Josh Rawitch (Transcript)
Robby Incmikoski: So, I think a lot for living anymore, but you get this.
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, so good more or less.
Robby Incmikoski: All right. Josh for always, here we go, Let's talk baseball. First, let's talk about Dodgers Stadium. We've spoken to a couple people were talking Edwin Jackson who pitched there for a bit. When you look at Dodgers and what was it, First of all, what memory do you have? If do you remember the first time you walked into Dodger Stadium at all as a kid to go to a game and do you remember what your reaction was?
Josh Rawitch: I mean I grew up obviously loving the game and I do remember my first game, I don't have that memory that people talk about where you see the grass for the first time but I can remember Cecil Making a leaping catch at the wall down the stretch. he was a relevant player that they put in because they had already clinched. I think it was the last couple days it was an 8 83, 84, anyway, I found the box score of it. So I have memories of a couple of plays on the field, but I guess probably, I mean, we weren't leading to grow up with tons of money. So I remember the pocket schedule would arrive and my dad would hand us the pocket schedule. And say it wasn't even a fox say it was called Line Drive. it was the fan paper magazine. This thing called line drives would show up and it would have the promotional schedule. And me and my brother could pick three or four games over the course of the year that we wanted to go to and you'd always pick it based on whether it was bad in glow night or bad night or home at night.
Josh Rawitch: So that the earliest memories I have of Dodger Stadium are going there. Getting the promotional item you want and then watching the team and in the early to mid 80s.
Robby Incmikoski: Not a lot of teams preserve history from opposing players and there are two yellow stars where Willie Stargell hit MOONSHOTS out there when you were steward of that franchise. What? Do you have any idea why the Dodgers kept those stars there and from a visiting player
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, I think the Dodgers were always very, very aware of their history. Being one of the kind of very early franchises and wanting to make sure that they documented it. All, the O'Malley family is in,
Josh Rawitch: Was incredible at documenting, the stuff and so much. So that we actually just recently received, Walter O'Malley's, entire personal collection of documents going back to the 50s. It's now part of the Hall of Fame and Peter's talking to us about donating his. So I just think to the O'Malley family who owned the franchise when that starts with Homer was hit. And there was just always an understanding that the history of the game mattered. and I'm jumping around a little bit. But I mean, Peter is a major benefactor the Hall of Fame.
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Josh Rawitch: He understands the value of preserving history and not just history for his own team. So, I mean, I definitely remember growing up knowing Joe was the only guy that ever did it. I remember when Piazza did it again, I remember watching Mark, McGuire and batting practice putting Billy Ashley actually a guy that nobody ever thinks about Billy Ashley would go to BP and hit balls over the pavilion and every time people would say, hasn't happened in a game. he started your only guy and then I think it was Sunday night baseball, that might be as I finally did it in a game and put it over the left field pavilion. But It was just an understanding that history mattered when you're at the Dodgers and that's probably because they're both the historic franchise and the people that ran. It knew that it was really important.
Robby Incmikoski: Josh I want to be efficient here because I don't want to take up more time than we have a lot of here but let me ask you this we're interviewing Robertson on Monday, who was obviously stitched the next event for 28 whatever. It is 27 years when what was it, like, being a PR guy for the Dodgers having star players? But also having that guy, As the voice baseball, in the face of baseball, from a media standpoint. What was that experience?
Josh Rawitch: People ask me all the time, do you still get starstruckers their hall of fame? You met where you were like, my goodness. And the answer is always the only person that really has hit me that way. Is the first time I met Vin and hearing Back to me. hi Josh and I was just kind of blown away like my goodness. This guy is saying my actual name but what stands out to me is he was just as good of a human as he was a broadcaster and so I would literally To go from.
Josh Rawitch: Idolizing him as a kid going to college thinking, I wanted to be a broadcaster literally thinking, I want to be the next bin Scully and then just basically go into the booth every single day and catch up with him for. I don't know, the fight that my final 10 years that I was essentially the head communications person. and his main contact at the team, it will always be one of the most special things I've gotten to do in my career. He's just as genuine, a human being as there is. And I relished walking in there every day at about 233 clock and just checking in on, I'm seeing if you needed anything, and it would just be a conversation about Family, and friends and whatever's going on with the team.
