PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Jeff Cortright's job is probably the loneliest at Fifth Third Ballpark, but he loves it.
"They said, 'Just give it one game.' And as soon as I got out there, I fell in love," Cortright, the West Michigan Whitecaps manual scoreboard operator, recalled. "It's the best spot to watch a game, in my opinion."
His affection for baseball was instilled in him a long time ago.
"I grew up with my grandfather listening to (longtime Detroit Tigers play-by-play man) Ernie Harwell," Cortright said. "He had cancer at the time, so I'd come home from school and we'd listen to the ballgames on the radio. So I really became a fan of the radio calls and of baseball in general."
These days, Cortright changes the numbers of runs, hits and errors on the manual scoreboard for the Whitecaps while watching the game. He also listens to Tigers' games on the radio and updates the score on the manual scoreboard.
"It makes me feel like he's here with me sometimes," Cortright said, "which is always nice."
Fifth Third Ballpark has a large electronic scoreboard, but in the name of tradition, it also has a manual scoreboard past left field. During games, Cortright can be found behind it, poking his head through a cutout to watch the game.
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