One that produces, especially a person or organization that produces goods or services for sale.
One who supervises and controls the finances, creation, and public presentation of a play, film, program, or similar work.
A furnace that manufactures producer gas.
Ecology A photosynthetic green plant or chemosynthetic bacterium, constituting the first trophic level in a food chain; an autotrophic organism.
While numbers 1 and 3 may apply to me, definition number 2 is probably the best answer. For the most part, I am responsible for getting the Atlanta Braves Radio Broadcast on the air. I could go into a long and drawn out job description, but for brevity's sake, I go to baseball games and make sure that you can hear Skip and Pete on the radio.
Since I travel with the Braves, I thought that a blog would give a unique perspective on the team and life on the road during the baseball season. Keep checking back thoughout the season for interviews, videos, and other Braves related stuff that you won't get from your local or national news outlets.
Who is this guy?
Jake Cook is entering his 3rd season as the Executive Producer/Engineer for the Atlanta Braves Radio Network. Prior to the 2006 season, he spent a year as the Marketing Director for the Network, a title which he still holds to this day. Jake broke into radio in 1999 in his hometown of Memphis, TN, at a rock station called 92.9 WMFS where he was the promotion coordinator/weekend DJ and specialty show programmer. Due to some serendipitous events, he landed in Atlanta in March of 2005 with the Braves Radio Network and has been loving life ever since.
...enough with the 3rd person garbage, here's what you need to know:
Die-hard baseball fan, listens to rock/metal music, rabid NCAA hoops fan (Go MEMPHIS TIGERS), loves anything that has blinking lights and knobs, can be found wearing two colors (black and dark black), Saggitarius, favorite cookies are Nutter Butters, spends too much time on the interweb...and is tired of typing about myself.
I got a phone call while enjoying a tasty cheese steak on South Street. The phone call was from the venerable Grant McAuley.
Here's a brief synopsis:
Jake: Hello Grant: Hey Jake, has anyone from the stadium called you? Jake: No. Should I be expecting a call? Grant: Well. The bumper is ripped off your truck. Jake: WHAT? Grant: You've got the Isuzu Trooper with the Rhodes College license plate, right? Jake: Yes. Grant: I thought so. The bumper is ripped completely off. Jake: In the players lot at Turner Field? Grant: Yes Jake: What the hell? Grant: I'll take a picture of it on my phone and send it to you. How are things? Jake: Well, they were fine until just now. I'm going to make some calls to find out just what the hell is going on. Grant: Alright man, I think you're a golden god and I only hope I can one day be as handsome and successful as you.
(okay, so I made up that last part)
Anyway, just as promised, Grant sent me this picture:
Mind you, my truck was parked in the secure players lot at Turner Field.
So I leave "Steaks on South" (props to a fine sandwich) and start calling people who might have a clue as to how my bumper was liberated from my Trooper.
First up, Brad Hainje, handsome PR man for the Braves.
No Dice. Brad has no idea what has happened. He does find it fishy that some woman named Linda earlier in the day had asked "who from the radio station is on the current roadtrip?". Helpful as always, Brad agrees to investigate the matter and get back to me after he eats lunch.
Next call, Josh Hall, assistant visiting clubhouse manager for the Atlanta Braves (who has horrible taste in both college basketball and film).
Josh was very helpful, especially since I only needed to get the phone number of Chris Van Zant.
As I was getting CVZ's digits, I serendipitously encountered none other than Bill Acree, the Braves Traveling Secretary, walking down the street.
"Hey Bill, did my car somehow get wrecked?" I inquire.
"Yeah, someone hit it or something. I got an email, but I really don't know what happened. You should call Vernon Nix," he answers.
Vernon Nix is the head of Security for the Atlanta Braves. I emailed him to find out what happened.
For the hell of it, I called Chris Van Zant to see if he knew anything. He doesn't.
Within 25 minutes, Vernon gave me all the info I needed: a brief synopsis, an insurance claim number, a phone number, etc.
And then Brad Hainje called back. At this point, his phone call was moot, but I feel as though I need to let you know that he actually called back. I would hate for anyone to think that Brad is a non-caller-backer based on this blog, ya know?
It turns out that one of Vernon's employees had a brain brake failure and damaged not only my truck, but the vehicles of two of the Braves players.
I also heard that it was this poor guy's first day on the job. Ouch.
