03/03: Interviewing the Yankees Blogosphere: Chad Jennings, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees Blog
Posted by: Patrick
The next guest in our Interviewing the Yankees Blogosphere, 2008-2009 edition, is Chad Jennings, who authors the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees Blog for The Times-Tribune.
When you aren't doing something related to or depending on the Yankees, what are you up to?
During the offseason, my job covers a little bit of everything. Some features. A few columns. Filling in on high school and college events. In the past two months, I've written longer features about an NFL Hall of Famer and a Boxing Hall of Famer, and I've also covered high school swimming meets and a district diving championship. It's something different every day.
How long have you been blogging about the Yankees?
About two years. Based on the overwhelming local interest, my newspaper asked me to start the blog when the Yankees came to town after the 2007 season. At the time, I had no interest in blogging. I thought it would take away from my newspaper coverage and I wasn't a huge blog reader at the time, but I've come to really enjoy it.
I try to stay on top of the entire organization, and that tends to include information that has no place in the newspaper (my daily print readers probably don't care whether Damon Sublett is going to open in Trenton or Tampa) but the blog has been a great outlet for the random tidbits I pick up along the way.
What's the best and worst part of blogging?
The worst part is that it's hard to unplug. On my days off, at least part of the day is always spent reading stories, checking fan blogs, refreshing Pete Abraham's blog, refreshing MLBTradeRumors.com, etc., etc., etc. If a story is out there, even if we have a stringer or someone else handling it for the newspaper, I want to get it on the blog as soon as possible. As far as worst things go, that one's pretty good.
The best part is interaction with the readers. It's nice to get a feel for what readers are looking for, what information they consider important. I think I usually have a solid feel for which stories are worth writing, but instant feedback is a good thing. It never hurts.
How did you end up at The Times-Tribune?
I went to school at the University of Missouri. While I was there I wrote for the Columbia Missourian and my sports editor was a guy named Scott who used to work at the Times-Tribune. I graduated and was looking to move, and Scott knew the Times-Tribune was hiring. A month later, my car was loaded and I was driving 1,000 miles east into snow like I'd never seen.
When did you decide that you wanted to be a sportswriter?
I remember being 15 years old, writing a paper for school and enjoying it. That's when I decided I wanted to become a writer. I naturally moved toward sports writing due to a desire to never, ever cover a city council meeting or a car wreck.
Besides your own, what are your favorite Yankees blogs?
That's really hard to say. I think Pete Abraham's is the blog I've looked to most often as an example of how to run a blog. I've always read River Ave. Blues a lot, which started because Mike at RAB was the first blogger to e-mail me with a question. I've stuck with it because they do a great job. Of course, I check Mike Ashmore down in Trenton, and it's not a blog but I read Pinstripes Plus to keep up with the lower-levels of the system. There are probably two dozen fan blogs that I check at least weekly during the season.
What are some of your earliest memories of the Yankees?
You have to remember that I grew up in Southeast Missouri in the 1980s, which meant I was a Cardinals guy. And as a Cardinals guy, I was a National League guy. I didn't put much thought into the Yankees when I was a kid. My earliest Yankees memories are of liking Don Mattingly and thinking Mike Pagliarulo had a cool name.
Was someone in your family influential in making sure you pulled for the Cardinals?
My grandmother used to put the Cardinals on the radio, then mute the TV and tune it WGN. She said she did it so she could hear the Cardinals win and watch the Cubs lose.
Do you admire anyone (doesn't need to be a player) in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre or New York Yankees organizations?
I certainly respect all the players and coaches for their talent. I've always appreciated Brian Cashman for being easy to deal with and for returning a phone call before he had any clue who I was. I think Dave Miley is a legitimately good man who also happens to be a good baseball man. I'm not sure admire is the word I would use, but I have generally gotten along with most everyone I've met in the organization.
What are you most looking forward to, and least looking forward to, about the new Yankee Stadium?