Robby Incmikoski: It's amazing shift to the Diamondbacks for a second. You go from the Dodgers. Spent 15 years with the Dodgers, a team with such a deep rich history in the game of baseball, one of the oldest ballparks. it would be the third oldest. that Oakland's no longer in existence but when you Go from a team with that deeper history when you get the Diamondbacks. When oh two or three said …
Josh Rawitch: No, no What 11 they were you.
Robby Incmikoski: That's right. 11. So 2011 When you went to the Diamondbacks even in 2011 they had only been a franchise for 13 years. So what are kind of The intricacies of having a team with such a deep rich history. To go into a team that's only 13 years deep.
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, people would ask when I got to Diamondbacks, what's the biggest difference? And I would always say It's the difference between having a franchise with 100 years of history and that celebrates that history and can call upon its legends to be a part of it trying to help build a brand in a town where everybody's from someplace else. And I think I always saw that as a really cool challenge. I know Derek called it and all the people who worked at the Diamondbacks felt like our job is to try to
Josh Rawitch: Essentially get to where someday people talk about us, the way they talk about the Dodgers because Derek was at the Dodgers with me and brought me over. And so we both knew what it was like to work at a historic franchise. And I think we tried to bring with us some of those lessons that we learned about preserving the history of a new franchise. And I often use the example that when you called somebody from, you would say Hi. This is Josh with the Dodgers. They knew exactly who you were calling from anywhere in the world could be Mexico, Japan, Dominican or down the street in LA. And I would have to call from the dimebags and says Josh Rawitch with the Arizona Diamondbacks and sometimes they'd get obviously if you're calling baseball, they know you're talking about But there were times I would have to explain now with the baseball team in Phoenix and that was always just the biggest difference between this major international brand and an upstart franchise that was only whatever 13 years old when I got there.
Robby Incmikoski: All right, let's talk about being The Hall of Fame, you are three years and I believe, is that right? When you at some point time,…
Josh Rawitch: Yep.
Robby Incmikoski: you're no longer gonna be working in your life. You might be retired with adult children or grandkids or whatever it is. What do you think's going to come to mind? When you look at your time, spent as the president Of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Josh Rawitch: I love the word steward because I think any of us that basically have the opportunity to have this role but really, just to work at the Hall of Fame, we are stewards of the history of the game. And so I would hope that I can look back at it as I helped it maintain the level of class that it's always had. Hopefully continue to keep it relevant for future generations of baseball fans because it does have to evolve in time. that's important for any institution. And that it maintained the charm, and the grace, that the village of Cooperstown, and the Hall of Fame itself are known for. I think those are all things that I hope I can look back someday and say, we accomplished.
Robby Incmikoski: Josh when there are times in my career, where either, whether it's handing a kid, a baseball, a foul ball, that comes in the camera. or a coach gives me a balances. Give it to that kid, and I see the reaction or somebody comes to BP or somebody meets Andrew McCutchen, a 10 year, old or 12 year old meets Andrew McCutchen or when I saw a kid meet Joe Mauer. One time, I thought he was gonna freeze and not be able to move, What is the experience like when you see lifelong baseball fans,…
Josh Rawitch: Yeah.
Robby Incmikoski: make the trip to Cooperstown and see the reaction. How do you put that into words?
Josh Rawitch: The best part of this entire job is watching people who have spent a whole lifetime trying to make this trip. And when they do, It never disappoints. It always actually delivers what they thought it was going to be. And I think it's why I came here. And I started saying We got to find a way to take this off, people's bucket, lists and put it on there. To-do lists, like it, really. That's what you got to come. See this place to believe it. And every single day we get to walk in and watch people living their dream and interactions that we have that are so simple, are things that people remember for the rest of their life. And I don't think a lot of people get that I've often thought.
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah.
Josh Rawitch: That's the best part of all 30 years in baseball has been the simplest things we do. I remembered by people for the rest of their life and I often use the same example, you just do if I hand a kid a ball or I introduce them to a player or just bring them down to the field, whatever, that these basic things, that are literally part of our everyday are things that people will talk about, but the rest of their life. And I know that because I remember being 17 years old and I was on a visit of colleges, and we went to Kauffman Stadium. My uncle knew the guy who worked in the fountain, and that guy handed me a waterlogged baseball, and here I am 25. 30 years later still, talking about the waterlog baseball. And This guy probably gave Waterlog baseball so many kids over the years and just the impact that we have on people with the simplest gestures is…
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah.
