Indians' night at the Lake Erie Monsters' game

If you are a regular reader of 'Swing By and Spray' then you know my passion for baseball and 'my' Cleveland Indians.

Well friends, the time has come that we've been waiting for the last 4 months--Indians' baseball is about to return.

The Cleveland Indians are in the midst of their Caravan, which is a week or two where they travel to different places to visit with their fans before they head south to Arizona.

Saturday night they hit Q Arena to greet their fans before the Lake Erie Monsters vs Hamilton Bulldogs hockey game.

Cleveland fans are chomping at the bit for baseball. The game was sold out. True, the Monsters are the most exciting game in town these days and on a win streak...but I think 'my' Tribe had a little bit to do with the electricity in the crowd.

Manager Manny Acta, Outfielders Shin-Soo Choo and Michael Brantley, first baseman Matt LaPorta, and pitcher Tony Sipp signed autographs and shoot hands with their fans about an hour before the game.

Also on hand to sign autographs, take pictures, and bring smiles to the kids' faces were the one and only Slider and Mustard, Ketchup, and Onion!

As if that wasn't enough, the Monsters played an awesome game and beat the division leading Bulldogs 4-1.

Before the game began, a few of the Indians spoke to any media on hand. Not only was it great seeing former co-workers, but it was so exciting to hear how the Indians are revved up for the 2011 season. They are raring to go and 'play ball!'

Manager Manny Acta commented on the number of guys reporting to camp including rehabbing Grady Sizemore and Carlos Santana...."We have a lot of reasons to be excited...the health of Grady Sizemore and Carlos Santana...we have a lot of guys and we're gonna give these guys a fair look. Grady Sizemore is coming along very well. The goal is to have Grady ready for Opening Day. With the addition of Carlos Santana, our offense is gonna be much better."

Acta went on to talk about the pitching staff....he said, "We are very happy about our starting rotation. Fausto Carmona, Justin Masterson, Mitch Talbot, Carlos Carrasco, David Huff and so much more depth in the rotation. We have 3 guys in AAA that are knocking on the door."

He said once he puts the Christmas lights up in the attic, it's time to start Spring Training.

Michael Brantley made a few comments before the lights came down on the game....he's been working on the overall aspect of his whole game and is the same guy with a different attitude.

I can hardly contain myself that baseball season is upon us. February and March is one of the most exciting times of the year with Spring Training, March Madness, Hockey gearing toward the playoffs and NBA heating up as well.

Go Tribe!

A week of breaking news

Don't blink or you'll miss a new, unfolding spot news story.

Holy cow! What a whirlwind since the very beginning of the new year.

Some of this week's highlights include a home invasion/stabbing in, of all places, Pepper Pike. Dave Summers and Randy White started out on this story...which began with a wkyc viewer calling me the minute I stepped on the news assignment desk asking if we were going to do anything on the incident in Pepper Pike overnight? I had not even logged on the computer but took down the man's information...looked in our computer and when I did not see any information tossed a call to Pepper Pike. They were very forthcoming in what happened and immediately faxed over the information. In our effort to be first online, with Twitter, on Facebook and everywhere else, we tipped off the competition to this story. However, they did not get as much as Dave and his crew.

Now normally the aforementioned story would lead the news....unless you wind up stumbling onto a standoff /hostage situation in the Walgreens in Barberton.

Akron wizard extraordinaire Eric Mansfield received a call from a contact telling him about the situation....he made a few calls, pinned down exactly what was happening and we re-routed Dave Summers and his crew Randy out that way. I also dispatched a live truck to meet them in order to feed back video and go live.

In the meantime, we had another soldier killed overseas, and on the lighter side, the story we had been tracking about the Yorkie theft had a break in the case. The suspect was busted and the cute little Yorkie rescued.

While the reporters and producers are writing this all up for air, I'm going as fast as I can to get the ever flowing 'new' news on our website--hopefully before the competition.

If that was not enough, houses and gas lines started catching fire in Fairport Harbor....what an amazing story. I can not even believe how fast this story spread (no pun intended). Our crews were out at the scene for at least 2 days non-stop bringing the latest developments to our viewers on air and on-line. We had so much video coming back to the station and being fed back, it was hard to keep track of every element. We also really implemented our new Mobile 3 Live Gear which we recently put into play. Without getting technical, it's live gear basically in a backpack which allows you to pretty much go live from almost anywhere....Pretty snazzy stuff.

When Dominion East Ohio and the Mayor held their first presser, I listened in while they were feeding it back live.....and immediately put an update on wkyc.com. At the same time, our producer was doing the same to get the story ready for air....

