Managing all of the Colorado Rockies gear is a big task, one that falls to Mike \u201cTiny\u201d Pontarelli, Assistant Director of the Major League Clubhouse.<\/p>\n
(You may remember from earlier this season, Renee Dechert wrote about the Rockies\u2019 home run coat<\/a>. In that interview, she spoke Pontarelli about how the clubhouse manages and cares for the coat.)<\/p>\n Pontarelli has served as the Rockies home clubhouse manager since the 2016-2017 offseason, after beginning his career in 2005 as an assistant clubhouse manager and later being promoted to visiting clubhouse manager. Prior to that, he worked as a bat boy for the Denver Zephyrs in his youth before transitioning to working in the Rockies clubhouse when the team came to be.<\/p>\n \u201cI kind of became part of the furniture a little bit, if you will,\u201d he joked, \u201cand then sort of grew into the job when I was in high school where I was coming and going between school, baseball practice, and everything else I had going on. And I was a pretty outgoing kid, so I got to know people, and I would talk to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Pontarelli worked with the Rockies through high school and college while playing baseball himself, but he said it never crossed his mind to make a career out of it. When he graduated from Regis University, he had a \u201cshort career in finance\u201d where he worked in an investment firm before coming back to baseball in 2005, where he has worked ever since.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of stories \u2013 a lot of innings, a lot of baseball, a lot of sunflower seeds and everything else \u2013 but I learned the business,\u201d he said. \u201cI applied what I learned in the financial world to what I do now with budgets and inventory and management of staff and things like that. And I really felt like I\u2019ve gotten pretty good at the logistical part of what we do, as well, so it ended up being a career that I\u2019ve really enjoyed.\u201d<\/p>\n But what does that role look like?<\/p>\n During the Rockies recent road trip to Arizona, Pontarelli took me behind the curtain of how he \u2013 and the rest of the staff \u2013 keep the Rockies clubhouse running through the ups-and-downs of a Major League Baseball season.<\/p>\n Standing in the visiting dugout at Chase Field, Pontarelli shed some light on the road operations for the Rockies.<\/p>\n \u201cOur operation on the road is really focused on equipment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt home, I\u2019m overseeing the clubhouse operation as well as the equipment operation, but here, I\u2019m focused on our environment \u2013 making sure everything looks right and the lockers are where they should be. I\u2019ll coordinate some of that stuff with Bob (Doty, Diamondbacks\u2019 visiting clubhouse manager), but really, I\u2019m focused on equipment and making sure all our ducks are in a row and we\u2019re following the schedule on the field, which we send out every night, so everyone knows what to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, they have to always be planning for potential roster moves. Usually they come from the 40-man roster, but the clubhouse staff is always prepared for \u201cwhere you could have a player out of nowhere\u201d (such as the trade deadline) and make sure to pack for \u201can additional 20 players or so\u201d so they\u2019re ready for moves.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have blank uniforms and letter kits and number kits, and those are required to be sewn on. So every clubhouse you visit has someone that can sew either nearby or one of the clubhouse guys can sew,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is our home away from home in Arizona, so if something were to happen here where we call guys up or something like that who I don\u2019t have uniforms for, I can call my guy that I use during spring training. Will does a fabulous job all throughout spring training, and then at home, we have a really good seamstress \u2013 Donna \u2013 who does an amazing job.\u201d<\/p>\n Like most jobs, there are certain times of the year that are busier than others.<\/p>\n For Major League Baseball, probably the busiest time of year is the trade deadline. That means Pontarelli and his team have to start preparing for moves that the Rockies could make \u2013 both on the sending and receiving ends.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing into the trade deadline \u2013 I\u2019d say about four days out from the actual deadline itself \u2013 I make sure that I have all my ducks in a row and make sure that I\u2019m prepared to send my counterparts all the information they need,\u201d he said, \u201chat size, helmet size, Dri-FIT size, jersey size. What does Fanatics have on file for them if we need to make a jersey quick?\u201d<\/p>\n He then gave the example of Brenton Doyle and ensuring the White Sox had everything ready to go for Doyle\u2019s arrival on the South Side.<\/p>\n \u201cI called my counterpart over there (Rob Warren). We exchanged sizes on players and everything we had,\u201d Pontarelli said. \u201cI\u2019ll also send him contact information, so he\u2019s able to reach out. I\u2019ll tell him, \u2018Hey, he\u2019s got a bat order coming in next week. I\u2019ll just redirect that to you.\u2019 All those things. We coordinate a lot \u2013 everything from, \u2018Do you want to ship Brenton\u2019s car out there? Do you want me to take care of it?