By Pete Williams

I’ve long believed there’s no tougher job in journalism than that of the daily baseball beat writer. To call it a grind is an understatement. It’s 10-to-12 hour days from mid-February until at least the end of September, if not October. It’s mostly six or seven days a week dealing with players, managers, front office officials, agents, and readers who often make their lives difficult.

It’s merciless, punishing, and it’s only gotten worse now that baseball writers are expected to blog almost around the clock. It’s why I’m grateful I never had to do it, having started my career back in 1991 writing features and covering the national baseball beat for USA Today’s Baseball Weekly. It’s not that I didn’t work hard for BBW – and even harder the last 11 years as a freelance sports journalist.

But baseball beat writing? Nothing compares to that.

This month, after covering baseball to varying degrees for nearly 19 years, I get to be a baseball beat writer, covering the Atlanta Braves spring training for Fox Sports South. It’s a combination of blogging, feature writing, and video reporting. Not for a minute will I pretend that I’m cranking out as much material as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution or Mark Bowman of MLB.com, both of whom own the Braves beat. But I’m finally getting a taste of what it’s like.

Baseball is a constant reminder of the passage of time. Braves manager Bobby Cox is 68 years old and retiring after this season, completing a magnificent Hall of Fame career. In 1976, Cox was a 35-year-old Triple-A manager when I saw his Syracuse Chiefs face the Richmond Braves in the first professional game I ever saw.

When I began covering baseball in 1991, there were only five players younger than me in the Majors. Only two of them – Pudge Rodriguez and Jim Thome – are still around. These days, I’m hard pressed to come up with five older than me. (Jamie Moyer, Matt Stairs…Is anyone going to sign John Smoltz and Gary Sheffield?)

Three years ago, I took up triathlon and became a morning person, getting up at 5:20 a.m. at least six days a week. It’s possible to maintain that schedule during spring training, though I’m finding it’s easier to get my workouts in right before dinner. I won’t be going on any lengthy bike rides — just spin classes, hour-long swims, and short runs.

The idea is to be ready for triathlon season next month. My gig with Fox Sports South ends with spring training.

I’d be willing to bet no full-time baseball beat writers ever have completed a triathlon.

What they do is a much more impressive endurance feat.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 1:29 am and is filed under Sports Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.