Honestly, nothing. I thought I would have some sort of emotional reaction to the new Busch Stadium because old Busch was the stadium of my childhood, but I really didn't. It's a very nice place, but I don't have strong feelings about it one way or the other. I'm sure I'll feel the same about the new Yankee Stadium. It's a shame that such a historic place as the original will no longer have baseball, but ultimately it's the game I enjoy, not the venue.
Do you have a particular passion or interest in the Minor Leagues? For example, if you move on to another beat in a different sport or in a pro league, will you still follow Minor League Baseball?
I will now. I've come to enjoy baseball much more because of the Minor Leagues. I like player development and the Rule 5 draft and the Prospect Handbook. I love that, in baseball, there's always a bigger picture.
Who are the most interesting personalities that you have covered?
Shelley Duncan is probably the expected answer, and he's certainly one of the biggest personalities, but I learned a lot about the game from A.J. Hinch. He was a veteran at the tail end of his career when he played for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and I was in my first or second year covering baseball. A.J. used to talk to me before every game explaining everything from strategy to rules to finances. He'd predict a move and explain the move 10 days before the move actually happened. There's a reason he's in the Diamondbacks front office.
Where do you predict that the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees will finish this season?
Predicting the standings is tough in Triple-A because the best teams usually lose their best players, but I think the Yankees have enough pitching depth that they should contend for another title.
If you had to pick a dark horse, a player who could make a surprise contribution to the Major League Yankees in 2009, from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre roster, who would it be?
I don't think Mark Melancon counts as a dark horse any more. Steven Jackson could certainly do something up there. What about Shelley Duncan? He seems to have been written off, but I would be curious to see what would happen if the Yankees needed a short-term fix in the outfield and gave Shelley a week or two of steady at-bats.
Have you been surprised by the interest shown in your blog, and in your writing about the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, given the often times small attention paid to the Minor Leagues?
A little bit. I covered the Red Barons when Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels came through Triple-A, but even those guys never got this sort of attention. There are certainly Yankees fans who could not care less about the Minor League system, but the ones who do care, care a lot.
Out of all current Yankee hitters, if you need someone to make something happen, who do you want?
Jeter.
When you aren't doing something related to or depending on the Yankees, what are you up to?
During the offseason, my job covers a little bit of everything. Some features. A few columns. Filling in on high school and college events. In the past two months, I've written longer features about an NFL Hall of Famer and a Boxing Hall of Famer, and I've also covered high school swimming meets and a district diving championship. It's something different every day.
How long have you been blogging about the Yankees?
About two years. Based on the overwhelming local interest, my newspaper asked me to start the blog when the Yankees came to town after the 2007 season. At the time, I had no interest in blogging. I thought it would take away from my newspaper coverage and I wasn't a huge blog reader at the time, but I've come to really enjoy it.
I try to stay on top of the entire organization, and that tends to include information that has no place in the newspaper (my daily print readers probably don't care whether Damon Sublett is going to open in Trenton or Tampa) but the blog has been a great outlet for the random tidbits I pick up along the way.
What's the best and worst part of blogging?
The worst part is that it's hard to unplug. On my days off, at least part of the day is always spent reading stories, checking fan blogs, refreshing Pete Abraham's blog, refreshing MLBTradeRumors.com, etc., etc., etc. If a story is out there, even if we have a stringer or someone else handling it for the newspaper, I want to get it on the blog as soon as possible. As far as worst things go, that one's pretty good.
The best part is interaction with the readers. It's nice to get a feel for what readers are looking for, what information they consider important. I think I usually have a solid feel for which stories are worth writing, but instant feedback is a good thing. It never hurts.
How did you end up at The Times-Tribune?
I went to school at the University of Missouri. While I was there I wrote for the Columbia Missourian and my sports editor was a guy named Scott who used to work at the Times-Tribune. I graduated and was looking to move, and Scott knew the Times-Tribune was hiring. A month later, my car was loaded and I was driving 1,000 miles east into snow like I'd never seen.
