Tom Davis, 26, is the entertainment coordinator for the Washington Nationals.
What exactly do you do?
I take care of a lot of the entertainment aspects of the game, such as booking national anthem talent, coordinating and booking the ceremonial first pitch, color guards, ceremonial flyovers. I manage the Nat Pack and Screech. Anything entertainmentwise that’s not the baseball game.
What do you look for in choosing entertainment?
I try to make it something special, hopefully unique to the area and the Washington Nationals. Just adding special plans for the day for people to say, “That was really cool, that’s something I haven’t seen other parks do.”
Are there 81 different national anthem singers?
It’s possible. Right now, just this season alone, I’ve probably received 50 to 75 demos. Anyone from little Susie to professional signers from the area, to people from out in California and people down in Texas.
What can we expect this year in the new ballpark?
We have a lot more space to do a concert, where at RFK we were really limited. We have the whole pavilion area behind the scoreboard. We have the plaza area behind the main gates. Hopefully we’ll be able to use those areas to doa band as people come in. Or roving things such as jugglers. Anything that makes the day a little more special.
Any changes to the racing presidents?
No real changes, just assimilating and training the new people we’ve brought on. The big thing that everyone seems to like is the presidents. They’ve really taken off, and I’d like to think the Sausages and Perogies [racing characters used by other teams] don’t stand a chance any more, and the Rushmores are the thing to be.
What can we expect from perennial loser Teddy Roosevelt?
I think people can expect to see a little more out of Teddy. He’s had a good offseason. He’s training to win.
