Second in a 10-part series
Looking back, it all seems pre-ordained. A baby boy born in Montreal on the anniversary of the first National Hockey League game ever played grows up dreaming of a career in ... football? But multiple knee surgeries take care of that, so he moves on to writing about his country's favourite sport ... baseball?
Okay, so maybe some things aren't exactly obvious. But before Geoff Baker turned 30, he'd already garnered three nominations for the National Newspaper Award while working for The Gazette, Montreal's English language daily. And oh, by the way -- he'd won two of them, one in 1995 for Spot News Reporting and the other in 1998 for Sports Writing.
When Baker took home the second of those awards, his boss -- Gazette sports editor Dave Stubbs -- told Concordia University's community newspaper, the Thursday Report, "There was no reason to be surprised that he won again. Geoff has a terrific future ahead of him."
Turns out that future prominently featured the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Star.
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Much like colleague Richard Griffin, who was welcomed to Da Box yesterday, Baker, now 35, left the ivory towers of Concordia for Montreal and ended up in Toronto.
And like Griffin, he has a pretty good idea what it would be like if those knees had held up and he'd ended up on the diamond instead of in the pressbox above it.
Flash (a-ah) saviour of the universe
Flash (a-ah) he'll save everyone of us
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Flash (a-ah) he's a miracle
Flash (a-ah) king of the impossible
--"Flash's Theme" by Queen
"I would be strictly a singles and doubles line drive hitter with ability to go the opposite way," muses Baker. "Let's say, a .285 batting average, .350 on-base percentage and maybe a .470 slugging percentage as a corner outfielder with a strong arm." Picture if you will, Toronto fans, Joe Carter without the home runs ... that's Geoff Baker striding to the plate, to the tune of ...
"The theme song from the Flash Gordon movie, sung by Queen," says Baker. "My high school sports nickname was 'Kid Flash,' mostly from football and middle distance track running."
Speaking of Carters and of "Kids," Baker vividly remembers when he became a baseball fan -- "1979, when the Montreal Expos first took a run at the division title," he says.
"My favourites were Gary ["The Kid"] Carter because he seemed to always hit the big home runs and was All-Star Game MVP that summer," recalls Baker. "Bill Lee because ... I found him hilarious, carefree and good at the same time, and by 1981, Tim Raines because issuing a walk to him was like giving up a triple and he'd actually get both feet on the Astroturf leading off first base. Unheard of at the time."
From Spaceman to the Rocket
These days, the players Baker would "pay to see" still include a mercurial Hall of Fame slugger, a speedy outfielder and a former Red Sox ace -- but Carter, Raines and Lee have given way to Barry Bonds, Ichiro and Roger Clemens.
"Barry Bonds -- the things he does to a baseball when everyone is trying to prevent it are inhuman and television doesn't do it justice," says Baker. "Ichiro is one of the most exciting all-around players I've ever watched with a bat, running the bases and throwing runners out, so there's never a dull moment for fans in the stadium," he adds.
"Roger Clemens, strictly for historical value and performances in playoff situations, as I've been fortunate to see live many times," concludes Baker. "The most memorable [was] his series-swinging ALCS effort in Seattle in 2000," a game in which the pinstriped Rocket tossed a one-hit shutout and punched out 15 Mariners.
Sports Writers Have ACL Problems?
Before you get the idea that Baker's job is just to hang out with and jaw about the best players in the game, the competitive world of sports journalism led him through a complex world of "dues-paying" only hinted at by the National Newspaper Awards.
The young Baker gave up on baseball at an early age to concentrate on football -- he was a linebacker -- through junior college. "I attempted to [play] at Concordia but had to stop because I'd had five knee operations," he says. "That ended my inglorious career, leaving me with no cartilage and my ACL reattached with a piece of my hamstring."
Though he left Concordia without cartilage, he also left with a degree, majoring in journalism and minoring in political science. The combination prepared him for seven years at The Gazette, "doing everything from crime writing to business [reporting] to investigative reporting," he says. "I also dabbled in sports, covering the CFL," he adds, almost as an afterthought.
He's given back to his alma mater by teaching a first-year journalism reporting and writing class for three years while working for The Gazette. Briefly in 1995, he co-hosted a cable television magazine show, and long before starting at The Gazette, like most reporters, he compiled a detailed resume of freelance work for community and university newspapers and worked as a reporter for a community TV station.
On the Road Again ... and Again
The Montreal native and Toronto resident, now in his sixth season covering the Jays for the Star, admits, "I'm a big city guy and Toronto is equal to a fairly large-sized American city, like San Francisco, or even Chicago. But [it's] on a smaller scale than New York when it comes to things like restaurants, nightclubs, shopping, shows and street life."
He's no "homer" when rating the facilities in different cities, as he says, "SkyDome isn't close to being the worst [stadium], which my hometown Big O in Montreal and the two Florida facilities have nailed down."
He's a fan of the newer parks which have followed the "retro" lead of Camden Yards in Baltimore, especially Bank One Ballpark and Safeco Field; he calls the home of the Mariners "my personal favourite," though noting "Fenway Park is a great facility to visit, too, with the Green Monster and quirky outfield configurations."
Detailed knowledge of so many cities and stadiums reflects the amount of time someone in Baker's profession must spend on the road. But when he does have time, Baker's leisure pursuits seem more fit for the pages of Conde Nast than Sports Illustrated as he says he is an "avid collector of vintage red wines" and that he travels to South America and Europe every off-season.
However, acknowledges the football player turned baseball writer born in Montreal on the anniversary of the first NHL game ever played, he also collects ...
... hockey cards.
Next: So You Want to Be a Baseball Writer?
