ONE ON ONE | Jim Riley Scrappers' behind-the-scenes guy sees it all

As a kid, did you want to be a professional baseball player?
I wanted to be a professional basketball player, but I only got up to 5-8. I've always been around sports. My dad was a basketball coach, so I grew up a coach's son. Most kids growing up, they're singing nursery rhymes, and I'm singing the school fight song. I was always around sports and I wanted to be around it for the rest of my life in some capacity.
How did you get your start in minor league baseball?
I went to Ohio Northern University and majored in sport management and business management. In order to graduate from there, you had to do an internship. I sent out resumes all over the country. About three actually responded. I ended up taking an internship in Huntsville, Alabama, with the Huntsville Stars, a Double-A baseball team. I spent four years down there, and I wanted to get back closer to home. I'm from Ohio, so this was the perfect opportunity.
Would you consider this a job or something in which you get paid to have fun?
You get paid to have fun, but yet it is a job. It's a full-time position. We're here in the off-season from 9 to 5. During the season we're working a lot of extra hours. When the team's in town, we come in at 8:30 in the morning and start getting ready for the game. Once the gates open, it's showtime. You make sure everything's in place and ready to go. We end up getting out of here at midnight or 1 a.m. When the team goes out of town, it's a lot easier.
Have you seen a different side of minor league baseball?
You really do. You're constantly behind the scenes. Even though you have a title, you still have your hands in other areas, as well. If all your duties are done, you're helping out the concessions guys or you're helping the groundskeeper, you're helping roll the tarp on the field. You're really involved in every aspect of the operation. It's neat because you get to see everything come together.
What is the craziest thing you've seen in minor league baseball?
I'll give you a few things. We tried professional wrestling once after a game in Huntsville. They were guys who had been retired for a while. It was just a mess. People were booing. Nobody wanted to see 55-year-old guys in tights.
When I was in Alabama, there was a fight that broke out at a player appearance in a restaurant. At the time, we had a guy who played at Auburn and a guy who played at Alabama. It's the same kind of rivalry as Ohio State-Michigan. The fans are so die-hard for the football down there, they actually came to blows in the restaurant.
Hideo Nomo was assigned to Huntsville to make one start. As soon as word went around that he was pitching in Huntsville, the fax machine started beeping every minute. The requests coming across the fax machine were all in Japanese. He is such a huge sports figure in Japan, the media follow him wherever he goes. We had over 30 members of the Japanese media in our stadium that day. After the game, I set up a press conference on the field. We had at least 50 media in attendance, and since Nomo doesn't speak English, we also had a translator. The whole experience was so unique that I saved all of the Japanese fax requests.
Who's the most famous player you've met in your career?
I got to meet Mark McGwire when we were affiliated with the Oakland A's in Huntsville. We had an exhibition game, and he came in.
Does everyone working in minor league baseball have the goal of getting a job in the majors?
Not necessarily. My position now, I oversee marketing, promotions, media. So you get to oversee a wider array of subjects. At the major league level, it's more centralized. That's what I like most about the minor league level -- you handle different facets of the operation. Right now I enjoy where I'm at.
What would your ultimate career situation be five to 10 years from now?
I would love to run my own team someday, be a general manager.