But wait, there is more.....a few days later, Summit County officials uncovered a house having Ricin inside. Hmmm, interesting. For the next few days, officials, FBI, Homeland Security, Sheriff, men in funny HAZMAT suits roamed every inch. Another story Eric Mansfield and Carl Bachtel won hands down. They checked the house each day and were allowed closer than any other tv station. In fact, one day Carl was on the scene solo. No other stations were there. They were digging and searching with all kinds of activity. There was a press conference away from the scene where everyone else did their live shots....then I got the call from Carl saying "I'm here all alone." While he was giving me the lowdown on his scene, I was relaying to the producers and newsroom. For a few minutes, it was quite confusing because the press conference going on simultaneously with the search never mentioned that a concurrent search was happening. But, let's face it. When you have a stellar crew on site, seeing with his own eyes what's shakin' you have to go with it and totally trust your crews in the field.

And folks, all of the above is why I love what I do, where I do it and no day is EVER boring or uneventful!

Celebrating great wkyc people

January was a month filled with festive gatherings celebrating, honoring, and sending off magnificent wkyc employees respectively.

The first reason for a 'beginning of the year week long party' sent former Metromix writer Marc Magill on his way to the Windy City as Underwriter for AXIS Capital. Gonna miss him like the dickens. Marc began working my shift on our website, wkyc.com, and then moved over to Metromix.com. He was my baseball buddy...we'd talk baseball, strategize, and hit Progressive Field together as much as we could as well as frequent West 9th or the other hot spots around town!

He could not vacate the city before having a terrific sendoff at his fave hotspot, The Map Room.

The next fitting event for a true king --the king of the wkyc Akron Bureau.

Larry Baker has been a journalist for over 45 years. Once everyone got back from their holiday travels and life's craziness died down for just a little while, we all gathered to honor Larry for his retirement from wkyc in the proper way at a terrific, scenic venue in Summit County...Furnace Run Metropark--part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park System.

There were people from every station, many of his former co-workers as well as contacts of his he made through the years who put up with his antics!

Oh, the tributes--sorry folks. This is a family blog and most would have been sensored or even bleeped had they been broadcast! Suffice to say, there was not a dry eye after laughing so hard we were all crying....

Larry made an impact on so many people through his teachings, his actions, his inspiration, and total honesty. He told it like it was. His brutal honesty could make you or break you. But you always knew where he was coming from and what he was saying was authentic and from the heart.

I can not even begin to dig into his great history, the stories he covered, and what he'd seen through his tenure in tv. He's truly a remarkable human being who made me a better person, a true journalist, and someone who wants to carry on Larry Baker's legacy.

Finally, we gathered to celebrate new life. One of our producers/planning editor, Amy and her husband, are expecting. We gathered in the conference room to wish them well, shower her with the most adorable tiny gifts, and gorge and delicious foods to break up a long day! It always brings great joy to welcome a new little member of the wkyc Channel 3 family--hopefully one day soon for Amy and her family!!

No better way to start the year: January OSU football

Yes, we are working.

And we can have fun while we work!

Let me tell you. When you work in December, you definitely notice the holidays --Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas and everything in between. The newsroom is empty, the parking garage deserted. We still have most of our shows to fill, but we are in holiday mode.

Come the new year, staffing begins to fill out again.....and we march forward toward sweeps, getting ready for various award entries, and a full year of news and sports ahead.

However, just back from holiday break, we had The Ohio State Buckeyes gearing up to play Arkansas.

We pulled it off. First day back, a few of us, including Mr. Ohio State, Matt Hein, had a meeting of the minds and pulled together one of the best Ohio State Buckeye parties ever! The food absolutely obnoxious. Everyone participated and either brought something homemade or left over from the holidays. It gave me a great excuse to get rid of very fattening food from my house so I would not eat it! Thank you Buckeyes :)

Magnific!

Not only the feast but the outcome of the game! Go Buckeyes, 31-26 over Arkansas!!

Stories come from everywhere

What a busy night! We had local, we had national, we had local and national intertwined while others originated from the social media world.

2 Cavs fans met on a Cavs/Basketball social media website....and the boyfriend decided to pop the question in front of so many other Cavs Fanatics! It began at a pre-game shindig at the Hard Rock Cafe....afterward, they all marched over to the Cavs game where, in front of everyone, he pledged his allegience and undying love to his honey for all to 'witness.'

The next few stories happened elsewhere but have Cleveland ties.

A friend of mine from out of state emailed & facebooked me with a tip that a student at John Carroll wound up dying over the holidays in Philly....the student went home for the holidays, and while at a frat party, fell. Unfortunately, he passed away days later. I still find it amazing how the wheels turn when researching and piecing together a story...

After receiving the tip, I checked with Philly while Chris Tye handled the John Carroll end of it, being a grad himself. It all came together nicely, though such a very sad story.


Another big story with both local and national ties which broke was the daycare shooting down south....the father killed was from Beachwood. Well, there was an arrest in the tragedy, and again, we had to check all our angles to make sure we had the correct information.


As you can see, a story can come from anywhere--contacts near and far--now the social media world, but must always be checked out before anything goes on air or online.