Josh Rawitch: what makes work in baseball, so amazing.
Robby Incmikoski: I've tried to describe that to people over the years and once last year, page, 16 dollars for a bottle of authenticated fountain water because that's what an addict I am for the game of baseball. When I feel like this is an important distinction to put in a book and tell me if you're okay with this, I want to ask just about the whole thing and it's role where you mentioned, a lot of people think you are part of Major League Baseball. When in reality, Could you just to clarify for fans and readers out there? The whole famous separate entity and you operate on. it's a nonprofit people fund you Whether it's through sales or donations, whatever it may be, can you just tell us a little bit about the operation just so we can clarify that and get that into
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, I mean ultimately we're an independent nonprofit that is driven with the goal of preserving history, honoring excellence and connecting generations, and it's important to us that we remain independent because we want to be able to document and tell the story and the history of baseball. With all the good, the ugly. And so I think if you're bold into any entity, That's hard to do. And I think as a museum our job is to make sure we're telling them that the truth of the way the game has changed over time and whether that's the most recent exhibit we just did souls of the game, which focuses on the history of black baseball and has to tell some of the really tough things that you might not want to tell if you were trying to only celebrate the highlights, that's really important being able to collect artifacts from
Josh Rawitch: Inconspicuous events, demolition dirt or whatever, the demolition Derby night, they're like when crazy things happen in baseball. We want to be able to document that too. It's not just all of the amazing moments. We also want to document The tough moments, I'll give you this and you can write it just if you wind up using this don't use it as a quote from me. But a great example, frankly is we just collected five things from the A's. Last game that are coming this way. And days have been great. They understood the reason to document it but we don't want to
Josh Rawitch: here, I'll tell you what I'm actually thinking, but just don't use this in the book. we accessioned a T-shirt that said Sell from that was the one that all the fat like a fan sent it to us and they said, I bought this shirt. I think you should have it as part of history and we are as the committee that decides what we accept we accepted that now. Is that gonna piss off an owner or the league? Maybe that's why I don't want to have that in the book but you get the idea the sorts of things that we want to try to collect in addition to the last home plate and Mark Katsay's final jersey and Dirt, from the infield, all that sort of stuff. So, I mean, It's important that we remain independent because it allows us to be independent, and make independent decisions. But, of course, again we also have on our board of The commissioner baseballs on the board for owners are on the board. Seven Hall of Famers are on the board. So of course, we work incredibly closely with them and I don't want to make it seem like they're not the most important partner we have
Robby Incmikoski: First of the whole set that's all part of the story. I saw you dressed the steroid you dress like,…
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, that's a better example.
Robby Incmikoski: camp Right.
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, you can certainly use that repeat rows or…
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah, no you're right. No, yeah. But you know you still love the game.
Josh Rawitch: anything else yet.
Robby Incmikoski: It's not gonna make people hate baseball because of steroids are because John Fisher. has taken baseball from these die hard fans in Oakland, which I'm really sad for them. Which I think anybody that wants that was sad for those fans out there…
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, and
Robby Incmikoski: who they were crying, if it's awful. But anyways, so
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, but in exact example, I mean Peters, all this Pete Rose stuff and the fact that for the last people want to know,…
Robby Incmikoski: Right. Yeah.
Josh Rawitch: why is he not? And why is it? This isn't a real Hall of Fame. If Pete Rosenberry bonds are in it, actually, they are.
Robby Incmikoski: Right. Yeah.
Josh Rawitch: They're all over the place, they just don't have a plaque in the gallery and I think being independent allows us to tell those stories.
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah, no question about that Could we go a little bit about the machinations of how the acquisition of memorability. He just tells how that works. Please.
