From Behind The Lens To Behind The Mask

(Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium - Vancouver, B.C.) - On most days during the 2014 season you could find Vancouver Canadians Video Coordinator Greg Densem tucked away in some small room out at Scotiabank Field sifting through countless hours of baseball footage.

Densem, 24, was responsible for getting as much video footage as possible on each and every Canadians player as well as the opposition which pretty much made him the busiest staff member in the ballpark as he ran around with his trusty camera and tripod.

To look at Densem, you wouldn't think that the former Junior National Team member would be in the back rooms of a baseball diamond as opposed to being crouched behind a plate as the stocky former standout still looked like he could play.

It's said that baseball is all about opportunity and having your foot in the right doors and after advising the Blue Jays last fall that he was looking for other opportunities, they took it to heart - literally.

Fast forward to Easter Monday 2015 where Densem was suddenly without camera and tripod, volunteering alongside an amateur baseball team in Toronto when his phone rang.

The caller was Kevin Malloy who works with the Blue Jays and called Densem in a pinch. The request coming from Toronto was to have Greg fly from Toronto to Yankee Stadium to join the Blue Jays on the road and become the team's bullpen catcher for the next calendar month.

"I got the call from Kevin and he told me to stay close to the phone as I would be getting a call from Tony (Lacava)," reflects Demsem who chatted with www.canadiansbaseball.com while packing his bags in advance of his flight to New York.

"I can't believe this is happening and that tomorrow night I will be in Yankee Stadium catching the Blue Jays."

Densem will get the five-star treatment as he'll receive the per diem, the fancy hotel room and most importantly - the uniform. Densem will never leave the bullpen, but for the former UBC catcher, that suits him just fine.

What makes this a neat story is that it shows what it means to keep the window of opportunity open ever so slightly.

Densem was more than fine working within the Blue Jays baseball operations once more, was simply looking to keep his foot in the game he loves so much. It wasn't his forte to be behind the lens of a camera spending the wee hours of the morning uploading footage to the Blue Jays scouting department - but that was the gig, the opportunity that presented itself.

If there was one person that would know current Blue Jays reliever Miguel Castro - it might be Densem who tracked his every pitch before building reports on velocity, angle and every other slight detail that is rarely seen by the naked eye.

Bottom line, Densem is in the Major Leagues. Sure there will be little fanfare that a former video coordinator will get a month catching bullpen sessions, yet for us fans, perhaps it gives us all a little taste of what it would be like to suddenly get swept away by your boss and given the keys to the most expensive car in the parking lot.

Yeah, maybe it's just a test drive, and yes, you will have to give the keys back to the owner - but for this brief period of time - how amazing would it be out on the open road with the top down and the wind whisking through your hair - to feel what it's like even for a moment to have the road all to yourself.

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