Now that I know everything is being taken care of, I can't help but feel sorry for the dude who hit the cars. I'm no stranger to at-fault accidents. I was nicknamed "the crash king at nineteen" when I was...well, 19. I caused 5 accidents in 3 different vehicles. My dad joked that I specialized in "turning cars into accordions," which wasn't really funny at the time. It's not even really funny now, but it hurts my feelings less.
It's an awful feeling, getting in a car accident. You feel dumb, embarrased, incompetent, and stupid all at the same time. It also isn't easy on your bank account.
Anyway, thanks to everyone who helped me get a handle on the situation. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm really not good at "not worrying" about unresolved issues, especially when it involves my ride.
Stay tuned for the story of the Philly Weiner Scare.
This is going to suck.
Tuesday 08-26-2008 10:24pm ET
All the talk around the ballpark is the imminent trade of Braves Centerfielder Mark Kotsay. Multiple news sources are reporting that he will be dealt to the Boston Red Sox sometime tonight.
It's not surprising, as Kotsay is a veteran who can help the contending Red Sox clinch a playoff appearance, but it's never fun when a team loses a class act like Mark Kotsay.
Mark is they type of guy who is always interested in what you have going on. On multiple occasions, he's engaged me in conversation- whether it be about my job, my music, or whatever. There aren't a lot of people in this business who actually care what you have to say, especially if you're a "behind the scenes" type of guy.
Regardless of where Kotsay ends up, he's the type of guy who will undoubtedly make his new team better, on the field and in the clubhouse.
...and with his lovely wife in tow, Mark and company makes the family section of any ballpark that much better looking.
Good luck, Kots. Go get you a ring.
Bad Design.
Sunday 08-24-2008 3:33pm ET
Some of you may have heard Pete talking to Mark Lemke about how confusing it is to get around in New Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Here's an example of why:
That's the door to the broadcast area in New Busch Stadium. As if it's not hard enough to find (it's situated behind a concession stand in the "Redbird Club"), what's that sign to the right?
The door to the broadcast area is clearly marked "Women's Restroom". I really have no explanation for this...
Pete ended up in the actual women's restroom twice, once in 2006, and again in 2007..
Mark Kotsay is a genius!
Friday 08-15-2008 10:02pm ET
...and I'm not just saying that because he became the 1st Atlanta Brave in 21 years to hit for the cycle, erasing Albert Hall as the answer to that particular trivia question. That doesn't hurt his case, but it's not the only reason.
Yesterday, I brought my longtime friend and co-worker, Forrest Martin, to the ballpark to record some baseball sound effects for his audio catalogue. Forrest is a producer whose work includes 640 WGST's "Remembering Skip" tribute, a project which he "knocked out of the park, so to speak.
Now, Forrest is not a baseball guy. He's more of a "Mario Kart" guy. He'd be the first to tell you this. Just look at him:
I got Forrest set up by the cage during batting practice so he could get some good bat crack sounds. Armed with "Bill", his trusty recorder (a high end sony model, MSRP $2000), Forrest was like a sharpshooter, getting the best angle to hit his mark.
Meet Bill. Bill is expensive. And Sexy.
Speaking of Mark, that's when I saw Kotsay walking toward the cage. I told Kotsay that my buddy Forrest was getting some bat crack sound effects, so "swing hard and loud". I then went upstairs to catch up on some work.
When I looked down at the cage, I saw that Kotsay was asking Forrest about "Bill". He seemed totally engrossed in the recorder. Forrest told him that, if he wanted, he could take "Bill" down to the bullpen to get some good "mitt pop" sound effects. Mark was more than happy to do it.
It just so happened that Kotsay later hit for the cycle, completeing the game with 5 hits- matching his career high.
Forrest (mind you, not a baseball guy) was more excited than anyone. Since Kotsay was so nice to him, Forrest "adopted" the Braves CF as his new favorite player. I told Forrest that he should put something together for Mark, to comemmorate such an achievement.
The first idea was to create a montage of all his hits, set to the tune of "Fake it" by Seether (Kotsay's batting music). While Forrest was working on this, he had another idea.
As you know, last week was a tough one. It was probably the most difficult week I've experienced in my professional career.
There was one bright spot, however, during the 7th inning of the Braves vs. Diamondbacks on Thursday.
As many of you know, we have a three contests that run during the games. We always announce the contestants and where they are from.
On Thursday, we had a contestant named Richard Hetzel from Ooltewah, TN. As so often is the case, we had no idea where this particular city was located. I found a map of Ooltewah (which is in Hamilton County, TN- just outside of Chattanooga), and along with it, a sound byte that demonstrated the proper pronunciation.