Josh Rawitch: yeah, so ultimately anytime a major event happens in baseball, we have a small committee that will in real time See that there's a no-hitter and we'll say Okay hey we think for this, we want to try to get a cap or there's a cycle, we want to get a helmet. We try to find an artifact that helps tell the story. So clearly if A
Josh Rawitch: Show Hiltoni hits a walk-off grand slam to win the World Series. We're not gonna ask for his cap because he didn't wear it In that moment. We want something that's actually relevant to the moment. So very quickly figure out. Okay, what do we think is a relevant artifact that helps tell the story and we will put ask into the clubhouse very quickly. So that post game, essentially they can go down and ask the player. Would you be interested in donating the artifact of the Hall of Fame? And then we can capture that in real time and tell the story right after the game. So probably half the artifacts that come in every year come through that, where it's a real time event happening, and we're seeking it out. It also includes me going in the All-Star Game in the World Series. And Justin, being in the clubhouse and asking in those moments of people will donate things. That historic events, The other half of the artifacts come in through people who read this book who go, I've got a really cool artifact that I think would be worthwhile.
Josh Rawitch: With the hall be interested in. So we have them send in a photo and they send in how they got it. So we can understand the provenance behind it and then a committee, which is a larger committee of about 10 to 15 people. All talk about the historical value and how it could help us tell a story in the future. And we have a great discussion about every single offered artifact and then determine whether it's something we want to bring into the collection. But we have to keep in mind things like once we bring something in, we've promised to keep it here forever and we have to store it and it has to be space for it. And if it's big or if it's A certain material that needs to be preserved a certain way. So those are the two different ways really that things come into the Hall of Fame.
Robby Incmikoski: Did you get anything from Otani's 50/50 game in Miami?
Josh Rawitch: So funny I almost said as I was saying that sentence, so we are current, the answer is we're still figuring out what's left, and I was just talking his agent, two days ago about, I mean, he's got it all. He's like, I'm just trying to figure out what's going where, so I don't know what we're gonna get yet from there. But the meeting we had yesterday morning, which there's probably too much information, but there's a meeting that talks about three-dimensional artifacts the helmets and bats and balls and gloves. And then there's the archives and library, which is flat documents because it's just too much at one time.
Robby Incmikoski:
Josh Rawitch: So yesterday, we actually agreed to accession the sign. There was the family that went to the Otani 50 game. You probably saw this amazing photo with a kid holding up a sign that said, I skipped math to witness history with Tony. 50 is a great photo of Tony, High-fiving the dugout behind him. Is this little kid holding up this sign and that family had the foresight to call the hall and say, Hey, would you be interested in the sign and we accept that sign? we agreed to accession? That's fine yesterday and it'll become part of our collection. So it really a fan can say, what? And I mean, does that happen all the time? No. And we don't want every fan sign here because then we'll responsible for keeping it. but we love when fans think of it like I found this glove in my grandparents attic and it looks like it might be from Wrigley Field in 1963 and it says Ron Santa on whatever and we will go through the process of figuring out. Do we have something like this that when I first got here with blew my mind is how often we
Josh Rawitch: We actually have the thing that they're offering. I've got this bad from Mickey Manto It's like, we have several Mickey Mantle bats. we don't need 11 If we have 10 so it's this discussion about what conditions it in was it used for something historic, How is it going to help us? Tell the story of baseball down the road and you try to think about? if we ever had an exhibit on blah blah, maybe it would. Tell that story. it's a fascinating process.
Robby Incmikoski: First of all, this whole existence is blows my mind in such a good way that what I would give to be I want to tell your story in media form. So I swear to God, I want to do a package on the Hall of Fame and how amazing it All right, is there a challenge at all? so you have items in a certain area. You can't just move the lockers. I know stuff is going in and out. There are certain things that honestly should never be removed. we saw I mean, first of all the list goes on and on and on when Ricky Henderson said to Stone Base record You have I don't know if it's the base or whatever it like, there's just so many things that you have there that can never leave the whole thing that said, Do you move items around? Is there a shifting of items? at different times, so I was there on this day, I come again in November, Will I see something different, If a fan wondered,…
Josh Rawitch: One. Yeah, every single week we have artifacts come upstairs and…
Robby Incmikoski: What is The question.
