We have to admit to still being something of an anomaly to many major league media departments.
While most reporters spend Spring scoping out Pedro Martinez or Jeff Kent, we're looking for a few minutes with Lastings Milledge or Andy LaRoche.
Crystal Fukumoto, the Coordinator in the Public Relations Department at the Los Angeles Dodgers, proves again why the Dodgers are still a class organization.
Ms. Fukumoto made sure that we had everything that we needed for our Spring coverage. Not only did it put Dodger Blue on the magazine in March: It helped us scope out players for other stories that we did on the Dodgers farm system throughout 2005.
Of all of the clubs, Crystal and the Dodgers made our job easy last Spring. Vero Beach is still one of the best places to watch the hopefuls work out, and the organization still develops some of the most exciting new talent in the business.
Spring is our only time that we have much contact with the media departments of Major League Baseball. So we appreciate, knowing that these departments are swamped with requests from both their locals and the international press, that they can reach out to minor market coverage as well.
Crystal graduated from the University of California Irvine with an Economics degree in 2003 and has worked for the Dodgers since 2002. A native of Los Angeles and a self-described "huge sports fan," Crystal played soccer for the UCI Anteaters in 2001, and plays in the Women's Premier division of the Hermosa Beach Soccer League. In addition, crystal was a Nisei Week Japanese Festival Princess in 2004.