The sound byte made us laugh so hard between innings, Pete decided that we were going to use it on the air..
I've never seen Pete laugh so hard in the 3 years I've worked with him, and he's right, we needed it.
I'll quote my former colleague Brad Golder (who was listening).
"The unflappable Pete Van Wieren has been undone by the power of Ooltewah!"
A Skip Story...
Saturday 08-09-2008 8:20pm ET
Petco Park, San Diego, July 2006.-
It was the "get away day" of my 2nd road trip, and I was still learning my way around the equipment, the protocol, everything.
(a "get away day" is the last game of a series after which the team will travel to another city. For me, it involves hurrying to get all my gear to the equipment truck, then catch the bus to the airport. Sometimes it can get hectic, especially when I was first starting out.)
Skip was slated to do two postgame segments after Pete was finished wrapping up the play-by-play. The studio producer gave the cue to "go", which I relayed to Skip. When he went to speak, his microphone wouldn't work. The studio guy keeps yelling "GO!...GO!...GO!" into my ear. I can't answer him because it would go on the air. I can faintly hear Skip's voice through Pete's mic.
I'm frantic, sweating profusely and I absolutely have no idea what to do. I finally tell him, "USE PETE'S MIC!". He leans over and does the segment while sprawled across the desk. After he's done, he looks over at me as if to say, "what the hell is the problem?". As he leans back to his broadcast position, I realize what had happened.
"Skip", I say, somewhat relieved, "could you please take your briefcase off of your cough button?"
(a "cough button" is a device that kills the microphone signal so announcers can, well...cough)
The man started laughing harder than I've ever seen. It's was that tight lipped grin with his chin down into his chest, which started heaving up and down.
Here I was, freaking out, thinking I had just blown the broadcast- and he thought it was the most hilarious thing ever.
When we came back on the air, he was still laughing. "Well, now we know what happens when you place your briefcase on your cough button. My bad folks....".
On his way out of the booth, he looked at me dead in the eye and said, "Jake, I said that on the air so no one gives you any grief back at the station. That was my fault."
Though I needed little protecting, he always went out of his way to protect me. While I know that I was just one of many producers he had worked with in his long career, he always made me feel like he really liked having me in the booth- like I was part of the team.
If he didn't want me in there, I can't imagine that he would have kept quiet about it.
I'm probably going to be sharing a lot of stories about Skip for then next few days. I want to convey how much I enjoyed being around him, how much he made me laugh, and how much I'm going to miss him.
When possible, I'm going to post the audio of these situations, it makes the stories that much better.
For those interested...
Tuesday 08-05-2008 7:10pm ET
First of all, I'd just like to say that if you were unable to hear the Atlanta Braves Radio Network's Tribute to Skip Caray, I strongly suggest you click here. Also, if you have not seen the "Truth About Downed Powerlines", a film I made with the help of Skip, you can see it here.
Secondly, I haven't been able to write about Skip. I can talk about him, I can listen to clips of him, but when I start to type about him, my nose starts to tickle, my eyes start welling up and I get a giant knot in my throat. I'm 29 years old, and I've been fortunate enough to have never lost a friend -until now. I already miss him like crazy.
Friend and scribe David O'Brien from the AJC brought to my attention that some of his blog "denizens" would be interested in acquiring one (or multiple) Skip Caray T-Shirts.
Here's deal:
I approached Skip one day and said, "Hey Skip, how'd you like to be rich?". I'm pretty sure that he replied that he already was rich, but he was still intrigued by my question. Together, we designed the shirt. I came up with the idea for the front, Skip made the suggestion for the back. That's effin' TEAMWORK.
ANYWAY, below is the design. I'm looking into the possibility of making these available to Braves fans, all proceeds going to a charity chosen by the Caray Family.
Skip Caray, 1939-2008
Monday 08-04-2008 3:55am ET
I'm going to miss you, Skip. Thanks for everything.
I'm famous. Kinda.
Sunday 08-03-2008 1:37pm ET
Sorry for the layoff, I've been busy lazy. Plus, it's "Shark Week", otherwise known as "non-jewish Haunakah."
"Smokin' and chummin'. Roy Scheider was so damn tough.
Upon arriving to the stadium today, I met a guy in the press elevator named Martin Gandy. I secretly wished it was Martin Brody, Amity Island's Chief of Police and principle shark killer. Seeing as how Martin Brody is fictional (and dead), I had no choice but to strike up a conversation with Mr. Gandy.