Josh Rawitch: go on into an exhibit and others will come downstairs to rest. It's an actual term in the museum world that artifacts have to rest and be out of the light and into the humidity control and temperature control then and light control. Fault that I think you guys got to see. So yeah, I mean stuff is constantly coming up and going down. Sometimes it'll shift from one exhibit to the next. I think a good example that just happened. Literally today, I get an email once a week that says, Here's the things that moved couple days ago we moved from, I don't know if you remember when I saw you in the exhibit you were literally standing in whole new ball game. I can just happen, a picture where the conversation was right. There is a case that had a uniform from Albert Pool holes. It was his last uniform that he wore and it was in the
Josh Rawitch: That today's game, the newest stuff and that was there. It just moved from that case to the Cardinals locker and we put in some stuff Clyde to Rick Woodfield. So stuff can move from one exhibit to the next, but more often than not, it moves from an exhibit to the vault and stays off display for a couple years, and something else comes up. And that's why people do come back all the time is because it is a living breathing museum, that changes regularly. And when history happens last night, very often, it ends up on display very quickly at the Hall of Fame.
Robby Incmikoski: How quick can you get an item from the field to the museum and get it? you get up a week later.
Josh Rawitch: You could I mean often it really just depends on if something happens quickly. I mean the process essentially we ask for it if the person agrees to donate it and the clubhouse person chips it out the very next day and then we get it. You have to actually build mounts for things and figure out where it's going to go. And ultimately the donor has to sign a d to gift. And so we really don't put anything on display if we don't have. So sometimes it takes a little while for the PR person to go back to the player and say, Hey can you sign this deed a gift so that they know that it's 100% ours and so there's just a process to it. I'd say a week is quick but yeah, we certainly could have it. There's nothing stopping us from having it up very quickly and I think that's a great goal of ours to try to accomplish.
Robby Incmikoski: Double day field. What does that used for? because I know I have an idea with the answer is But you're gonna know way more than me. Can you just tell us a little back.
Josh Rawitch: Yeah.
Robby Incmikoski: I'm sorry to ask such a generic obvious question,…
Josh Rawitch: No, no, you're good,…
Robby Incmikoski: but I'm trying to get facts here.
Josh Rawitch: you're good.
Robby Incmikoski: So, he just tell me a little bit about double day field. And what is because I've seen everything from kids to adults to actual Hall of Famers that have played on that field.
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, that's pretty cool. What's amazing about this field? Is that almost any legend in the history of the game, played a Double-day field. Either through the initial Hall of Fame game, which took place for many decades, where teams came and played there, or the classic Hall of Fame classic, which we've held for the last 10 to 15 years, where retired players come, you had on the first and not first, induction class that day. After Babe Ruth was inducted, he walked down to Double-day Field and Pinch hit in the game over there. So I mean, there's a list on the wall there of all these legends who have played there. But on top of that it is in fact the Cooperstown High School
Josh Rawitch: Home field. So, my son plays his home games, there It is owned by the village of Cooperstown. And so they rented out to the Cardinals fantasy. Camp, was there last week. Any And your buddies is probably also not the book, I don't care, but if my son's bar mitzvah, we rented the field, and my son, had his permits, a party out on the field with all his buddies, and they just got to play Whipple Ball and whatever. So it is in fact for everything from kids to the high school field to colleges for spring, break to adult legs to fantasy camps to major leaguers of all levels and it's 103 years old. and It is in the place that they at one time believe baseball was created. And obviously, while that myth was busted, the history of the actual spot, has grown over the last hundred plus years.
Robby Incmikoski: Let me ask you this, what's your son's name? Vote for Braden.
Josh Rawitch: Braden.
Robby Incmikoski: To play on his high school games on the same field. That Babe, Ruth played on me. How cool is that?
Josh Rawitch: It is honestly blowing. Every time I watch him out there I'm sitting in the stands thinking about. Wow that's where Ozzie Smith made that play. Or I think the kids actually do recognize it. But I do remember asking one of my buddies here who's in his 40s and played there, whatever in high school when you look at that, do you think of Double-day Field? you think my high school field that's the same way. You look at your high school field and I'm like God that's not like so it is incredibly special that it probably the only place in America…
Robby Incmikoski: Right.
