My worst Media Day ever

I’m in the dark.

I’m sitting in front of my lap top computer on Media Day at AT&T Park and I’m completely in the dark. Seriously.

I’m in the Media Work Room, across the hallway from the Giants clubhouse, and there are no lights on above me in my compartment. I knew the Media Work Room would be in the bowels of the ballpark but I never imagined it would feel like a dungeon. It’s cold and quiet and a bit spooky but, thankfully, I don’t hear anyone screaming and that creepy-looking Brian Wilson hasn’t walked in.

Yet I feel that, like Giants baseball, this is torture.

I have been a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America since 1986 and I’m a past president of the BBWAA’s Bay Area Chapter and I once stood between home plate and the mound on Opening Day and handed Barry Bonds a trophy.

But right now I feel so much like an outsider. I’m no longer a member of the working media because I was laid off from my old job – not my fault -- and my new job is in public relations so I supposed to now have a different opinion of working media.

I used to live in this ballpark and live for its big moments but tomorrow, for Game 1 of the World Series, I will be sitting in front of my TV set in my living room.

Darn. How I miss this game and the excitement it generates. Which is why I came here today. My BBWAA pass allowed me access and I wanted to see and sense what I’m going to miss tomorrow.

Wait! The lights just came on! There’s Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury sitting five seats away! My hero! I’m saved!

There are fewer people in here in the Media Work Room and less insanity than in the main press box. People like KNBR’s Marty Lurie, who lives and breathes baseball and may know more about the sport than anyone I’ve ever known, has been moved from the main press box to the auxiliary press box in the upper deck in leftfield, which is further from home plate than The Glove.

I’m now feeling like I will have a better seat than him to watch Game One and that’s not right.

I’ve seen a lot today. Workers spray painting through stencils the World Series logo on the grass between the dugouts and the first and third-base lines. Tim Kurkjian of ESPN talking on his cell phone in a seat near the Giants bullpen. The MLB set being built for its broadcasts.

I almost got run over by Michael Young and Jeff Francoeur riding on the back of a golf cart speeding down the hallway as I entered the Media Work Room. I once did a story for ESPN.com about Young recalling his most memorable home run in Little League and we had a great conversation. I once voted for Francouer to be the National League Rookie of the Year the year Ryan Howard won it.

Now they are moving fast into the greatest spotlight in sports.

I’m in the dark.