Emil Rothe-Chicago Chapter meeting recap – 9/2/2017
By Matt Mitchell
Three members of the baseball media took a couple hours out of their Labor Day weekend to talk baseball and media with 15 members of the Emil Rothe/Chicago Chapter on September 2, 2017.
Batting lead-off was Sun-Times beat writer Gordon Wittenmeyer. I can’t comment on any opening remarks he made, because I was a little late for an unusually prompt meeting start time. He covers the Cubs, so much of the Q+A I did hear centered on the struggles of the club this year in the wake of last year’s championship.
Batting second, and for me the highlight of the afternoon, was Peabody award winner Julie DiCaro. I’m fairly certain that if you know her for one thing, it’s this video that won her said award. A former lawyer, she meandered her way into sports media through the explosion of the blogosphere. The now-radio host ignited a lively discussion on the usefulness of stats, discussing both her use as a member of the media and how the public consumes the information explosion that sabermetrics and now Statcast are producing. She also talked about the efforts she’s made to help women in or interested in sports media to network with each other, and opined on the possibility there will be a female GM in the next 15 years.
Anyway, back to the meeting, where one more speaker took the audience on a trip through the minor leagues. Emily Waldon writes about Tigers prospects for 20/80 Baseball and The Athletic Detroit. Her interest in baseball started with having 4 brothers and took off when the West Michigan Whitecaps moved to town in 1994. She started covering the Tigers minor league affiliates as part of the Bless You Boys blog, moving on to her current posts subsequently.
- Read the full article by Matt Mitchell and watch highlight videos of the guest speakers at https://fourpitchrandomwalk.wordpress.com/2017/09/06/a-sabr-writers-day/