Josh Rawitch: where high school kids, get the play there high school games on a field of that sort of history. And I think they recognize that certainly. I think the parents recognize it, but it's just a huge part of the village and just one of the cool benefits of being on the Cooperstown. How guys,
Robby Incmikoski: Josh for a lot of people, the part of the motivation for doing this book is I've been very fortunate to make my living traveling, all 30 ballparks, and announcing on television, I'm 49 and I it's not lost on me how I made my living for 16 years and hopefully, 17th. I'm still waiting to find out what's going on with the Rangers, but,…
Josh Rawitch: Yeah. I just saw that in.
Robby Incmikoski: because they're gonna start their own network and all that's a whole separate thing. Yeah, we've known for a couple months, we haven't been a lot of say anything. And then the beat writer broke the story, but we're waiting on a couple dominoes the fall. And I like to think I'll be back. I think I hopefully pick up a few more games next year with them and…
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, awesome.
Robby Incmikoski: hope that's how it works out. But anyways, but that's topic for another day. But
Robby Incmikoski: A lot of people want to get to every ballpark in baseball, they can't for some reason or another which is a large part of our motivation for doing. Is you get people kind of a tour with stories from cool people associated with each place, And they can do from the comfort of their own home. And what I asked people a lot of times is, if someone's never been to this place, what would you say about a specific ballpark? So, I ask you this about the Hall of Fame. People want to get there. It's a hell of a treatment Cooperstown. Let's be honest. It's in the middle of nowhere. It's hard to get to, It's six hours from freaking Pittsburgh. You know what I'm saying? Six hours from Pittsburgh,…
Josh Rawitch: Yeah. Yeah.
Robby Incmikoski: from the East Coast. So Somebody that puts the effort in the finances and the planning to go to the Hall of Fame, it's gonna be the experience of a lifetime they're never gonna forget it if they're contemplating it. What would you say to him about coming here?
Josh Rawitch: I tell people all the time, don't wait because ultimately once you then want to come again and so the longer you wait, the less opportunity, you have to come back over and over and To kind of repeat what I said before to me, when people come, it always lives up and exceeds the expectations and there's very few places that when you build up expectations in your head can actually meet them and then often exceed them and this place is one of them. So it is by coming here. You're helping preserve the history of the game that you love by coming here you're having family memories that will literally last lifetime and it's just an incredible honor to watch it happen every single day.
Robby Incmikoski: Can you just give us what's a day in a life? I mean, you have a pretty big staff that you have under you. That helps make that engine go. What is the day-to-day just in the operation of the Hall of Fame? You don't forget into too much minutiae detail,…
Josh Rawitch: Yeah.
Robby Incmikoski: but just a lot of people might wonder How many people help? Curate, you have the elderly?
Josh Rawitch: Yeah.
Robby Incmikoski: No, folks that come in and take tickets and help with that, He just about that operation. What it's like day to day.
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, we've got almost a hundred full-time people. And then in the summertime another hundred or so come in Help as visitor, services are working in the gift shop that the front of house staff. And really I'd say about a third of the staff is focused on the museum. Affairs, everything from the exhibits, you see to the archives to the photography, to library, that sort of stuff education, we have all education department that's part of it and then the rest of the staff is in a lot of ways. Not that different than any other. Nonprofit or business that has sales and marketing and communications and facilities mean, you can imagine the amount of work that the facility staff puts into making sure that this thing looks shiny and new after 85 years. it takes time and it's
Josh Rawitch: I mean, the part that everybody knows and sees is the debate every January about who's gonna get in or the debate in December about, who's gonna get in, but Ultimately, the Hall of Fame itself is one part of what is a massive institution? That's really as much about preserving the history of the game as it is about, The plaque gallery itself. and one,…
Robby Incmikoski: One last thing.
Josh Rawitch: obviously one of the really cool parts of my job is Interacting with Hall of Famers on a regular basis, who are? I mean,'ll probably today as I'm trying to think of my day. I don't say, I don't put this on because it's gonna sound arrogant. But I'm looking at my call list and I think there's three Hall of Famers on the call list and I'm gonna be on a board call later today with five six, others? the idea that on a daily basis here, dealing with five to 10 Hall of Famers is bananas like
Robby Incmikoski: that's where I was going This question is going to sound kind of ridiculous. How many Hall of Famers are in your cell phone?
