New Clubhouse Attendants Bring Big League Flavor

Taking care of the players is a big deal for any team. You always want to make sure they are happy in every way possible and sometimes that can be a hard thing to do.

Two new faces have joined the Mobile BayBears staff for 2012 charged with handling that task.

Andy Finn and Marc Carranza will be taking over the duties as clubhouse attendants for the BayBears and the visiting teams this season.

Each comes to the BayBears with a plethora of experience taking care of players because they have been where all of these players hope to be. Finn and Carranza are joining the BayBears staff after spending the past several seasons as part of the Cleveland Indians clubhouse staff.

"You really get star struck sometimes in a major league clubhouse seeing guys up close that you usually see on television," Carranza said. "But once you work with them, you realize they are just regular guys."

"The atmosphere in a major league clubhouse is a lot of fun," Finn said. "Before the game, there is a lot of fun going on playing cards and joking around, but after the game - especially losses - things can get heated. They just don't like to lose."

Carranza will be handling the visiting clubhouse this season for the BayBears. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Humanities. Marc worked with the visiting clubhouse for the Indians for six seasons. There, he worked as a visiting clubhouse attendant and batboy.

Carranza is from Strongsville, Ohio. He is a Cleveland sports fan, as well as a Buckeyes fan. In his spare time, he likes to play piano and guitar and occasionally likes to get down on the dance floor.

Finn will be the BayBears clubhouse manager this season. He served as a visiting clubhouse attendant with the Indians for seven seasons. His other jobs included umpiring baseball and softball for Regional Umpires Association in North Royalton, Ohio and he also coached two years of high school baseball at Marlington High School.

Finn lived in North Royalton, Ohio prior to moving to Mobile. He graduated from the University of Mount Union with a B.A. in Sports Business. In his free time, he enjoys to fish and golf and is a die-hard Cleveland sports fan.

"I know for me, I've been a baseball fans all of my life," Finn said. "We always had tickets to Indians game and to be on the field before games and look up to the seats we had when I was a kid was quite an experience.

"I think being a part of this team is going to be a special experience also seeing guys who will one day be major leaguers."

"Just getting a chance to be a part of the team in a clubhouse capacity is a fun job," Carranza said. "You get the opportunity to work with players who are hoping to get to the major leaguers. You want to be a part of something like that as a baseball fans because it makes your job easier."

Finn and Carranza are already off-and-running with their new jobs as the 2012 BayBears are only 21 days from starting the season in Mississippi, before returning home Tuesday, April 10th for the home opener against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.