I couldn’t sleep. Not a wink.
It was the night before my first day on the job as a reporter and host of Angels Weekly, the Fox Sports West show that will chronicle the Los Angeles Angels season, going behind-the-scenes to show just who these players are – their stories, passions, the hopes and hard work behind each Angel’s journey to the big leagues.
I was about to meet the Angels. I was in a hotel room in Tempe, Arizona, the night before the Angels’ first day of Spring Training. We flew in from LA in the early evening, had a late dinner, and went to bed. I remember looking at the alarm clock at 12:30 a.m. and saying to myself, “Oh my god. I am not going to sleep tonight.”
I tried to meditate. I did some yoga. I even did some sit-ups, thinking that might wear me out. At 3:30 a.m. I looked at the clock and thought, “I have to be up in three hours!” Just one hour, I thought – please, just give me one hour of sleep. But 6:30 arrived, the alarm went off, and I jumped out of bed, sleepless. I talk to myself a lot: “Okay, here we go — first day on the job with not a wink of sleep.”
I do my own makeup, and it’s a two-hour process (this time with a little extra concealer below my eyes). By 8:30, my producer had arrived, picked me up, and we were off Diablo Stadium, the springtime home of the Angels. I had butterflies in my stomach, but my running dialogue with myself was working. As soon as I walked out the door, I set my mind on it – alright, first day on the job, you better get your day together. All of a sudden I felt like I had eight hours sleep. I psyched myself into feeling great. When we walked into the stadium, I did feel great – I was smiling ear-to-ear.
We walked into a room set-up for interviews, and I was introduced to Jose Mota, the Angel radio analyst who also does pre- and post-game on-air commentary. He was so warm and friendly that I felt immediately at ease. We talked a little bit, and I offered to help him with his social media – Jose, I later learned, is famously “old school” and probably wouldn’t know a tweet if he saw one – and that seemed to really make him happy.
Jose was interviewing Angels Howie Kendrick and ToriiHunter. I was happy to observe and learn, but the production team decided they’d have me finish up the interviews (and Jose, who said they should let players have “a prettier face” to talk to), asking some different kind of questions – like what at-bat music they wanted on the on the ballpark P.A. system this year, or what person, dead or alive, they’d have dinner with if they could.
I’d barely arrived at the stadium and I was going on-air. It was like, here we go, Alex.
[scrollGallery id = 362]I sat down with Howie Kendrick, the cameras went on, and everything else went away. We just started talking. He had this huge smile on his face and I didn’t even have to look at the questions – we just engaged in this great, natural conversation and he just lit up, talking about his kids and his offseason and how much he loves baseball. He’s such a great down-to-earth guy; he was the prefect first interview. When the segment ended, my producer looked at me. “Wow, Alex, you are really good at this.” First test passed. Yes!
There wasn’t much time – Angel manager Mike Scioscia has a 9:30 a.m. team meeting every morning at which the players have to give presentations (some were assigned to research all the Oscar best movie nominees, for example) and it was already 9:15 a.m. But I hopped right in and talked to Torii, and again, it was just like a conversation, just like getting to know him.
It’s weird. You never know exactly how it’s going to turn out, but once I sit down and start to talk, everything else disappears and I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be – I don’t worry, or over-think, and it just happens. You might be nervous and have butterflies but then the cameras go on and everything goes away. It’s like, “Oh, yeah – this is why I love doing this job.” The players later told me, on Opening Day, that they feel the same way – this crazy nervous energy, and then they step out onto the field, and it’s just like, “Okay, here we go,” and everything feels right.
The players met, and then practiced. It was amazing – the beautiful green field shining in the spring sun, the cracking sound of players taking batting practice – and I was allowed to walk almost anywhere. I was standing in the dirt right next to the batting cage, hanging out in the dugout at another point, sending tweets. Fans were leaning out over the bleachers trying to get autographs, looking at me like, “Who is she, walking around on the field with the Angels?” And I was looking back, “Yeah, what am I doing?” I put a big smile on my face and fans were smiling back – it’s the beginning of the season, and everyone is there because they love the team and they love the game. I had to keeping checking myself, pinching myself: “This is really cool!”
We did more interviews after practice. Jose, who because he speaks Spanish really knows the team well, went around introducing me to everyone.
Things wrapped up around 2 p.m. and all of a sudden I realized, “Oh my god, I haven’t slept!” So my producer gave me a ride back to the hotel, I did a quick blog entry, a photo of the day upload, and was in bed before 6 p.m.
The next day was photo day, when it gets fun – no script, just holding a camera stick mic, just go and get a feel for how these guys are going. This time I had more than enough sleep – 13 hours, so at 7 a.m. I was jumping off the walls like it was noon. Jose was once again really helpful – he just kind of took me under his wing, introducing me to everyone. I quickly realized many of the players don’t speak English. I did seven years of Spanish in high school and college, but I don’t really speak it – but that didn’t stop me from doing several interviews in “Spanglish,” which cracked the guys up. Pitcher Erwin Santana at one point took the mic from me and started interviewing me, totally breaking out of his shell and just becoming this fun, playful guy after first seeming so shy.
I had a surreal moment when outfielder Vernon Wells walked up to me. “Hi,” he said, offering his hand. “I’m Vernon Wells.” It was like – wait, shouldn’t I be introducing myself to you?
There was a really funny moment when Jose took me into Scioscia’s office after his morning meeting. He was just finishing putting on his baseball uniform, and as he turned around he was just pulling up his fly. We looked at each other kind of sheepishly and then everyone in the room laughed.
There was a really cool moment about midday when I was standing out near home plate talking to some players and we could just feel this kind of force approaching, and we turned and there was slugger Albert Pujols – I mean, oh my goodness, he’s just so big and so powerful, you could just feel the energy walk up behind you. And the other players were just so pleased to have him there – he was the Angels’ big offseason addition, along with pitcher C.J. Wilson – and everyone was just so happy and full of life.
It’s been a tough start to the season in the month since. But there was such a great feeling around the team, you have to think that once things start to click, everything will be fine. The season is 162 games; the team is like a big family, and they have a long ways to go together.
The day wrapped up and I felt like I was on Cloud Nine. We hopped on a plane and flew home, and I just couldn’t stop feeling so blessed and so grateful. I am doing something I dreamed of doing and worked so hard to do. It was like, “Okay, dreams really do come true if you work hard – it can happen, and it is happening.” Just be grateful, be present, be the best you can be every day, and you just might find yourself talking to Angels.
Keep up with Alex by following her on Twitter @Alex_Curry or at alex-curry.com. Her show, Angels Weekly, airs on Fox Sports West every Friday at 10:30 p.m. and is rerun throughout the week – Sat. 5 p.m., Sunday and Thursday at 10:30 p.m., and Mondays at 4 and 10:30 p.m. See a feature on Alex from Beach magazine here.