At first, we spoke about the intriguing pitching matchup today (Charlie Morton vs. C.C. Sabathia), and how it was less "intriguing" and more "unfair". No offense to Charlie, but C.C. is really good, and so is the Brewers' powerful lineup.
It turns out that Martin runs a cleverly named Braves website called www.talkingchop.com. There's some good stuff over there that I haven't read yet. If you like in-depth analysis and news, it's the place for you. If you like ridiculous, non-sensical crap...keep it right here.
It turns out that Martin is a HUGE fan of mine. After he was finished complimenting worshipping me, he chastized me for not blogging often enough.
He's right. I'm brilliant and I should share more of my ideas with the world, more often.
Here's a quick rundown of July:
July 1-3 vs. Philadelphia:
Smug bastard. Nice eyebrows.
This series was awful. The Phillies came in and swept the Braves for the 2nd time this season at Turner Field. The Braves were 7 games back after that series...and I don't recall the food in the press-room being that good, no offense to Chef James.
July 4-6 vs. Houston:
"Icarus, your wax wings will come undone!"
This series was awful, but for entirely different reasons than the Philly series. The Braves took 2 of 3 from the Astros, gaining a game in the standings, which was the positive part. The "awful" part came on Sunday, when the game went 17 innings. The time of game was 5 hours and 35 minutes...I'm pretty sure there was a rain delay involved, too. It wouldn't have been so terrible if we didn't have a 4-plus hour flight after the game. We didn't arrive in LA until 6am ET.
July 7-9 @ Los Angeles:
Vin Scully. Way better than Vin Diesel.
Now, this series wasn't good for the Braves, but it was fantastic for baseball fans (especially fans of pitching). Apparently "Hiroki Kuroda" roughly translates to English as "Sandy-freaking-Koufax". Huroki San nearly tossed a perfect game, but had to settle for a one-hit shutout. Jorge Campillo wasn't too bad himself, going 7 innings, giving up just 3 runs on 5 hits. Best part: Time of Game- 2 hours, 3 minutes. As the great Vin Scully once said, "It's not whether you win or lose, it's time of game that matters."
The Braves dropped 2 of 3 to the Dogders, which wasn't ideal, but it was a well pitched series all the way around.
July 10 @ San Diego:
Off Day in San Diego. Mark Kotsay invited everyone to his house for a party. Mark's house isn't a dump. Let's just say it's slightly nicer than my place.
July 11-13 @ San Diego:
CHAMO!
The Braves finished up the 1st half of the season by taking 2 of 3 from the Padres at Petco Park. This was a really great series, for a few reasons. First of all, the press-room pasta was fantastic. The chef who made the pasta was of equal excellence: a Memphis native and die-hard Tiger fan like me. Together, I think we annoyed the entire press-room talking about Joey Dorsey, CDR, and Derrick Rose.
Three Tigers. Three new favorite NBA teams.
Secondly, at Petco Park, they distribute gift bags full of dog/cat toys to all the announcing teams. I came away with two laser-pointers, and a bunch of stuff to throw at people. [sidebar- anyone who knows me knows how much I like to throw things at people].
Thirdly, I laughed harder than I can remember. Eddie Perez, former Braves catcher and current bullpen coach, is an expert at throwing his voice. He can make his voice sound like it's coming from deep in the stands at the ballpark while he sits on the bench 5 feet away from you. If you listen closely, you can hear it here: Click Here
July 14th-17th @ home:
That's the Hernando De Soto bridge. Behind the corpse.
I went to Memphis and spent some time with the family. My Dad and I sat around and watched "The First 48", then I terrorized my young nephews. A good time indeed.
July 18-20th vs. Washington:
Rokkin' the hair. As always.
I'm afraid it was this series that ended up "telling the tale" for the Braves season. The crappy Nationals came into our house and took 2 out of 3, punctuated by a 15-6 loss on Sunday. The best part about playing the Nationals is hanging out with their broadcast team. Charlie Slowes, Dave Jaegler, and Jack Hicks are probably my favorite dudes in the NL East. They see the humor in everyday life. Hell, they have to in order to watch 162 Nationals games without losing their minds. Charlie Slowes is responsible for one of my all-time favorite baseball calls ever. Click Here
July 21st-23rd @ Florida:
One of the finer pieces of American Cinema.