\u2019 And they were on the road, and I was at home. So I said, \u2018I\u2019ve got time, you\u2019re on the road. I\u2019ll take care of getting his car picked up and getting it out your way.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n He also described Connor Norby\u2019s arrival from the Miami Marlins in exchange for Victor Vodnik, but that was a bit of an anomaly around the trade deadline.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our case with (Connor) Norby, I felt like I had time to call Fanatics and have them cut and sew everything in the factory and overnight them to me the next day, so I did that,\u201d he said. \u201cWhereas in a lot of cases \u2013 if I knew he was coming out the next day or something like that \u2013 I\u2019d probably have some stuff done in house on stock jerseys. And fans would never know the difference between a custom jersey and a stock jersey, but a player will tell the difference. He\u2019s like \u2018I think I\u2019m missing half an inch on my sleeve. It doesn\u2019t feel quite right.\u2019 All of those things are important to the players.\u201d<\/p>\n But then Pontarelli stressed the importance of building relationships with other clubhouse managers, so they can help each other out in high-stress, fast-moving times such as those.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to have those relationships,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s important at the Winter Meetings every year to sit down with these guys and hang out and have a meal together because you end up working together on things, and you want to be able to say, \u2018Hey, can you do me a favor? No problem at all.\u2019 So you have genuine relationships with these guys, and you help the whole thing work.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the biggest jobs of the clubhouse management team is keeping tabs on player equipment and making sure everything is in tip top shape. That includes things such as uniforms, as well as equipment such as bats and helmets.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing into the regular season, for the most part, every player has two of each jersey style,\u201d Pontarelli said. \u201cOn the road, we take purple and we take gray, so I pack one purple and one gray in each guy\u2019s bag and then I keep another set locked up in my trunk. And if it\u2019s getting hotter \u2013 like in St. Louis \u2013 I end up getting a bunch of jerseys out and putting them on a rack if guys want to swap.\u201d<\/p>\n He then gave some examples of how different players utilize uniforms throughout games, especially in hot and\/or humid climates.<\/p>\n \u201cHunter Goodman, for example, went through three jerseys while catching the other day (Aug. 9). Brett Sullivan went through two,\u201d he said. \u201cTomoyuki Sugano will go through anywhere from four to seven in a game, so he gave me a heads up early on. Michael Lorenzen went through probably three jerseys the other day (Aug. 9). So if it\u2019s a starting pitcher and I know we\u2019re going to a hot and humid climate like St. Louis, we try to prepare a little more. We\u2019ll make a couple more jerseys of different colors so that we\u2019re good to go.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Denver, we don\u2019t deal with the humidity and a lot of places in the Western Division, we don\u2019t deal with humidity a lot, so we don\u2019t tend to change them out,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut going east of Denver to St. Louis, Chicago, New York, Boston \u2013 I mean, pick any one of those cities \u2013 and it\u2019s a different ballgame when you\u2019re keeping guys comfortable while they\u2019re playing.\u201d<\/p>\n And so much of that comes with the help of his staff.<\/p>\n At home, there are seven staff who work under Tiny in the Rockies clubhouse and six in the visitors clubhouse who work under Patrick Gill. Justin Fowler serves as the major league clubhouse coordinator, and he helps with inventory.<\/p>\n \u201cSince I\u2019m on the road right now, (Justin\u2019s) back home taking inventory on things,\u201d Pontarelli said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll send him invoices that need to be paid, as well as getting them paid by our finance team upstairs. And we\u2019re tracking our spending. We\u2019re tracking how many bats we\u2019re ordering, how many uniforms we\u2019re ordering and things like that. He helps me track that really well, as well as inventory, and he does a really nice job with helping me pack for the road. We set up zone defense \u2013 that\u2019s really Justin\u2019s bread and butter \u2013 and he helps manage the staff. He\u2019s at home with them a lot. He\u2019s coaching them through unpack nights while I\u2019m traveling with the team and things like that. We\u2019ll land in Denver, and he\u2019s making sure everyone\u2019s prepared to attack the next home stand. He does a nice job with that.\u201d<\/p>\n And then there are the clubhouse attendants, who help with the minute details.