A Day in the Life: Phil Wrye

Phil Wrye got an early introduction to pro baseball growing up in Concord, Mass.-about 20 miles northwest of downtown Boston.
He saw his first Red Sox game at Fenway Park as a young boy and, after college at Southern New Hampshire University, he landed an internship with the team.
Wrye also worked several months in Atlanta during the Summer Olympic Games and he is now in his 20^th year with the Baysox.
A father of two who lives with his wife and children in Crofton, Wrye started working in sales with the team and has been the assistant general manager for more than a decade.
"He and I complement each other very well," says Brian Shallcross, the Baysox general manager. "I believe he has an incredible marketing mind. I let him run with that. From my perspective, he is one of the brightest minds in minor league baseball and he has institutional knowledge that is rare for our industry."
Wrye also has a lot of energy, as a day in his life when the Baysox are at home clearly shows.
"My job at the end of the day is to bring people to the ballpark," says Wrye, sitting at his desk on a recent Friday morning before the Baysox hosted the Altoona Curve about nine hours later. There are many ways that he does that.
Here is a look at the myriad of duties for a typical home game for Wrye:
10 a.m.
Wrye has already been at his desk for 90 minutes, after getting home about 1 a.m. following a Thursday night home game with Altoona.
He has already sat in on the morning staff meeting the Baysox hold the day of a home game.
One of the many duties that Wrye is in charge of is the on-field production before the game and the Orange Ambassadors script, which includes the job description for summer interns and full-time and part-time staff.
"I want to make sure any delay in leading up to the game is not due to us," says Wrye, who has a Trey Mancini bobblehead on his desk.
On this day, with the temperature heading to the upper 90s, that means coordinating a Mother & Son event, an appearance by members of Joint Base Andrews and postgame fireworks. He also writes the script that Adrienne Roberson, the long-time PA announcer, will follow that night.
11:50 a.m.
Wrye makes the short walk from his office, which is filled with Boston sports memorabilia, to the press box at Prince George's County Stadium.
The press box is empty but two electric fans are on full steam, trying to keep the room tolerable during a Mid-Atlantic heat wave.
"At this time of day, I like to turn things on to make sure they work," he says.
That includes the computers in the press box to connect with the large scoreboard in left-center field and the message board in right-center field.
2:47 p.m.
After eating lunch at his desk - courtesy of nearby Rip's - Wrye is already preparing for the game the following day when the Baysox will wear uniforms to make the 50^th anniversary of the Moon Landing. He took a call from a man in Kentucky who wants to buy one of the jerseys.
Wrye also spends time working on booking hotel reservations in the area for family members of friends of Baysox players who will be in town for the weekend.
"There are a lot of balls bouncing in the air," he says of his daily tasks.
3:14 p.m.
Wrye head back to the press box and wipes down the counters where several game day staff members will be showing up about 90 minutes before the first pitch at 7:05 p.m.
4:06 p.m.
The Assistant GM brings water bottles on a cart to the press box and sits them behind where Adam Pohl, the veteran radio voice of the Baysox, will call the game that night with Dan Laing.
4:09 p.m.
Wrye flips the switch on the stadium public address system and music blares on the loudspeaker. That takes place around the same time a few Altoona pitchers come out of the clubhouse back of the left field foul pole and start loosening up. Among the Altoona pitchers is Sean Brady, who was born in nearby Cheverly.
With the extreme heat the Baysox, who have been the hottest team in the league of late, will skip batting practice this day.
5:58 p.m.
With the first pitch about one hour away, Wrye stands in short right field with four people from the Navy Color Guard, going over how they will present the colors.
6:38 p.m.
Wrye pops into the press box and chats with one of the game-day workers.
"You still control this one," says Wrye, pointing to a lever on the control panel for the scoreboard.
6:44 p.m.
He stands by the Baysox dugout on the first-base side as six guests throw ceremonial first pitchers to Bowie pitcher Dean Kremer.
Catching those ceremonial first pitches normally falls to a player who is not in the starting lineup, and many times that means a starting pitcher.
Kremer made his last outing of seven innings the previous night - so he gets the honor.
By now, Wrye has changed into short pants and a bright Orange shirt as the temperature is above 90.
6:58 p.m.
The three umpires arrive at home plate to go over the ground rules and Wrye talks to some of the Baysox near the dugout, along with manager Buck Britton.
7:05 p.m.
Baysox lefty starter Zac Lowther throws the first pitch to Altoona second baseman Mitchell Tolman with a game time temperature of 94 degrees.
After the first pitch, Wrye walks back of the home plate netting with one of the guests who tossed a ceremonial first pitch - Navy officer Captain Robert Coogan, Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Facility Washington.
9 p.m.
Once the game begun, Wrye speaks with some ticket holders to see how they were doing. He goes to his office during part of the game, getting ready for the game the next day with work on the game script, promotions, video graphics and game-worn jerseys for the 50^th anniversary for the Moon Landing - which turns out to be the biggest jersey auction in Baysox history.
1:15 a.m.
Wrye leaves the park after an 11-3 win over Altoona as Lowther, an Eastern League All-Star earlier in July, picks up his 11^th victory of the season while the Baysox improve to 22-6 in the second half before nearly 5,000 fans.
"I try to leave here with 95 percent done with what needs to happen tomorrow," Wrye says. He will be back later Saturday morning, ready to repeat the process at another home game.
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Editor's note: David Driver is a free-lance writer from Cheverly who has covered the Baysox since their inception in the 1990s. He has contributed to Baseball America, MLB.com, Orioles Magazine and Baseball Digest, and can be reached at @DaytonVaDriver and davidsdriver.com