Looking back, it all seems pre-ordained. A baby boy born in Montreal on the anniversary of the first National Hockey League game ever played grows up dreaming of a career in ... football? But multiple knee surgeries take care of that, so he moves on to writing about his country's favourite sport ... baseball?
Okay, so maybe some things aren't exactly obvious. But before Geoff Baker turned 30, he'd already garnered three nominations for the National Newspaper Award while working for The Gazette, Montreal's English language daily. And oh, by the way -- he'd won two of them, one in 1995 for Spot News Reporting and the other in 1998 for Sports Writing.
When Baker took home the second of those awards, his boss -- Gazette sports editor Dave Stubbs -- told Concordia University's community newspaper, the Thursday Report, "There was no reason to be surprised that he won again. Geoff has a terrific future ahead of him."
Turns out that future prominently featured the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Star.
++++++++
Much like colleague Richard Griffin, who was welcomed to Da Box yesterday, Baker, now 35, left the ivory towers of Concordia for Montreal and ended up in Toronto.
And like Griffin, he has a pretty good idea what it would be like if those knees had held up and he'd ended up on the diamond instead of in the pressbox above it.
Flash (a-ah) saviour of the universe
Flash (a-ah) he'll save everyone of us
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Flash (a-ah) he's a miracle
Flash (a-ah) king of the impossible
--"Flash's Theme" by Queen
"I would be strictly a singles and doubles line drive hitter with ability to go the opposite way," muses Baker. "Let's say, a .285 batting average, .350 on-base percentage and maybe a .470 slugging percentage as a corner outfielder with a strong arm." Picture if you will, Toronto fans, Joe Carter without the home runs ... that's Geoff Baker striding to the plate, to the tune of ...
"The theme song from the Flash Gordon movie, sung by Queen," says Baker. "My high school sports nickname was 'Kid Flash,' mostly from football and middle distance track running."
Speaking of Carters and of "Kids," Baker vividly remembers when he became a baseball fan -- "1979, when the Montreal Expos first took a run at the division title," he says.
"My favourites were Gary ["The Kid"] Carter because he seemed to always hit the big home runs and was All-Star Game MVP that summer," recalls Baker. "Bill Lee because ... I found him hilarious, carefree and good at the same time, and by 1981, Tim Raines because issuing a walk to him was like giving up a triple and he'd actually get both feet on the Astroturf leading off first base. Unheard of at the time."
From Spaceman to the Rocket
These days, the players Baker would "pay to see" still include a mercurial Hall of Fame slugger, a speedy outfielder and a former Red Sox ace -- but Carter, Raines and Lee have given way to Barry Bonds, Ichiro and Roger Clemens.
"Barry Bonds -- the things he does to a baseball when everyone is trying to prevent it are inhuman and television doesn't do it justice," says Baker. "Ichiro is one of the most exciting all-around players I've ever watched with a bat, running the bases and throwing runners out, so there's never a dull moment for fans in the stadium," he adds.
"Roger Clemens, strictly for historical value and performances in playoff situations, as I've been fortunate to see live many times," concludes Baker. "The most memorable [was] his series-swinging ALCS effort in Seattle in 2000," a game in which the pinstriped Rocket tossed a one-hit shutout and punched out 15 Mariners.
Sports Writers Have ACL Problems?
Before you get the idea that Baker's job is just to hang out with and jaw about the best players in the game, the competitive world of sports journalism led him through a complex world of "dues-paying" only hinted at by the National Newspaper Awards.
The young Baker gave up on baseball at an early age to concentrate on football -- he was a linebacker -- through junior college. "I attempted to [play] at Concordia but had to stop because I'd had five knee operations," he says. "That ended my inglorious career, leaving me with no cartilage and my ACL reattached with a piece of my hamstring."
Though he left Concordia without cartilage, he also left with a degree, majoring in journalism and minoring in political science. The combination prepared him for seven years at The Gazette, "doing everything from crime writing to business [reporting] to investigative reporting," he says. "I also dabbled in sports, covering the CFL," he adds, almost as an afterthought.
He's given back to his alma mater by teaching a first-year journalism reporting and writing class for three years while working for The Gazette. Briefly in 1995, he co-hosted a cable television magazine show, and long before starting at The Gazette, like most reporters, he compiled a detailed resume of freelance work for community and university newspapers and worked as a reporter for a community TV station.
On the Road Again ... and Again
The Montreal native and Toronto resident, now in his sixth season covering the Jays for the Star, admits, "I'm a big city guy and Toronto is equal to a fairly large-sized American city, like San Francisco, or even Chicago. But [it's] on a smaller scale than New York when it comes to things like restaurants, nightclubs, shopping, shows and street life."
He's no "homer" when rating the facilities in different cities, as he says, "SkyDome isn't close to being the worst [stadium], which my hometown Big O in Montreal and the two Florida facilities have nailed down."
He's a fan of the newer parks which have followed the "retro" lead of Camden Yards in Baltimore, especially Bank One Ballpark and Safeco Field; he calls the home of the Mariners "my personal favourite," though noting "Fenway Park is a great facility to visit, too, with the Green Monster and quirky outfield configurations."
Detailed knowledge of so many cities and stadiums reflects the amount of time someone in Baker's profession must spend on the road. But when he does have time, Baker's leisure pursuits seem more fit for the pages of Conde Nast than Sports Illustrated as he says he is an "avid collector of vintage red wines" and that he travels to South America and Europe every off-season.
However, acknowledges the football player turned baseball writer born in Montreal on the anniversary of the first NHL game ever played, he also collects ...
... hockey cards.
Next: So You Want to Be a Baseball Writer?