Josh Rawitch: All of the living ones are in there as well as unfortunately, some we've lost. That's one of the unique things about this role is that as these players get older, we do obviously lose several every year. And so 75 or 80 elephants? Yeah, it's not
Robby Incmikoski: How does the kid from Southern California? Do you ever think what the hell is my life?
Josh Rawitch: the time I literally have a moment almost every single day or I can't actually believe that. This is where life took me but I feel like without realizing it my whole career, I was training for a role like this. I just never knew this role existed and I think when I got the job there's a paper in LA, That did a story and asked me. this was my dream job and I said I didn't even know it was a job about my dream job was to play baseball, but it never dawned on me that this was a thing that existed or that I could do or that my family, when we fall in love with Cooperstown, and the community, and all the great things that are that come with living in small town America, and upstate New York, not in a million years, could I have ever dreamed this? nor do I
Josh Rawitch: I mean, nobody deserves the good fortune that I have had to work in my career. The way I have it is beyond anybody's fair, expectations,
Robby Incmikoski: One thing and I think it's obviously part of the job, but Josh, you're very generous to people you could have not been as generous as you were to me and the Paul. I mean, I'm just a TV reporter, you know what I'm saying? but also we help too of course in terms of publicizing and doing that. So obviously it goes both ways but how much of it is just welcoming people and just being as generous as you are to people who want to experience. I mean you could be an a******, let's be honest but you're not…
Josh Rawitch: Yeah. Yeah. I
Robby Incmikoski: what I'm saying. You could be a con, you know what I'm saying, you can be with a big test and,…
Josh Rawitch: Yeah.
Robby Incmikoski: test all the time and you don't, how much is just giving back to the game and giving back to the people associated with the game, part of that role.
Josh Rawitch: I think a huge part of this role is in fact, giving back to the game and interacting with those who gave their lives to the game and who have worked in it forever. We just had a former Mets physical therapist was here a couple days ago and I mean of course it's anybody who's been around the game knows how much time the trainers and the clubhouse attendance and anybody that works in the game.
Robby Incmikoski: yeah.
Josh Rawitch: So anytime somebody from the game comes, I feel like it's not just the right thing to do. I think it's our responsibility to spend time and help them experience this because it also In fact, help them share the story of what's going on in Cooperstown, but I appreciate you saying what you're saying, but I mean, the reality is, I think, in some ways, the last three presidents have all been public relations people because I do think part of this job is in fact being connected to people throughout the game and knowing that you can pick up the phone and call somebody to raise or call somebody at the Pirates. and from every level from the clubhouse, attendant To the owner, we have relationships all around the game and I think that's an important part of this job is fostering. Those relationships and being good stewards and being kind, not just to the important TV reporters and the Hall of Famers, but to the guests who walk to the door. And that's obviously what happens here and that's why this place lives up to its building after 85 years.
Robby Incmikoski: All right, I'm gonna let you go just totally out of respect for time because I could do this for six more hours with you but I think there's a chance Josh and probably a couple months. If you don't mind we might have to revisit this and just do this again just to clarify a few things before and…
Josh Rawitch: The problem.
Robby Incmikoski: everything we have Kyle, you can cut. I'm going to I will get you. What we
Robby Incmikoski: To ask you Hey about the induction ceremony. A lot of people wonder when we watch it when Josh row. It's the first one to talk the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. By the way, do you know what you got up? No recording you got upstate by Joe by dropping out of the race.
Josh Rawitch: I do. Yes, I do.
Robby Incmikoski: I was watching the Hall of Fame and my phone started going off. I'm like, what the hell, right when you were talking.
Josh Rawitch: my same thing happened. Literally I said what I said, I walked over to the side where I welcome the guys to their seats and I saw my watch buzzing. And it was my niece telling me what happened? And I told man for Commissioner Manfred and Jane while we were sitting up there like, Hey, do you know what this happened? Then I turned to Belcher, I'm like, it just happened. it's crazy, that's how they all found out.
Robby Incmikoski: Is that by the way? Because that's something we could tell on the record, or no, I don't think Santa so that was my,…
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, probably. I mean I'm not
Robby Incmikoski: so I'm watching, I love baseball. I love the hall fit, I love it, I'm here for every minute of it, So, I sit down and eat lunch and I turn on. And then Brian Kenny, introduces you. And I'm like, all right. And then my phone starts buzzing, during the whole thing. So many, Joe Biden drops out the present, what the hell is that? when you're on stage presenting Hall of Famers, and that happens?
