

The woman seated across the table from me wasn't fooled.

Her name tag identified her as a recruiter for one of the country's largest newspapers.

She saw beyond the Garamond Bold and Bell MT to detect the glaring weakness of my resume.

“You need a solid summer internship,” she said.

Well, yes. Isn't that what I'm here for?

All my newspaper work came in the fall, covering USC sports for the Anderson Independent-Mail and preps for The State.

Wasn't summer a dead time for sports, anyway? I'd spent the past four working groundscrew at a golf course, mowing grass and digging irrigation ditches.

With a little less spring in my step, I took a seat in a J-school computer lab to compile a list of newspapers offering summer internships.

I stopped scrolling and quickly read the description of one that grabbed my attention. MLB.com was looking for reporting interns to help cover each Major League team.

I fired off an e-mail to Justice B. Hill, the internship coordinator, and got a rapid response.

Justice had received about 300 applications the year before. It was a daunting number but, then again, no newspaper offered 30 internship positions.

I mailed away my stuff, including a 600-word essay on why MLB.com should pick me, and the wait began.

Justice was good about e-mail updates.

“Stephen, could you resend me your resume and references? You're still very much in the discussions.”

Next: “If you're receiving this e-mail, you're among the finalists for an MLB.com internship. We'll let you know our final decision in the next few days.”

And then nothing.

One week passed. And then another.

I e-mailed Justice and got no response. I wondered if I should call.

Justice finally called my cell phone.

“You're a hard man to get in touch with,” he said. “We almost moved on to another candidate.”

I hadn't gotten a single voicemail or e-mail from him, but I didn't argue.

What's the word?

“We have one spot left, it's in Philly.”

Atlanta was closer. San Diego and Miami would have been more exotic.

But Philadelphia proved a great fit.

I had lived in rural South Carolina for the better part of 17 years (with brief stops in North Carolina, to be be birthed, and three years in Mississippi. You get the picture). I appreciated the fresh perspective.

I covered the Phillies for three months as an associate reporter, working under Phillies beat writer Ken Mandel, who helped me through an eye-opening first week.

The baseball beat was a different animal than anything I'd done before, mainly because there is so much access.

The clubhouse opens to the media three and one-half hours before first pitch and the players there are free game, with the exception of that day's starting pitcher. The manager then has a sit-down with the media in the dugout.

A normal work day at the ballpark ran nine or 10 hours.

The bylines piled up. I wrote numerous notebooks, previews and game stories when the team was home.

I didn't travel to away games. Instead, I'd work out of my apartment on features and other long-term assignments.

There were three profiles on Hall of Famers to write, which will eventually be posted on the Hall of Fame Web Site.

A story I wrote on the most memorable home run in Phillies history was posted in sync with Barry Bonds breaking the all-time home run record.

It's still up on the Web site. Check it out>>

My final night in Philly, I went out with the other scribes for a Yuengling and cheesesteak, two local favorites.

I thought back to what the woman at the job fair told me, knowing she'd approve of what I'd done with my summer.

Covering baseball sure beats cutting grass.

Stephen Fastenau will graduate in December with a degree in print journalism. He has the option of returning to MLB.com as an intern for the 2008 season, but he'd rather land a full-time newspaper job as a sports reporter. His favorite reads include Tom Sorensen, Gary Smith and Tim O'Brien.