Tim Kurkjian and me...

Some of you have heard this story, but I feel it's worth retelling...because it's awesome.

I had a nice conversation with a lady in Reagan International Airport in July 2004. I attempted to contact Tim Kurkjian through his email address on ESPN.com, but the email kept getting bounced back. So I ended up writing him a real letter and sending it to Bristol. I'll let the letter tell the story:

August 25, 2004

Tim Kurkjian
ESPN
ESPN Plaza
Bristol, CT 06010

Dear Tim,
As a huge fan of your work on ESPN and the insights you bring to the Baseball Tonight telecasts, I had to write and tell you this story.

About a month ago, while at Reagan International Airport en route to Philadelphia, my sister and I struck up a conversation with a nice lady in her 70s. When she found out that I worked in sports and had a passion for baseball, she mentioned she had an old family friend who was "a sportscaster for ESPN."

She went on the talk about what a nice family he had, how her boy had played with their boys over the years, and how he was doing so well for himself at ESPN. "The Kurkjians," she finished her story. Fully expecting someone I had never heard of, I said "As in TIM Kurkjian?" Her eyes widened and she said "YES! Timmy Kurkjian! Do you know him?" I laughed and said, "Not personally, but I do see him a lot on TV." She was so happy that I was familiar with your work.

Soon after we boarded our plane, but she said if I ever talked to you, to mention Helen Hughes! So I have! It was nice to find out that you, someone who comes across as so knowledgeable and personable on TV, is in fact as nice as I would hope him to be.Have a great day, Tim!

Sincerely,
Emily...........
(put my name, company, and email here)

Well, a month later... TIM KURKJIAN CALLED ME AT WORK!

Tim: "Emily, this is Tim Kurkjian, how are you?"
Me (in a high voice): Oh my gosh, I'm fine, how are you?"
Tim: "I'm fine! I wanted to thank you for writing...."

He then told me all about Ms. Hughes. He asked me what I did for a living. I told him, and also mentioned that I had worked in minor league baseball in media relations (and hoped to again one day). He talked a bit about his experience in the Carolina league years ago, and how he really enjoyed it. He then asked me "so do you travel much with your job?" and I said "Actually, no, this is the first time in my sports career that I haven't had to travel or go to events nightly."

Then he said, very earnestly, "Well, if I am ever at an event near you, or you know I'm going to be somewhere, please come over and say hello."

How freaking nice is he!?!?!? Seriously one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me.

By the way, on my letter to him (typed on plain white paper), I simply put my name, company, and email address. No phone number. So he made the effort to look up my company website, call the operator, and ask for me. Unbelievable.

That more than made up for the time I almost met Cal Ripken, Jr. But that's another story...


More baseball stuff....
You do know the Braves pitchers have a hitting pool every year, right? They have for at least the last 10 years--it used to be a Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz thing, and now it's a Smoltz-Hudson-Hampton-Thomson-Ramirez thing. Each one get points for singles, doubles, sacrifices, etc. It's so precious.

Here is a good article that talks a bit about that, but mostly about the resurgence of Mike Hampton, written by said-good friend, Tim Kurkjian.