Josh Rawitch: Obviously, what goes on in a national level is probably a little bit more important than what goes on here in Cooperstown. But I think again, you saw history being made while history was being made. And I remember thinking while I was standing up there wow, what crazy timing that this would happen, as we're literally introducing, the greatest living legends out onto the stage but it certainly made for a couple of humorous conversations with people on stage, right? I let them know what was going on as it was happening. An interestingly, it wasn't much longer I think about two weeks later, we actually received a letter from President, Biden, congratulating us on the exhibit that we had just done on the history of black baseball. It's actually sitting right there on my wall over here. You can kind of see it…
Robby Incmikoski: Yeah.
Josh Rawitch: but yeah really Cool letter just telling us that he was proud of what we had done from an exhibit standpoint. So baseball history in American history have always kind of run alongside each other and that was certainly an example of it.
Robby Incmikoski: All right, that's not what I did want to ask you to, the stage and where you guys do the Hall of Fame ceremony, can you just explain a little bit just physically where it is in relation to the museum? And again, if people might be wondering, where do they do it? Because I asked yesterday the same thing I didn't realize, Wait a minute, why don't I see the stage? Why don't I see the part?
Josh Rawitch: Yeah.
Robby Incmikoski: And you realize the villages that small on Main Street, he just tell us a little bit about what that operation is like and where you set up and how it goes.
Josh Rawitch: Yeah, the initial induction took place on the steps of the Hall of Fame. And they were able to do that there for many years for 10,000 people or so that could fit on Main Street. We then eventually moved to Cooper Park which is right outside the window here. They could get another 10,000 or so, but as it grew and grew, we had to move to a larger space and thankfully, Jane Forbes Clark, who's the chairman of the board? She has a property here in town, right next to the Clark Sports Center, where you just have a giant field. That's about three, quarters of a mile outside of town and fans can walk there. they just walk from Main Street? And there's a pilgrimage of people making their way on induction Sunday, to wander out to the site, where it's free to attend. You can just pull up a blanket or a lawn chair. You can put your lawn chair there, the night before and have it sit there and come back for it. The next day, or for Hall of Fame members, we have actual seats and for the VIP family guests of the Hall of Famers. So it can range anywhere to 80,000 people who show up on induction Sunday
Josh Rawitch: We need a very large site and what's amazing about the spot is it's a giant field that we construct the stage in the tent and the MLB network set. And the high school sells their hot dogs and their water and the merchandise tent gets set up right in the middle of the field and everybody just has the perfect Sunday afternoon.
Robby Incmikoski: how do you describe induction Sunday was the chaos like
Josh Rawitch: Interestingly induction Sunday might be the calmest part of the weekend. The whole weekend has events going on from basically Thursday through Monday, but Sunday actually, because it's like if we don't want the inductees to be overwhelmed. So it's a very quiet Sunday morning usually we're looking at the weather to see if there's gonna be any issues but by that time. It is all focused on the inductees and making sure that they're comfortable that they can give their speeches that They get a lot of good time together. Just hanging out in a kind of side room where ve before they hop on the bus, everybody's hanging out for half an hour, just catching up with each other and it's those moments like that or the dinner that night, where it's just the Hall of Famers in the room and a couple of us. Usually the Commissioner myself, or the only ones at the dinner on Sunday with all of them. but it's their chance to hang out with each other and just be Hall of Famers and be a part of the greatest family and fraternity in existence. So, Sunday itself, I mean, it is certainly chaotic for
Josh Rawitch: For the organization because you've got all these thousands of people and you got to make sure that the actual logistics are there, but the stage itself is actually pretty calm, guys are used to it and the guys who have been coming back for induction for 30 years, know exactly how it's gonna go and they help them newer ones, understand how it's going to go and it's just the best way to It is a incredibly well oiled machine that this institution has known how to do for eight decades and they do it really well.
Robby Incmikoski: All right. You can cut now Kyle, I've met I meant to ask about the whole that on induction Sunday, I forgot to ask that. All right,…
Josh Rawitch: I'll get.
Robby Incmikoski: so moving forward.