Bees in the news

The Burlington Hawkeye is getting baseball fans in southeastern Iowa ready for the season. First, meet the new guy behind the microphone at Community Field. How do you get a job as a radio broadcaster? Well, this is not the normal way, but it worked.

The stars must be aligned for Matt Pauley, and hopefully he'll see some budding stars this summer.

The Burlington Bees in mid-February named Pauley as their director of broadcasting and media relations to succeed Randy Wehofer. The Class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals only had to look a few blocks down Mount Pleasant Street from Community Field to find Pauley.

"We didn't open it up nationwide," said Chuck Brockett, Bees general manager. He had talked with officials of other Midwest League teams also in need of broadcasters, and they had gotten 150 to 200 resumes.

"I'm glad we didn't have to go into that," Brockett said. "We just sent out a news release that Randy was leaving, and we still got 15 to 20 resumes. We knew Matt Pauley was in town broadcasting the (Southeastern Community College) BlackHawks" basketball games on KDMG (Country 103 FM). "We knew he'd had a couple similar assignments with broadcasting and media relations" in baseball. "He dropped off a demo tape, and I was very impressed."

What does the newcomer have for experience?

"Everything fell into place," Pauley said. He'll begin his duties with the Bees in mid- to late-March.

His first assignment with a professional baseball team was as the No. 2 broadcaster for the Evansville (Ind.) Otters in the independent Frontier League in 2006. He was a volunteer broadcaster and picked up a few bucks here and there, but mostly lived off his savings.

"I left a good-paying job to broadcast for free," he said.

Last season, he joined the (Albany) South Georgia Peanuts in the South Coast League.

"It was a brand-new league and a brand-new team," he said. "Nobody else in the office had any baseball experience." With one season in Evansville, Pauley was the most experienced.

He also experienced "all the horror stories you might have heard about minor league baseball," he said. The grounds crew was fired, and he then spent his mornings working on the grounds.

Pauley's not anticipating any horror stories with the Bees. Professional baseball has been in Burlington since 1889.

Not anticipating horror stories? Well, he hasn't met me yet.

Story #2 from the Hawkeye is this one the relationship between the Bees and their parent club in Kansas City. If you want a quick sketch of the behind the scenes business of minor league baseball...

The Kansas City Royals plant their prospects in Burlington and other affiliates in the springtime of their professional baseball careers. The Bees organization nurtures them.

"They send the players to us, and that's when our job begins," said Chuck Brockett, general manager of the Bees. "We find them housing and acclimate them to the community. We have host families."

During a "Meet the Bees Night," Brockett and staff "try to match the players with the families."

"We take care of travel and meals" for the players when they're on the road, Brockett said. That includes when a player is suddenly reassigned to another team. "It's tougher to keep it hush-hush now" when a player is moved, Brockett said. Cell phones enable players to hear the buzz from others in the Royals organization.

"We want them to keep their minds on the game" and not personnel moves. "They have a job to do. Last year, there wasn't as much movement."

On overnight road trips, the Bees pay for the bus and the first 17 rooms in a hotel. If more than 17 rooms are needed, the Royals pay for the rest.

"We pay for 25 percent of the balls, bats and uniforms," Brockett said. When a player is reassigned, the Royals reimburse the Bees for the travel expense.

Bus expenses total $45,000 a season, "and the hotels are probably about the same amount," Brockett said.

It sounds like the Bees will have a top pick in their midst this season.

One of the 2008 Bees will be 19-year-old Mike Moustakas of Chatsworth, Calif.

A shortstop, Moustakas was the Royals' first-round draft choice and the second pick overall in June's amateur draft. Moustakas holds the California state high-school record for career home runs. He has 52.

Some watchers expect Moustakas, who signed up for a $4 million bonus, to make the major leagues, or "The Show," within a couple years.

Go over and read the whole thing.