Thursday, July 8, 2021

The Jumbo Shrimp Experience

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The Summer of 2021 will be like no other that I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime!

Aside from covering Miami Marlins games, there will be other baseball trips lined up so we’ll keep you posted.

The first one began the weekend of June 24-26 as we travelled to Jacksonville to promote the Miami Marlins AAA affiliate, the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.

My late friend and colleague David Levin would be doing cartwheels in heaven over this because if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t know anything about the Jumbo Shrimp.

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, there have been numerous challenges when it comes to covering sporting events as direct access has been eliminated and Zoom Calls have become the new norm.

As time goes on, hopefully we can get back to how things were and we can go about our business the old fashioned way, and that’s getting to know the newsmakers up close.

On this trip, it was great to see AAA Baseball in Jacksonville, FL. 

My photographer Candy Ebling and I did the best we could with what we had to work with.

It was great to see the enthusiasm of the fans of Jacksonville when the Jumbo Shrimp hosted the Durham Bulls. I was totally impressed with the atmosphere and watching this was a great reminder of how a town should support their local team and that’s what transpired. 

The energy in this ballpark was electric!

Before covering the Jumbo Shrimp, I’ve been to Jacksonville numerous times for Jaguars games. I’ve seen winning and losing seasons for the Jaguars and let me tell you, when this team starts having sustained success, TIAA Bank Stadium will be a huge home field advantage.

There was no shortage of rain as the tarps remained on the field most of the day but by the opening pitch, the field at 121 Financial Field was green and looked fantastic. Kudos to the grounds crew for their work.

What did we accomplish in Jacksonville?

The agenda was do some human interest videos.

On this trip, there was no player, coaches and manager access.

As a result, the focal point centered around Media and Public Relations Manager, Play-by-Play Broadcaster Scott Kornberg.

Scott’s hospitality on the trip was fantastic!

We did a video on the Miami Marlins-Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp working relationship.

We did another one on the History of Baseball in Jacksonville, Florida dating back to the days when the team was named the Suns. He showed us where the old Wolfson Park was which is now the Jaguars Practice Field.

Scott’s broadcast partner Matt Present spend time with us and we did a video on his dream to eventually reach the MLB in that role. Matt is a personable young guy and we wish him well.

Finally, John Vittas came to town. I met John when he was working for the now defunct Charlotte Stone Crabs (Tampa Bay Rays Class A Affiliate of the Florida State League) and he came to town to visit his Maryland Terps pals. 

We did a short video on the Stone Crabs situation and his new job in Fort Myers with the Mighty Mussels. Vittas was the broadcaster for the Stone Crabs and is now doing it for the Mighty Mussels.

It’s a small world catching up with Vittas.

As I sum up the trip, I was very pleased with what we accomplished as we had an opportunity to enjoy baseball in Northern Florida but to also work with building our platform which is going to be centered around doing remote videos.

All of these videos can be seen on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel. 

If you haven’t subscribed yet, it’s free so go ahead and do so as we have many great videos and podcasts ahead. 

Our next trip will be next week as we take our show on the road to Pensacola, Florida and we’re looking forward to working with the Miami Marlins AA Affiliate, the Blue Wahoos.

We’re extremely excited to work with these folks and build on the foundation that we built with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.


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