ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - KMOX Sports Director Tom Ackerman has been to his fair share of Spring Trainings over the years, meaning that he has a front row seat to Spring Training.
After covering the first two days of the Missouri Valley Tournament, better known as Arch Madness, Ackerman will make his way down to Jupiter, Florida to cover the last two weeks of Cardinals Spring Training, with Ackerman set to also call Saturday's Spring Training Game against the New York Mets.
On Wednesday, Ackerman gave insight to what a Spring Training looks like for him and other baseball journalists especially for him when he still has to do his on air duties with Total Information A.M. down in Florida.
"It's about a 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. day," said Ackerman on Total Information A.M. "Typically the day will start with me joining you on Total Information AM and (Debbie Monterrey and Scott Jagow) and I'll be in a studio that is located just across the street from the ballpark that has been made available to us and we set up equipment there. I'll go on at 6 a.m. eastern time, so I get to sleep and just touch later."
Ackerman says clubhouse typically opens for reporters at 8 a.m. and those usually are times that help reporters connect with the players and understand them better both on and off the field.
"You get a chance to talk to the players both on and off the record sometimes just on the side just to talk to them about their routine, about the health, about the things that they're trying to do. Some of them are trying to make the team," said Ackerman. "For a lot of players, it is a very intense time because they're trying to be seen, they get an opportunity to either pitch, hit, show what they can do in the field and there are limited opportunities to do that. So the pressure is on."
When Ackerman makes his return to Jupiter, it will more unique than the first two weeks of Spring Training due to minor league camp beginning earlier this week, which means hundreds of players are at the Cardinals Spring Training Complex in Jupiter Florida.
"So you're talking about hundreds more players that are just trying to get a look from the Cardinals and get that dream shot to make this team someday or to make their respective minor league teams. So there's a lot that goes on and that's just in the morning." said Ackerman.
Ackerman says that Spring Training is the best time to connect with the players and talk to them, compared to doing it in the regular season and at Busch Stadium due to a lot of things going on behind the scenes.
"This is the best access that we have to players," said Ackerman. "At Busch Stadium, it's just different. Behind the scenes, there's a lot going on when they're in St. Louis, they're pulled in a lot of directions."
"At Spring Training, it is baseball at it's pure form. You do have as a media member, the ability to visit with these players more than any other time. So it's a chance to tell their story to the fans. There is a breaking news aspect to it which we can get those, but there's also that storytelling aspect that I think is very appealing in Spring Training."