There’s a lot more to the job than meets the eye, such as trying to confirm or shoot down every rumor about your team on Twitter, meeting deadlines for stories due before, during and after games, transcribing hours of recordings to find the right quotes and dealing with athletes, managers and executives who might not be in the mood to talk.
But even your worst day covering baseball is better than the best day at some mundane jobs, and few have done it better or longer than Mark Gonzales, who left the Chicago Tribune on Friday to begin a new chapter.