Head down to a clubhouse at any Major League Baseball stadium, and you\u2019ll find the same distinct locker-room smell: sweaty, stuffy, sanitized and slightly stomach-churning.
\nThere\u2019s only so much that cleaning chemicals and dutiful clubhouse attendants can do to keep up with 26 elite athletes working out, showering, playing baseball and then showering again during the course of a game day.
\nIn some places, the dank odor hits you behind the eyes the instant you walk in, like the cramped visitors\u2019 locker room did to me at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. While it isn\u2019t yet fully caked into the walls and carpets of the visitors\u2019 locker room at the Braves\u2019 relatively new Truist Park, that clubhouse whiff is unmistakable and inescapable.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one of the workplace hazards I encountered over the summer in my first foray on the White Sox beat for the Sun-Times \u2014 not that I was bothered by any of the smells, flight delays, rain delays or subpar takeout meals that come with the grind of daily professional baseball coverage.
\nEvery second of it was a childhood dream realized, an opportunity that this veteran political reporter never saw coming.
\nSports got me into journalism. I flipped to the back page of the Sun-Times every morning while growing up in Burbank, scouring the box scores of \u201cThe Kids Can Play\u201d-era Sox.<\/p>\n
I was doing my first impression of a sports writer by the time the Sox hoisted their \u201805 World Series trophy, covering football and basketball for the student newspaper at Reavis High School.
\nNorthwestern seemed like a logical place to stake out a sports media career, and I did dabble in Big Ten golf coverage, but I soon fell down the path toward hard news.
\nA part-time gig on the Sun-Times\u2019 breaking news desk emerged in a brutal job market after graduation. Flash forward a decade and several metro beats later, and I\u2019m covering state and local politics at a newspaper that still exists, against all odds.<\/p>\n
We got our latest reminder of the Sun-Times\u2019 financial travails earlier this year with a devastating round of buyouts that claimed a fifth of our newsroom, including Sox beat writer and all-time Sun-Times great Daryl Van Schouwen, who took the opportunity to call it one hell of a career.
\nHe was among dozens who made the selfless decision \u2014 though many felt they had no choice \u2014 to give up their jobs so that other colleagues wouldn\u2019t lose theirs.
\nEmotionally drained from being part of the Sun-Times Guild team that negotiated the buyout exodus, it wasn\u2019t until the dust started settling that I joked about the idea of raising my hand for the Sox opening.<\/p>\n
When my wife, Chrissy, didn\u2019t immediately shut down the prospect and instead encouraged it, conversations with Daryl, copy editor Bob Mazzoni and sports columnist Steve Greenberg kindled an excitement to take another shot at what I\u2019d considered a teenage fling.
\nTo my surprise, the bosses allowed me a shot as part of a Sox beat-by-committee alongside Kyle Williams and Kade Heather.
\nWalking into Rate Field for the first time with a press badge instead of a ticket was a trip. Yes, I grew up a Sox fan. No, I didn\u2019t have trouble taking off that hat and covering them objectively. You won\u2019t find a more critical fan base than the South Side army of armchair general managers.<\/p>\n
After covering 42 games and following the Sox on seven road trips, I can confirm there\u2019s only one rooting interest in the press box, and that\u2019s for a fast game \u2014 all the better if it\u2019s out of reach one way or the other well before your deadline.
\nI got a sick feeling after filing my very first story, a feature on reliever Cam Booser\u2019s made-for-TV comeback. The good news? I got the back page. The bad news? Booser got rocked late in a loss to the Brewers, prompting a frenzied last-minute rewrite.<\/p>\n
It turns out covering a team isn\u2019t all that different from covering a government body, which I continued doing in between my stretches with the Sox, who provided welcome respites from this year\u2019s steady stream of political chaos in Illinois.
\nFor both subjects, it\u2019s a lot of standing around, shooting the breeze, developing working relationships with the people who make news and then trying to turn that information into something useful for readers.
\nFor one subject, it just so happens that most of those conversations happen in musty locker rooms. And while baseball players generally aren\u2019t as loquacious as politicians, try asking Shane Smith about his changeup.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a really hard job, and stumbling through it for just a quarter of a season gave me an even higher reverence for the Sun-Times reporters and editors who put together the best sports section in the nation every single night.
\nI hope to pitch in on the beat again next season. That clubhouse atmosphere really sticks with you.<\/p>\n
Q: What was the author’s background before covering the White Sox?
\nA: The author was a political reporter before covering the White Sox.
\nQ: How many games did the author cover in their first season on the beat?
\nA: The author covered 42 games and followed the Sox on seven road trips.
\nQ: What was the author’s first story on the beat?
\nA: The author’s first story was a feature on reliever Cam Booser\u2019s made-for-TV comeback.
\nQ: How does the author compare covering sports to covering politics?
\nA: The author finds that covering a team isn\u2019t all that different from covering a government body, with both involving developing working relationships and turning information into useful stories for readers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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