 |
Lantz and his wife are frequent beach-goers,
living just 15 minutes from the shore |
Name: Jeff Lantz
Position: MiLB Dir of Communications
Age: 41
Where I’m from: Iowa City, Iowa
Where I call home: Safety Harbor, Fla.
Focusing on right now: Updating pace-of-play results.
Best advice: You can make your own break. If you work hard, treat people with respect and treat others how you would want to be treated, things will work out in the long run. And when it’s time to get that break or a new opportunity, you’ve earned it.
Exec I admire the most: Triple-A PCL Iowa Cubs President SAM BERNABE. He basically was my first boss, and in the 11 years I spent working with him, I learned how to conduct myself. He let us do our jobs without micro-managing; he trusted us to do our work and gave us a great deal of responsibility.
Must for a new hire: Writing skills. It seems like they have kind of gone by the wayside. With Twitter and all the 140-character news now, it seems like some of the students coming out of college aren’t particularly strong writers. Also, the willingness to be a grinder and put in a lot of hours. In professional baseball especially, you’re looking at a lot of 13-, 14-, 15-hour days at the ballpark.
Best book I’ve read: Baltimore Sun writer DAN CONNOLLY's “100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” It’s a great look at the history of the Orioles organization and really goes into detail about some of the great moments in the team’s history. I spent seven years with the Orioles and you hear some of the stories, but that book really does a nice job of telling the entire story. It was an easy read and hard to put down.
First thing in the morning: My wife JESSICA and I have two pugs and they’re pretty much my alarm clock. Once I get out of bed and take them outside, I usually have a glass of orange juice, catch up on Twitter, check e-mails and read the headlines from around the world in sports.
Talking tech: The versatility of a cellphone now is incredible. Eventually, it’d be cool if everybody has their own QR code. If you could go to a baseball game, just flash the code on your phone and the guy you’re paying to park at the game can just scan your code, and it’ll show up on your bank statement. You won’t have to carry cash. It’ll be an easy way to track your spending, and the companies you’re buying from can more easily track your spending habits, too.
Must have music: My iTunes covers quite a spectrum of musical tastes -- from JAY Z to KENNY CHESNEY and ZAC BROWN BAND. I can listen to just about everything.
Food for thought: Whenever I’m at a baseball game, I always get a bag of peanuts. I know it’s kind of boring, but to me, watching a game and eating a bag of peanuts is about as good as it gets. I ate so many hot dogs as a kid that I don’t really care for those anymore.
How I unwind: We're about 15 minutes from the beach, so my wife and I like to throw chairs in the sand and hang out together there. I also need to get my competitive fix in now and then, so I enjoy playing in adult baseball leagues. I still love the competition of hitter against pitcher.
Day in the life: The five leagues using pitch clocks are right around 12 minutes faster, and the leagues not using the timers are only about four minutes ahead of last year’s pace. There have been fewer violations called on the players as the season’s gone on, and players getting acclimated has been not as big a deal as people thought.
