A day in the life of the Jackson Generals stadium staff

It is about Six PM and fans are making their way through the gates at the Ballpark at Jackson to catch one of the nearly 70 home games the generals have this year.

But for the staff of the team, they have been working to get the stadium ready for this game for a while according to Tyler Springs, media relations manager for the team.

“A lot of the people who come in, they think we come in and just turn the lights on at 6:05 and are ready to go but it’s a full day process. We’re here on days even when the players aren’t playing”

The day for ball park staff can start as early at seven in the morning.

From gamer operations, to the grounds crew, each day looks different but equally vital to getting the ballpark ready.

For the concessions staff, the morning consists of getting suites and team meals prepared then in the afternoon starts the planning for that night’s game food.

“200 to 300 pounds of hot dogs on a normal saturday night and then we do picnics, so we do a large volume there. With our bbq nachos and our picnics, we sell a ton of pork as well, so you’re talking in the hundreds of pounds a week as well" say concessions manager Jeremy Wyatt.

As for the box office and team store, they are usually the first place the fans see when they are walking in so they view their work as setting the table for the rest of the evening’s experience

“it’s kind of like the walmart philosophy, you see people at the door, we want people smiling and happy because if they (the fans) see someone that isn’t smiling or unhappy, then they’re not going to enjoy their time as much" says sales manager Tory Goodman.

And after all these hours of work, it all culminates in the same thing each game day, first pitch.

The generals kicked off a five game home stand against the mississippi braves with a double header tonight.

First pitch for game one was at 5:05pm.