I haven’t posted anything of real significance recently so I thought that this would be the best time to let everyone know how it’s going with the internship and the new state…
First, the state of Virginia is nice as far as I can tell. I’ve been here for a month now and so far the nicest weather was during my first week here. I was bragging to all of you Sotan’s out there how nice it was here (mid 50’s and topped 60 a few times) and my, how my words have came back to haunt me. It is currently snowing outside. Which is the third such snowstorm since I have been here. And when I say snow storm I’m not talking 2-3 inches (which actually shuts down schools here. Crazy I know), I’m speaking of 8-10 inches of the white stuff that I thought I was avoiding by fleeing south. So you can imagine how “ecstatic” I am about the snow.
Other then winter following me where ever I go the rest of landscape is very beautiful. I’m used to flat prairie land so I like the change of pace with the mountains (or big ass hills as they more resemble) and I’m constantly staring at them whenever I drive, which is probably very safe. Which leads me to the driving in this state; there are three things that bug me more then I ever thought someone driving could pull off. Usually I’m not an angry driver and have had very little experience with road rage but I may lose it in this state. First off, no one uses a turn signal here (which happens to be my #1 pet peeve). I think people here just assume that the drivers behind them know what they are about to do; because that makes sense. Secondly, I swear that everyone here has their own damn personal license plate. It’s almost as if their was a “going out of business” sale at the dmv and everyone jumped at the chance to get one (I was told by a resident that they are only $10 bucks or so. I guess that explains a lot). Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the drivers here ALWAYS go under the speed limit. And in both lanes. During rush hour. When I really want to get home. You can imagine how frustrating that can be and then multiply that by 20. That’s how frustrating it is.
Enough about the state and it’s peeps though, the internship is going very well so far. We just started making sales calls last week (by “we” I mean us interns (me along with Kyle and Peter) and a staffer by the name of Andrew) and they are going well I suppose. It’s hard to make sales when 80% of the people do not pick up their phones and the other 10% have already bought tickets or were planning on doing so later in the year. My favorite call happened last Thursday when I was closing a deal with this old man and he first lost his check book and then lost the phone that he was talking to me on. I sat there for a good seven minutes until he got back on and finished the deal. That was pretty interesting but you gotta love old people.
We haven’t done much baseball related stuff yet because there is fucking snow on the ground. Still. In Virginia. But I’m hoping once the snow goes to hell then we can actually do some stuff outside and the like. I’ve never been so ready for baseball season to start and I’m really excited to be apart of this team because of the prospects that have a chance of being big time guys for the big league club that will hopefully spend some, if not most of their season here. Pitcher Casey Kelly is the 18th rated prospect according to Keith Law and he spent most of the year with Salem last season. He will most likely start the year here before moving up to Portland in double-a. Another prospect that Boston is excited about is outfielder Ryan Westmoreland (32 ranked). Westmorland had surgery a year ago so he started slow in single-a ball but stole 19 bases on 19 attempts. He should start in low-a again with the Lowell Spinners but hopefully he’ll play most of the season with us in Salem.
Our office just got back from a weekend trip to Massanutten resort in northern Virginia last weekend which was a blast. The thing I like most about this group of people in the office is that I don’t feel like an outsider. Most of this group has been together for three years at least and it feels like us interns have been there the entire time which is cool. Getting drunk with co-workers is also a very good ice breaker and you get to know people more as they also get to know you. So far it’s been a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to more of the same.
This is the view as I am leaving my apartment complex
The mountains I stare at everyday
Salem Memorial Ballpark – Where stars come to play…or something like that
The 2nd Annual Hot Stove Banquet at the Salem Civic Center
Table for seven
Giles and Erin making sure no one steals anything
Oh yeah, Jim Rice was there too
Salem Manager Kevin Boles, Hall of Famer Jim Rice and Salem General Manager Todd Stevenson talk some baseball
When Jim Rice speaks, people listen
For those of you old enough to remember (I wasn’t alive yet) but this is the little boy that Jim Rice saved when he was hit in the head by a foul ball at Fenway. The boy is all grown up now, obviously
Jim Rice telling on of his many stories. Very entertaining night though.
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