When did you decide that you wanted to be a sportswriter?
I remember being 15 years old, writing a paper for school and enjoying it. That's when I decided I wanted to become a writer. I naturally moved toward sports writing due to a desire to never, ever cover a city council meeting or a car wreck.
Besides your own, what are your favorite Yankees blogs?
That's really hard to say. I think Pete Abraham's is the blog I've looked to most often as an example of how to run a blog. I've always read River Ave. Blues a lot, which started because Mike at RAB was the first blogger to e-mail me with a question. I've stuck with it because they do a great job. Of course, I check Mike Ashmore down in Trenton, and it's not a blog but I read Pinstripes Plus to keep up with the lower-levels of the system. There are probably two dozen fan blogs that I check at least weekly during the season.
What are some of your earliest memories of the Yankees?
You have to remember that I grew up in Southeast Missouri in the 1980s, which meant I was a Cardinals guy. And as a Cardinals guy, I was a National League guy. I didn't put much thought into the Yankees when I was a kid. My earliest Yankees memories are of liking Don Mattingly and thinking Mike Pagliarulo had a cool name.
Was someone in your family influential in making sure you pulled for the Cardinals?
My grandmother used to put the Cardinals on the radio, then mute the TV and tune it WGN. She said she did it so she could hear the Cardinals win and watch the Cubs lose.
Do you admire anyone (doesn't need to be a player) in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre or New York Yankees organizations?
I certainly respect all the players and coaches for their talent. I've always appreciated Brian Cashman for being easy to deal with and for returning a phone call before he had any clue who I was. I think Dave Miley is a legitimately good man who also happens to be a good baseball man. I'm not sure admire is the word I would use, but I have generally gotten along with most everyone I've met in the organization.
What are you most looking forward to, and least looking forward to, about the new Yankee Stadium?
Honestly, nothing. I thought I would have some sort of emotional reaction to the new Busch Stadium because old Busch was the stadium of my childhood, but I really didn't. It's a very nice place, but I don't have strong feelings about it one way or the other. I'm sure I'll feel the same about the new Yankee Stadium. It's a shame that such a historic place as the original will no longer have baseball, but ultimately it's the game I enjoy, not the venue.
Do you have a particular passion or interest in the Minor Leagues? For example, if you move on to another beat in a different sport or in a pro league, will you still follow Minor League Baseball?
I will now. I've come to enjoy baseball much more because of the Minor Leagues. I like player development and the Rule 5 draft and the Prospect Handbook. I love that, in baseball, there's always a bigger picture.
Who are the most interesting personalities that you have covered?
Shelley Duncan is probably the expected answer, and he's certainly one of the biggest personalities, but I learned a lot about the game from A.J. Hinch. He was a veteran at the tail end of his career when he played for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and I was in my first or second year covering baseball. A.J. used to talk to me before every game explaining everything from strategy to rules to finances. He'd predict a move and explain the move 10 days before the move actually happened. There's a reason he's in the Diamondbacks front office.
Where do you predict that the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees will finish this season?
Predicting the standings is tough in Triple-A because the best teams usually lose their best players, but I think the Yankees have enough pitching depth that they should contend for another title.
If you had to pick a dark horse, a player who could make a surprise contribution to the Major League Yankees in 2009, from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre roster, who would it be?
I don't think Mark Melancon counts as a dark horse any more. Steven Jackson could certainly do something up there. What about Shelley Duncan? He seems to have been written off, but I would be curious to see what would happen if the Yankees needed a short-term fix in the outfield and gave Shelley a week or two of steady at-bats.
Have you been surprised by the interest shown in your blog, and in your writing about the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, given the often times small attention paid to the Minor Leagues?
A little bit. I covered the Red Barons when Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels came through Triple-A, but even those guys never got this sort of attention. There are certainly Yankees fans who could not care less about the Minor League system, but the ones who do care, care a lot.
Out of all current Yankee hitters, if you need someone to make something happen, who do you want?
Jeter.
