By: Michael Walsh
(Right: Leah Tobin, #11- Emerson Soccer Photo; Left: Leah Tobin, 2012)
For most baseball fans across the country, a trip to Fenway Park on game day is a special treat. For some, , it’s nothing less than a dream come true. For a select few, including GNAC alumna Leah Tobin (Emerson, ’00), the walk into the century old ballpark is just the beginning of another 12 hour work day.
Tobin is entering her 4th season as the Manager of Media Relations for the Boston Red Sox. The Mansfield, Massachusetts native says it’s a job she has dreamed about ever since her senior year at Emerson College, located a mere 2 miles from Fenway Park. Despite the close proximity, Tobin’s journey from her Emerson dorm room to her Yawkey Way office was much more than just two stops on Boston’s green line trolley.
It all started in 1996, with Tobin’s decision to attend Emerson College. “My English teacher in high school recommended Emerson to me,” she said. “My uncle, who is only two years older than me, went to Emerson. My sister went to Emerson, so it just seemed like a good fit.” Tobin, who was a multi sport athlete in high school, actually played three sports while at Emerson: basketball, softball, and soccer. “I had never played basketball in my life prior to college,” said Tobin. “The coach thought I would make a good addition to the team so I gave it a shot.” After playing basketball for one season at Emerson, Tobin decided it was better to focus on only two sports, in addition to her heavy study load.
Tobin was the starting catcher for the Emerson softball team for three years straight. Tobin joined the softball team during her freshman year in the spring of 1997. She made an immediate impact on the program, and was named the team’s MVP in just her first year. Manager John Hoffman says he could never forget a player like Tobin. “My nickname for Leah was “Nails,” because she was so tough. She was quick and athletic and never wanted to take a day off,” he said. Coach Hoffman described the program as a struggling one prior to his tenure with Tobin at Emerson. “Before I took over as coach the team didn’t win many games, so seeing her be a key piece of a team that went 30-10 and watching that big smile of hers is something I’ll always remember.”
The one sport Tobin was recruited to play at Emerson was soccer. “Soccer was probably my favorite sport to play in college,” said Tobin. “It was the sport I was the best at and had the most talent in.” Her coach, Kristin Parnell, now the school’s Athletic Director, did not disagree. “Leah was a versatile player who could play anywhere. Junior year she played a lot of defense and senior year, mid-field,” Parnell said. In her senior year, Tobin was named the teams unsung hero and also made 2nd team All Conference. Knowing it was her final year in college, Tobin also knew she needed to work just as hard in the classroom as she did on the field. “Leah led by example on and off the field,” Parnell said. “Leah was very focused and I knew she would accomplish a lot [in life].”
Over in the classroom, Tobin wasn’t always sure what she wanted to major in, let alone what she wanted to do with her life. “I switched majors a few times,” she said. “I started out in law, and then I tried film, and I still wasn’t sure if that was the right fit. I sat down with my advisor and every time we talked, sports kept coming up. So I decided to go into sports media and broadcasting.”
After graduating from Emerson in the spring of 2000, Tobin took an internship with sports radio station 850 AM WEEI in Boston. When her internship was complete, WEEI kept Tobin on working the overnight shift producing the soundboard. Making just over minimum wage, and working deep into the wee hours of the morning, Tobin displayed her willingness to do whatever it took to keep moving up in the sports media business.
In 2001, Tobin took a production assistant job at the ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. After just a few days on the job, Tobin knew she had found something special. “I loved it. I was young, and working with a lot of people who were also straight out of college,” she said. “It was a great fit.” Not only was Tobin continuing to gain experience in a field she was thoroughly enjoying, she also had an opportunity to meet and work with the personalities she grew up watching on TV. “I worked a lot with Stuart Scott, Dan Patrick, Rich Eisen, and of course Chris Berman.” Tobin admitted that while working at ESPN she could see herself settling down and making ESPN her career employer. As the days went on, however, Tobin began learning, and taking great interest in what it would be like to work for an individual sports team. “I wanted to work in a team atmosphere,” Tobin said. “I have a passion for baseball, so I started looking into jobs in baseball.”
Instead of shooting up I-84 and hopping on the Pike east towards Boston, Tobin decided she wanted to travel a little more and see what was available in other parts of the country. In the spring of 2004, Tobin got her first job with a professional sports team, The Houston Astros. After two years working in Houston, Tobin decided to check out life on the west coast, scoring a media relations job with the San Diego Padres. She began working in San Diego just before the start of the 2006 season. Although life for a few years at Petco Park in San Diego - where it was 80 degrees and sunny everyday - was working perfectly for Tobin, she knew there was only one other ballpark where she would rather be working . After hearing of an opening in the media relations department with the Boston Red Sox, Tobin wasted no time spicing up her resume. On April 10th, 2009, Tobin received word that she was to be named the new Manager of Media Relations for the Boston Red Sox.
Tobin was extremely excited for her first day of work at Fenway Park, although there was one minor problem: the team was in Anaheim. “My first day with the Red Sox was pretty crazy. I was still living in San Diego, and I went down and met the team in Anaheim for 3 days before heading to Boston. It was definitely a surreal feeling meeting [Kevin] Youkilis, [David] Ortiz, [Terry] Francona, and the rest of the team.”
Nearly four years have passed and the surreal feeling has quickly changed into an everyday routine for Tobin. When asked to describe her role with the team Tobin responded, “I am the Manager of Media Relations for the Boston Red Sox. It is a department made up of 5 people: our Media Relations Director, myself, and three coordinators. I write press releases, provide game notes, work on the media guide, and help out the director with media requests for coaches, players, and staff. I compile game day notes in the morning; I am in the clubhouse at all times while media is around the players. I am out on the field during batting practice when media is around. I will usually watch the game from the media level and then head back to the clubhouse after the game ends to assist with media.”
The title of “Manager of Media Relations for the Boston Red Sox” sounds like a dream job for much of Red Sox nation. Tobin agrees, but will be quick to tell you it’s not a walk in the park. “It is a lot of work and a lot of hours,” she said. “There are a lot of perks, but also a lot of long days and long nights. You have to really, really want to do it and love what you do.” For a 7pm game, Tobin regularly arrives at the ballpark around noon, and often does not see the outskirts of Fenway Park until after midnight. Despite loving the work aspect, the Red Sox fan inside of her still exists. “My favorite part of the job is watching the games. I love baseball, and love being at Fenway Park for 81 games per year, and hopefully the postseason,” she said.
Now living back in Boston, it is a little easier for Tobin to recall what she claims was the best four years of her life. Despite all the travel, all the people she has met, all the places she has visited, and all of her success, if there was one place Leah Tobin could be right now, it would be on the campus of Emerson College. “I always wish I could go back in time and be a kid in college again,” she said. “It was the best time and I would go back in a second.” Tobin is quick to credit the experiences she had at Emerson with her success. “We had great professors who gave us hands-on experience. We had real, work-like environments. We produced newscasts and our own stories. We were doing what we wanted to do in life, and not just sitting in a classroom being lectured,” Tobin said.
One thing’s for sure; it has been an amazing run for the young girl from Mansfield, Massachusetts. Her one and only regret over the last 10 years is not pursuing a job with the Red Sox straight out of college. Instead, she had the privilege of working for the worldwide leader in sports, working for multiple professional sports teams, experiencing life all across the country, and having memories that will last a lifetime. What she has seen and accomplished over the last 10 years is enough to fulfill most people’s life aspirations, and a lot more than she would have ever seen on just two stops on the green line.