<\/p>\n \u201cI have John McGill, who\u2019s been an absolute pro at making sure our uniforms look good every night. He\u2019s studied chemicals, and he\u2019s really good. He\u2019s been doing it for a long time, and they all work together really well. I\u2019ve got another group of guys who do a lot of collective duties together. When laundry comes out, everybody\u2019s on it. If benches need to be set up, everybody\u2019s on it,\u201d Pontarelli said. \u201cI\u2019ve got guys like Joey Scott, who does a great job of taking care of the coaches\u2019 room and rubbing baseballs before the game. So they each have their own individual things that they do really well, and I try to put them in positions to succeed on things that they do well. And Jordan Leak does a great job running the umpires\u2019 room. So there are certain things that are important that we can\u2019t miss, and a guy like Jordan\u2019s fabulous in there, building relationships with umpires so they know what to expect when they come to town. So it\u2019s a wide scope of things that go on to make sure the game is in a good position and our venue\u2019s in a good position to put on a show.\u201d<\/p>\n But at the end of the day, it\u2019s mostly Pontarelli and Fowler running the day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n \u201cJustin and I are there 12 hours a day at home, and we\u2019re going through everything. When we first land back in Denver for a new home stand, we\u2019re already focused on the following road trip,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n I always like to end my interviews by asking the staff their favorite part of their job, their least favorite part, and something surprising.<\/p>\n For Pontarelli, his favorite part is \u201cthe relationships I\u2019m able to build with our entire organization, and I love the logistical components.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI love months of planning and getting things into the pipeline, and seeing them come to fruition on the field,\u201d he said. \u201cIn December, I\u2019m cranking out bat orders and uniform orders and everything else, and then I see this beautiful spring training camp open up and everybody\u2019s suited up. Everybody\u2019s got white pants with purple jerseys on and the catchers are dialed in with their gear. Seeing the whole thing work \u2013 seeing the plan come to life \u2013 is probably the most rewarding thing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n But the most challenging part is definitely \u201cthe hours and the time away from our families.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got my beautiful wife, Ashley, and our two little girls and being away from them is a challenge,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re troopers \u2013 Ashley\u2019s a great baseball wife, and they spent all of spring training in Scottsdale with me, which was just wonderful. But being away from the family\u2019s hard, I would say. Just the sheer hours that we\u2019re here every day take a lot of mental strength and physical strength to get through and endure an entire baseball season.\u201d<\/p>\n And the most surprising thing?<\/p>\n \u201cI think (fans) would be shocked to see how many baseballs and bats we go through because baseballs come in on a pallet every month, and we\u2019re going through 144 baseballs a night \u2013 12 dozen baseballs a night \u2013 if not more,\u201d he said. \u201cPlayers are going through (bats). For the average fan, going into spring training, position players get 18 bats and then every month, guys are ordering a dozen or so bats. I mean, we\u2019re pumping through a lot of equipment, so for fans to wrap their minds around that\u2026 I don\u2019t know if they understand the sheer volume, but those are things that I always find interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n It truly takes a village to help any sports team run, and Pontarelli has done an excellent job of orchestrating his staff so everything runs as seamlessly as possible. They may not always get the most credit for the hard work they do, but the Rockies truly would not run without the excellent support of their behind-the-scenes staff.<\/p>\n Rockies face crucial questions entering September | Denver Gazette ($)<\/a><\/p>\n Today is the last day of August, which means there are just a few short weeks of baseball left. Kevin Henry looks ahead to what questions remain surrounding the Rockies in the remaining weeks: Can the Rockies avoid 100 losses? Is Jordan Beck really part of the future? Can Ezequiel Tovar finish on an upswing? How will the Rockies manage starting pitching innings?<\/p>\n MLB players reveal a modern toll of legal gambling: Threats, DMs and encounters | The Athletic (Gift Link $)<\/a><\/p>\n Gambling is everywhere. You can\u2019t avoid it, and prediction markets are starting to creep into professional sports as well. I wrote an article a few years back about Rockies players\u2019 experiences, but Zack Meisel gets much deeper into it across MLB and some of the awful things players have to deal with from fans.<\/p>\n Triple-A: Round Rock Express 9, Albuquerque Isotopes 1<\/a><\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t a great day for the Isotopes, as they fell 9-1 to the Round Rock Express (Rangers). They mustered five hits \u2014 one from Charlie Condon, two from Conner Capel, one from Jose Cordova and one from Drew Avans. However, they also walked five times and struck out just three. Cordova and Avans were the only ones to record both a hit and a walk. Adael Amador had one walk and Sterlin Thompson (No. 16 PuRP) had two. Roc Riggio (No. 13 PuRP<\/a>) had two strikeouts, while Thompson had the other. Capel\u2019s home run in the seventh inning ended up being the only run scored by the Topes.