caroline's stuff that doesn't go anywhere else.

behind the scenes at AT&T Park

Last semester, I had the privilege of working with WB20 (which is now TV20, by the way ... yourTV20. Good, that's out of the way.) at their (now defunct?) Daily Mixx Show. And it just so happened that they were shooting on location at AT&T Park, and they asked me to go to help out! This not only made my week, but just the whole internship entirely. Sure, I got to learn a lot and get some free stuff, but having some kind of "Behind the scenes" access to the park just tickled me a little ... well, pink.

When the day began, it didn't seem like we'd be able to go, though. It was raining cats and dogs outside, and they were going to do some shots on the field (which would be impossible to do when raining). But we all went anyway, just in case the rain would let up. Luckily for us, it did, and the sky cleared up and created the perfect fake backdrop like it never rained at all. We met up with a representative from the park (her name escapes me ... it was in April, after all) and she gave us the run down of what was going on at the park this year and what we would be able to shoot (and whatnot). On camera, Shane and Lesley did their thing, and also managed to do some one on one interviews. The only one I can really remember was when they both interviewed this guy named Bryan Srabian (not Brian Sabean, the GM) and how he said "hyphy" and I think everyone in the room was shocked that he knew that word. After one of the takes, they kind of teased him because he knew "the lingo" and how much he was getting into the interview. Haha. (Oh yeah: they were interviewing him about how the players get to pick their own intro music, and he was talking about how Randy Winn was into the Bay Area rap scene, especially E-40.)

That interview, by the way, took place in Renel's booth where she does the announcing for the game. It was cool to actually be in that room, just because you could see a sweeping view of the ballpark and even the bay. While waiting around, I looked at what was in that room, and the thing that really caught my eye was this tall white cabinet with a couple of CDs on top of it. And taped to the front of the cabinet were pictures of Renel with all sorts of people, and some article clippings. It was interesting to look at. On a table on the right, everything looked like a hot mess. The only thing I remember seeing were little mini bottles of alcohol. Draw your own conclusions here.

Other crazy things I got to see ... I've never really been in those special "VIP" elevators, the ones that go to the Oracle Suites or whatever, and I got to be in it. After getting off, we had to go through this creepy maze that reminded me of going down to the war room in some old flick. I also got to sit in the Giants dugout while they did more shots. When done, I walked around a little bit and sat on the benches just because. The next thing I did was look at the phones, which had little labels on them. The one I saw first said GENERAL MANAGER. Me being me, I picked it up, and it rang a little. I got a little scared and hung it up.

The biggest highlight of my trip was getting to go into the Giants Lockeroom. They made it sound all "special occassion" that we got to go in there, too. "Not even the press are allowed in here," the lady said with raised eyebrows. I got nervous.

Inside, it was empty of all the players' gear, which wasn't really surprising. It also smelled very clean, which I'm sure it doesn't during the baseball season.

Here are the lockers all dressed up fancy for the cameras ... just a few jerseys to emulate what it might look like during real time. FYI: those lockers are HUGE, and if you sit in them, you feel like you're in a confessional at church. Catholic church, that is. (It has a grid on each side. I guess you have to communicate with your teammates somehow.)

That's Lesley in the background doing her shots, and Shane in the foreground watching. I'm sitting in the confessional, taking horrible photos with my crappy camera phone. While she wasn't shooting, Shane asked where Barry's locker was. If you go beyond the right of the photo, his locker is in fact, three lockers, and it's almost far away from everyone else's (it's not pictured). And I know you're wondering "Why three lockers?" Two of them are for his trainers, of course. I didn't realize trainers got lockers.

As for the crappiest picture I have ever taken, I nearly soiled myself when I saw this banner. It's fuzzy, but it says "1989 National League Champions." And I got excited just because I got all nostalgic about what a wonderful baseball season that was (even though it ended with an earthquake and a loss to the Oakland A's). Those days at Candlestick were cold, but so much fun.

Other fun stuff in that locker room ... a bulletin board that was laying on a table (they were repainting, so almost all the wall stuff was down). It had old baseball cards of former Giants, and much to my excitement a phone list. The first thing I looked for was Noah Lowry's phone number. Of course, life wouldn't be that good to me. Ever.

So, that was my story. It was fun to feel like a "VIP" for a couple of hours, and to actually be able to go around to the areas of the ballpark that I'd never been. I'll tell you that there were a whole lot of men in that place, especially in the main control room. A lot of suits. I felt severely underdressed. But, it was fun. I wish I took more photos, and I wish I brought an actual camera. You can ever trust these camera phone things.

The logo on the jumbo-tron. The weather was still a little shady when I took this one.

For more information on AT&T Park, and to keep up with the (3rd place!) Giants, you can always go to the SFGiants website. And, as a fan of humor sites, please visit my favorite Giants humor site, Bleeding Black and Orange which keeps me going through such trying times during the season. Trapped in LA is a good one, too. I find it's better that you have a sense of humor if you're a Giants fan.

posted by caroline @ 10:09 PM