Behind the scenes with the Princton Rays

As I mentioned in my hardballtimes article, the staff working behind the scenes in Princeton is phenomenal. Despite huge hubbub over Tim Beckham everyone took time to sit down and talk with me and answer my questions. Jim Holland, who has been the Princeton GM for 17 years, does a great job running the ship. People don't understand that even in short season ball a minor league GM has to work the whole year around securing advertisements, setting up promotions, getting things like team schedules printed, setting up travel, and setting up community outreach (this obviously isn't an exhaustive list just to give you an idea). It is not an easy job requiring long hours and with a smaller staff at rookie ball a willingness to do just about everything from answering phones, to selling tickets, to the 50/50 raffle, to running on the field activities between innings is a must. Jim does all of these things with a huge smile on his face and his love for the game and the team shines through. It was his idea to come up with the Mercer Cup which is Princeton has won the past three years. The cup is something special to the fans and games against Bluefield are quite the event.

Samantha Craig is the league photographer and it is her pitchers you see on everything from the team cards, programs, yearbooks, and even bobble heads. She provided the excellent shot of Tim Beckham for my THT article and the picture for the MiLB story. She also has a soft spot for the forgotten members on the field, the umpires.

The team interns are the do everything team for the Rays. Malcom, Jamar, Jeremy, Rynel, and
Matt (who will be starting a blog of his own shortly) get to the park early to tend to the field, get the equipment ready for batting practice, sell tickets and souvenirs, and running the scoreboard. When the game is over they still are on the clock cleaning up the stadium and getting ready for the next nights game. Interns can often get overlooked but with a small staff like Princeton has good interns are a must. The job also helps prepare them for a career in the business as Pat Day, the GM of the Lansing Lugnuts got his career started by interning at Princeton.

This team runs like a well oiled machine even though the year has just begun for Appy league teams. The field was in pristine condition despite a rain storm just a few hours before game time on Wednesday night. If the field hadn't been in such good shape and the game had been called I wouldn't be here writing about any of this. As I mentioned in the THT article getting an opportunity to pull the tarp off the field was a blast and if you ever get the chance to do that jump at it. Thanks again guys, I had a blast and learned a whole lot from you and I will definitely be back soon.