It was a rainy summer day in 2016 when Tyler Gibbons, me, and a few others found ourselves huddled under a soaked merchandise tent in Harwich Massachusetts awaiting to hear if we were going to play nine that evening. After moments of silence, those gathered began to engage in conversation. We started talking baseball, our backgrounds, and everything in between. I didn’t realize in that moment that I was talking to Damon Oppenheimer, the director of scouting for the Yankees, but also that I was making a friend, not only for the summer, but for life.
Tyler was on the cape that summer as a scout intern for the Dodgers. Collecting video, scouting information and reporting back to the team, he travelled to each ballpark for weeks at a time studying everything about the players gifted enough to spend their season playing on the cape.
I’ve spoken in great detail about my summer on cape cod and how it was an unbelievably life-changing experience for various reasons. The opportunity to surround myself in a historical baseball setting of course being one, but secondly, the people it brought into my life.
Baseball is a community unlike any other. There’s a kinship that forms within relationships made throughout your time within that’s based off of sacrifice and a mutual love of something not many people understand. And here we are, almost three years later, I’m happy to say that my experience on the Cape brought a great experience into my life and introduced me to an even better person.
Tyler’s story is one that shy’s away from the previous stories I’ve told here. It’s one that I find to be fascinating and difficult all at the same time, but for different reasons than previously discussed.
Tyler’s story starts at literal birth. His dad, a former Expos player, has been a scout with the Yankees for his entire life. Now I’d like to add that I had the honor of meeting Mr. Gibbons and it’s very comforting to know that the humbleness instilled in Tyler stems directly from how he was raised.
Curious to what life was like immediately being thrusted into baseball at such a young age, Tyler explained what it meant to him.
“Growing up with a dad in baseball was a blessing and a curse really…. My dad was always super supportive of me during all my sports, and even leaned more for me to play college golf over baseball….Taking BP or groundballs with him growing up was much more productive than most kids. It wouldn’t be anything crazy by any means, but we would show up, do it the right way, and get out while trying to be as efficient with our time, usually because he had a game later that day.” Tyler spoke in detail about his struggle to maintain friendships and his place as an athlete in the town with a father who possessed some sort of power in the sport. He quoted the exact amount of high school games (3) and college games (4) he was able to attend during his entire playing career.
“Yes my dad always being gone was tough. You’d see families in the stands of games, no matter the sport, and it would sting some at the beginning knowing my dad wouldn’t be there, but then it eventually went away and became more of a routine at that point. That I would say was the toughest part by far was having a dad that had to travel so much for work, not by choice but obviously as something he had to, that he missed out on a lot. But I knew how much it killed him being away and missing so much, and how much he cared but that his job gave him no choice, so that alone was good enough for me.”
The struggle of having a father travelling for work is one that many people can relate to. And although he had a lot of wisdom to instill on Tyler, he made sure I understood he never felt a single ounce of pressure from his dad, and their personal time together was spent mostly talking about things outside the game.
Tyler played 4 years of college baseball at Capital University but didn’t see the opportunity to continue his career as a player. Instead, he transitioned into a position that I find to be equally, if not more intense than one of a minor league baseball player. Upon graduation, he was to take on a role as a video coordinator with the Cincinnati Reds. I was curious to know what the transition was like from one side of the field to the other.
“Transition from player to video was actually a lot easier of a movement than I thought it would be. In college, we worked a lot with video when we hit. Being able to break down film to show mechanics was always useful during college ball. For filming for the reds, it’s more of a focus of getting all the angles needed for our scouts to see everything they either need to see or want to see. Batting practice, in and out throws, game at bats all need filmed on each position player for example to show as much of a player as possible. Any and all information or video can only help. Being a player before helped me know what to really focus on for the draft room.”
Relieved to hear that his new job title and what it entails was an easy integration for him, I asked a question I was incredibly curious to know the answer to. From what I know about video coordinators in MLB or roles that are similar, I could infer what his response was going to be, but even I couldn’t believe what he told me. When I asked him how many cities, hotels, and flights he took in 2018, the answer was alarming.
“Let me check the Marriott App…I am at 141 nights this year!” He comedically told me. His sense of humor is inspiring considering that is an insane amount of time on the road, even compared to professional baseball players.
141 nights, 51 flights, and covering the whole country in 2018 has left very little time for a personal life for Tyler. “From Eugene OR, to taking a trip to Puerto Rico, I have been from coast to coast of the USA and then some. The travel is based on what matchups are being played in certain places and being able to make a run of games, so I don’t have to fly to a place, see the game, and then fly again. I try to have it set up to drive and see other players in the same area before having to fly again.”
As I continued to move the conversation to a more personal chat rather than a baseball career-based conversation, I wanted to know what the hardest part of being on the road for him is? Expecting to hear things like a lack of meaningful relationships or missing out on the opportunity to partake in activities people his age are doing, he instead offered some amazing insight into his life.
“What is missing in my life? I like to think I’m pretty blessed with everything in my life. A lot of things that I miss just happen to be when I’m on the road, but everything comes back when I get home. I can’t say I am truly lacking anything compared to anyone else who really or truly is missing something that they need.”
Immediately, I was humbled. How lucky baseball is to have someone devote their entire life to them and never take a second of it for granted. And furthermore, along the way, continuously think of others.
As we wrapped up, I asked him what his favorite memory of being on the Cape was, just to see if our experiences lined up. He jokingly (but also not jokingly) mentioned one of his favorite memories being us meeting, which was something I know to be genuine. He began to expand on his favorite times of the summer, “I think my favorite part of the Cape is having all the top players in one place… Having so many good players on each team really helps having video ready to go for the winter meetings. For a scouting standpoint, it not only is the same to be able to have so many good players in one place, but its also good to see all the top players play against each other. Some players have great stats against their competition in college, but some of those teams may not be the best. But the Cape usually has the hitters and pitchers being the best on their teams, so it’s a good eye opener on how they play against good competition.”
The cape prepared Tyler with the skills he needed to be successful in his career, as it did for me. Being able to have the exposure and basic understandings of baseball at that level and beyond was something that I’ll credit the CCBL to for the rest of my life, as will Tyler.
Lastly, he couldn’t help but to mention the amazing location where we were able to spend our summer, “Also, who doesn’t love going to the beach before games. Running through the small towns and next to the ocean in the morning is pretty tough to beat.”
One of my favorite experiences and memories of my life involves meeting extraordinary people like him. I think it’s incredibly important to talk about and understand what’s happening on the other side of the fence. There are a lot of different ways you can give yourself up to the game and not be a player. I want to give credit and pay homage to those people who have passion for the game in that way. I think Tyler’s story is one that is unique, inspiring and gives us as fans a better understanding of the multidimensional, emotional, and physical journey those go through to be a part of baseball.
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