<\/p>\n Valente Bellozo started the game for the Topes, allowing just one run on three hits with three strikeouts over three innings. Patrick Weigel took an early beating, allowing three runs (all earned) on one hit with three walks in just one-third of an inning of work. Mason Green came in to clean up Weigel\u2019s mess and then pitched another inning, walking two with a strikeout across 2.2 innings. Jarrod Cande took the brunt of it, though, allowing five runs (all earned) on five hits with a strikeout in two-third of an inning. The five hits were a single, a one-run double, an RBI single and then a three-run homer. Andrew Baker <\/a>recorded the final four outs, allowing just one hit.<\/p>\n Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 6, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 2<\/a><\/p>\n The Yard Goats fared better than their upstairs neighbors, beating the Fisher Cats (Blue Jays) handily. Hartford got things going in the third inning when Jimmy Obertop drew a leadoff walk and then GJ Hill moved him over on a sacrifice bunt. Andy Perez grounded out to push him to third, but it didn\u2019t matter where he was, as Jared Thomas (No. 8 PuRP) smacked a two-run homer to right. The Yard Goats tacked on another run in the seventh, as Dyan Jorge walked and then stole his 50th base. A passed ball allowed him to reach third, and then Obertop reached on a fielding error by the third baseman to score Jorge. Obertop stole second and Hill walked, but Perez struck out and Thomas grouned out to first.<\/p>\n New Hampshire struck back in the bottom half, as Carter Cunningham hit a solo homer to right-center. But then the Goats answered back again in the eighth with a single by Jacob Humphrey, who then stole second, and a walk by Braylen Wimmer. After Zach Kokoska grounded out to advance the runners, Humphrey was able to score on a balk and Jorge hit a sacrifice fly to score Winner. In the ninth, Hill and Perez struck out to start the inning but then Thomas was hit by a pitch and stole second and third. Humphrey walked and stole second, and then Wimmer walked to score Thomas.<\/p>\n In the bottom half, the Cats tried to fight back, but only scored one run after Carter Cunningham walked and was scored by a Cutter Coffey triple. Eric Snow struck out looking to end the game.<\/p>\n Stu Flesland III tossed a gem \u2014 six scoreless innings with just four hits, one walk and two strikeouts. Fisher Jameson was the one who allowed the two runs over the final three innings on three hits with one walk and two strikeouts, but he earned the three-inning save.<\/p>\n High-A: Vancouver Canadians 4, Spokane Indians 3<\/a><\/p>\n Both teams scored early and both teams\u2019 bats fell silent after the fifth inning. The Indians got the scoring started in the third when Tommy Hopfe hit a solo homer to right. They piled on in the fourth after Ethan Hedges and Tanner Thach got out to start the inning, but then Robert Calaz (No. 26 PuRP<\/a>) and Alan Espinal singled and were scored by Clayton Gray. Unfortunately, though, that was the end of the scoring for the Indians.<\/p>\n In the bottom half of the fourth, Ryan Sprock homered to put the Canadians on the board. In the fifth, Maxxox Latta homered to lead off the inning and Jaxson West singled. After two quick outs, JoJo Parker singled and scored alongside West after Jake Casey doubled. Sprock flew out to end the inning, and the scoring. There were only five baserunners in the later innings \u2014 two for the Canadians and three for the Indians \u2014 but none came around to score.<\/p>\n Everett Catlett got the start for the Indians, pitching five innings while allowing four runs (all earned) on six hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Austin Emener threw one inning and struck out a batter, while Luke Hansel threw two innings while walking two and striking out one.<\/p>\n Low-A: Inland Empire 66ers 10, Fresno Grizzlies 5<\/a><\/p>\n The Grizzlies were also unsuccessful in their search of a win against the 66ers (Mariners). Just like their older brothers, the Grizzlies struck first, but most of their action was in the later innings. Daniel Jackson kicked things off when he reached on an error by 66ers\u2019 first baseman Starlin Aguilar in the second inning. Jack Natili grounded out to advance Jackson, and then Juan Martinez doubled to move him to third. A passed ball allowed Jackson to score, but then Ashly Andujar (No. 30 PuRP<\/a>) and Ryan Niedzwiedz struck out to end the inning.<\/p>\n In the second inning, Estevan Moreno homered to tie the game. Nick Becker singled, and then was driven home by an Aguilar double. In the third, Hayden Yost struck out but then back-to-back walks led to a ground-rule double to tack on a run and then an RBI groundout scored the second to make the score 4-1.<\/p>\n In the fourth, Jackson hit his fourth homer to cut the lead in half, 4-2. But in the fifth, Jake Brown walked and stole second before being driven home by a double from Moreno. A passed ball allowed Moreno to advance to third, and then Becker walked and stole second before he and Moreno were scored by an Aguilar single to make the score 7-2.<\/p>\n An RBI groundout by Landyn Vidourek (HM PuRP<\/a>) in the seventh made the score 7-3, but then a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning by Aguilar made is 9-3. Natili homered in the eighth, but then Dervy Ventura homered in the bottom. Niedzwiedz tripled to lead off the ninth and then Carlos Renzullo singled to score him, but that was it.<\/p>\n Fewer adsCreate community posts<\/a>Comment on articles, community postsRec comments, community postsNew, improved notifications system!<\/p>\n