In Focus: River Cats Clubhouse Managers
Rod, the older brother, is the Clubhouse Manager for the Sacramento River Cats, and his younger brother Kevin is his assistant on the home side.
The Raley Field Clubhouse is located beyond the left-field wall, with the home locker room located on the west end of the building, and the road locker room on the east end. It also has a training room, laundry room and kitchen.
In the few minutes the Garcia brothers sat down and talked about their jobs, the common theme was that people would be surprised to witness a day in their lives.
"I mean you can tell people what we do," Rod said. "There is no way though. We could fill a whole sports page with what we do."
On the exterior, it would be easy to say they are just the guys who wash the players' uniforms, and make sure the clubhouse is clean. However, those duties barely scratch the surface of the daily tasks of the Garcia brothers.
A day in the life of a clubhouse manager begins very early, long before the River Cats players and coaches file in. And it ends long after the players leave the clubhouse for the night. The brothers agreed they work about 12-15 hours each day.
For Rod, each day starts with hours of shopping -- shopping for fresh groceries to prepare each day's meals, the majority of which he prepares himself. Rod prepares a menu for each homestand, which includes pregame and postgame meals.
"If you try to plan a meal that day it won't happen," Rod said.
Most games, behind the left-center field wall right after first pitch, you'll find Rod barbequing the night's postgame feast for the players, which is always ready before the game ends.
"I'm the barbecue guy," Rod said. "I have to make sure everything is set up and ready to go. In this business you're done before the players walk in that door because the last thing you want them to have to do is wait for their meal. They spent three hours out there on that field, battling and trying to win games and the food has got to be ready."
The brothers, who say the best thing about their job is being able to work together, have been a staple in the River Cats clubhouse for the past nine years, and are extremely passionate about their jobs.
"There's not many places where your older brother is your boss and he puts that much trust into you," Kevin said. "I can't thank him enough. It's one of those things that you can't really describe."
Rod agreed that he loves working with his brother, but another favorite part of his job involves the relationships built with the players.
"Working with my brother and just being around family (is my favorite part)," Rod said. "I tend to be harder on him, but also from my point of view being able to see the talent that comes through the A's organization as well as the talent that comes through on the visiting side. And then it's kind of a two-sided answer because you see players who were with the River Cats come through on the visiting side and the friendship that you forged with them can never be replaced. Friendship is a golden thing."
Even when the River Cats are away from Sacramento, their jobs are not done. They are the guys that make sure the team equipment gets to its location. In essence, they are always on call.
Kevin said they never want to get too far from Raley Field, because they never know when the call will come - a player gets traded, or is headed to the Big Leagues, or a player is coming back to the River Cats and they have to pack up the player's belongings and ship them to the next destination.
"You can't ever really get comfortable when the team is out of town," Kevin said. "You never want to get too far from here or separate yourself that much because you are going to be here regardless."
Along with shopping, cleaning and cooking on a daily basis, the clubhouse crew has to anticipate roster changes. The minute there is a transaction, they find the right uniform for the players, assign a jersey number and make sure equipment makes it to the clubhouse.
In a nutshell, there is no real way to sum up a day in the life of a clubhouse worker, except it's a whirlwind.