I decided to start running when we got to Miami. Now, why I would choose a climate that most closely resembles Hell (thanks K!) to start my exercise regimen, I can't explain. I packed my running shoes and started running down the A1A (BEACH FRONT AVENUE!). Contrary to popular belief, this particular stretch of AIA is not where "girls were hot, wearing less than bikinis". Nor were there any "rockman lovers driving lamborghinis". Instead, I ran past a bunch of senior citizens and a KFC. I then spent an inordinate amount of time in the Publix, because grocery stores can be intriguing.
The Braves took 2 of 3 from the Marlins to start what was arguably the most crucial road trip of the season.
Oh yeah, here's another thing that happened in Miami. On a television interview, Marlins All-Star 2nd baseman and former University of Memphis Tiger Dan Uggla was asked if he was "a die-hard Memphis Tiger Fan", check out his response in the following video:
For those of you who may not fully understand how crazy that is, imagine if Tom Brady said "I love everything about Ohio State."
July 24th @ Philadelphia
The most overhyped film of the summer. Heath Ledger deserves an Oscar, though.
Off Day in Philly. Listen...er, read, I used to hate Philadelphia. The more I go there, however, I start to realize that I really enjoy my time there.
I was invited to see The Dark Knight with Braves visiting clubhouse manager John Holland. He said he'd call me. He never did. I finally decided to go see the 3:10 showing, and upon leaving the hotel, I ran into Mr. Holland. He said he tried to call me, but the front desk said that I "wasn't staying in the hotel." Considering that John saw me in the hotel about 12 hours earlier as I was on my way to my room, I thought this was fishy...but no harm, no foul. I really didn't need to go on a date with a dude anyway.
I saw the Dark Knight. It was good, albeit 30 minutes too long.
Later that night, John Holland apologized profusely and bought me beers at the hotel bar. No harm, no foul, indeed.
July 25th-27th @ Philadelphia
This Maine Coon Cat can play the carem at Fenway perfectly.
This was my least favorite series of the season thus far. While the Braves started out well, winning the first of three, they blew leads of 6 runs and 5 runs in games 2 and 3 to finish the road trip at 3-3. At this point in the season, .500 doesn't get it done.
One funny thing that happened during that series was my introduction to the Maine Coon Cat. While Mark Lemke and I were in Bobby's office in the Philly Clubhouse getting ready to record the Bobby Cox Show, there was an old writer who all of a sudden started talking about his "coon cats". He says they're more like dogs than cats. He also added that they don't drink like regular cats, instead opting to use their paws to splash water into their faces. It was perhaps the most non-sequitur conversation I've ever heard. One minute we're discussing Jeff Samardzija, the next minute we're roped into the canine behaviors of the coon cat.
Inspired by the coon cat's unorthodox behavior, I started making up my own fantastic feats of my (imaginary) coon cat. I would regularly say or text these things to Mark Lemke:
My coon cat doesn't drink like a normal cat. He can sip a Wendy's Frosty through a bendy straw.
My coon cat wears shoes. He especially likes Air Jordans. It gets expensive because he has four feet.
My coon cat can fly an ultra-lite aircraft, but he can't land very well.
My coon cat can tie his own shoes, but only 3 of them since he doens't have a free paw with which to tie the fourth.
My coon cat brings all the boys to the yard, and damn right, it's better than yours.
I guess you had to be there.
July 28th-31st vs. St. Louis
"Everybody wants prosthetic foreheads on their real heads."
With the trade deadline looming, the rumors were that Mark Teixeira was sure to be on the block. In a completely unsurprising move, Big Tex was traded to the Angels, where I'm sure he'll fit in nicely. In return for Teixeira, Braves General Manager Frank Wren was able to get a fine defensive first baseman in Casey Kotchman, who baseball people say is a solid hitter who will likely develop some power. The Braves also acquired pitching prospect Stephen Marek (not to be confused with "the Elephant Man" John Merrick [note- that trade would have had to have been made with Michael Jackson]).
I'm good with the trade. While I thought Mark Teixeira was a fine player, the Braves would not have re-signed him at the $230 Million asking price. Even if the Braves could afford him, I would rather the team go after some pitching, especially given the news about Tim Hudson and his possible Tommy John surgery.
Long story longer, the Braves dropped 3 of 4 to the Redbirds to end the month, finishing up July with a 10-15 record. Nothing to write home about, but apparently something to write a really long blog about.
Click Here
© 2008