LFY Dinner Wrap Up
Posted by Ashleigh Deal
I would certainly consider last week’s Legends for Youth Dinner an enormous success. Staff worked tirelessly to make sure the event went off without a hitch and it was definitely an event to remember for all in attendance. While Tuesday was one heck of a day, I look back on the experience and definitely consider myself blessed to be able to be a part of such a wonderful event, put on by truly outstanding people. I have never seen such an event that connects the “baseball family” in such a way, to honor outstanding achievements and to raise money to help children become a part of this family. We were fortunate enough to be joined by two fabulous former interns, KC Kolarek and Kayla Inserra, who helped to make the dinner a wonderful success. As a die-hard baseball fan, it was honestly one of the most memorable and rewarding experiences I have ever had.
As everything is wrapping up, I look back on my time spent with the MLBPAA and value all that I have learned and honestly feel lucky to have had such a wonderful experience with everyone here and will definitely take away some outstanding lessons.
Giants on the Mound
Posted by Ashleigh Deal
With two successful outings under their belt, the Giants have proven worthy confidence in their pitching staff. After Tuesday’s 8-3 victory over the Tigers, Barry Zito should be pleased with his performance on the mound and at the plate. Zito has two post-season RBI’s which effectively set the tone for the Giant’s offense in game one. A little help from Pablo Sandoval’s record reaching homerun trifecta definitely did not hurt either and surely gave the Giants a little extra cushion when the Tigers scored two in the 9th off George Kontos.
Photo courtesy of cbssports.com
Madison Bumgarner was a powerhouse in game two throwing merely 86 pitches in seven shutout innings, and all together dominating the Tigers’ offense with eight strikeouts. After struggling earlier in the post-season, Bumgarner definitely proved himself with yesterday’s performance after a 10-day break. Sergio Romo finished strong for the Giants in the 9th inning of yesterday’s game, quickly shutting down Quintin Berry, Austin Jackson, and Omar Infante. Hopefully Ryan Vogelsong can keep up the pace in Saturday’s crucial game three. With a 1.29 post-season ERA, I think he will do just fine.
How About Raul Ibanez!
Posted by Ashleigh Deal
What an exciting post-season it is shaping out to be! Raul Ibanez came in handy last night for the Yankees with a series lead on the line in game 3 of the ALDS. Pinch-hitting for Alex Rodriguez, Ibanez saw two pitches all night with a homerun in the bottom of 9 to tie it up and a walk off homerun in the bottom of 12 to move the Yankees to a 2-1 series lead. Tim Lincecum found his groove in game 4 of the NLDS to tie the series 2-2 and force the Reds into a sticky game 5 situation. Washington is trailing St. Louis entering into game 4 of the NLDS, hopefully Strasburg’s absence doesn’t prove detrimental to their post-season pitching lineup. I have faith in MLBPAA’s Heart and Hustle winner Bryce Harper to pull through in the upcoming games to finish out the series for the Nationals. In more ALDS news, the A’s came back from behind in a nail biting game 4 to tie the series 2-2. As an overjoyed Yankees fan, hopefully Jeter can continue after his unexpected foul ball to the foot as I expect to see the Yankees dominate the ALCS. Bronx Bombers!
Fall Intern Introduction
Posted by Ashleigh Deal
Hey MLBPAA fans!
My name is Ashleigh and I’m a recent graduate of the University of Denver. I hold a B.S. in business administration with a major in Marketing and a minor in Legal Studies. I grew up here in the lovely state of Colorado and am a loyal fan of the Rockies and Broncos. I have experience in the fitness industry working as a youth fitness coach so it is extremely exciting to get involved with the MLBPAA and to see how thousands of kids are impacted through the game of baseball. I also have a strong passion for the game and have grown up living and loving the ins-and-outs of baseball.
I am well into my second week here at the MLBPAA and absolutely loving it! I am already getting plugged in to events and the like and couldn’t be more excited for the fall season and what is to come. I hope to pursue a career within the industry and getting started with the MLBPAA seems to be incredibly beneficial so far. I look forward to the rest of my time here and am excited to learn more about the MLBPAA and its outstanding effects!
Goodbye to the MLBPAA
By: K.C. Kolarek
It is truly surreal to imagine that today marks the last day of my internship for the MLBPAA. The experiences that I have had throughout the course of these past few months are invaluable, and more than anything excite me for my future career. Most young professionals are grateful for an internship that they can simply put on their resume even if they didn’t gain anything worthwhile out of the experience. I’m grateful to have had this opportunity to be challenged and trusted with real projects that have bettered my writing, communicating and overall professional persona in the workplace. The people who I have met and worked with along the way are a significant reason why I’ve had such a great experience here.
Looking back on my first post even shows the personal growth with which I have undergone while here at the MLBPAA. One of the biggest things I have learned here is to not settle. Sure, the bare minimum may be OK for some people– for some employers. But ultimately where does that bare minimum get you? If you’re content with the mundane, ordinary, ”acceptable” standards then keep right along settling. Personally, I expect more out of myself and have learned that I am capable of achieving just that — the extraordinary.
Alright, enough of the melodrama. So long to the MLBPAA and Colorado Springs. I sincerely hope this won’t be my only time out here in the beautiful west.
Internship Farewell
Posted by Spencer Heintz
The past 3 months at the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA) have been wonderful and I cannot believe that my summer internship concludes this afternoon. Over the course of the summer, I have been fully immersed in the day-to-day operations at Alumni headquarters. Given the opportunity to have planned and managed my very own Legends for Youth Clinic as well as coordinating 15 Heart and Hustle presentations across Major League Baseball have definitely been the main highlights of my summer. Before I began in late May, I had no idea that I would be responsible for events of this magnitude. Typically, interns at other companies are thrown in to do mundane work and rarely do they come out with unmatched experiences. Luckily, MLBPAA has trust in their interns and I was able to work on these projects and learn a lot along the way. Aside from working closely with the Legends for Youth clinic and Heart and Hustle award, I also was lucky enough to travel to Kansas City, Missouri for the 2012 MLB All-Star game. After working long days in Kansas City at Fan Fest, I learned first hand that working in the sports industry is hard work, but also extremely rewarding. All of the employees at MLBPAA have been so helpful and welcoming this summer and I am glad to say that I have a network of great people to come back to when I return to Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Every great experience has to end sometime and that time has come. In just two days, I will return back to Sun Devil Country (Tempe, Arizona) to begin my senior year at Arizona State University. With only one year left, I am so excited to get back and reunite with all of my friends, especially my Pi Kappa Phi roommates: Justin, Alex, and Brian at our new house called, Epsilon Estate. This living arrangement will cap off an amazing four years at an amazing university. Get ready boys! Once I get settled, I will begin another internship with Sun Devil Athletics in the Marketing department. The lessons I have learned and my experiences from this summer will definitely follow me to that internship and help me immensely.
To everyone at MLBPAA and the people I have met along the way, thank you all for a great summer and a fantastic experience I will never forget!
It’s all in the Family
By K.C. Kolarek
To many, family is the most important thing in life. Whether it’s calling your parents when you receive big news, or celebrating monumental moments together — it’s impossible to put a price on family-bonding.
This week in baseball reaffirmed this, as a father-son duo now share their first career-win date, and two brothers made history.
Steve Johnson, rookie pitcher for the Orioles, got his first career-win Wednesday, August 8th against the Seattle Mariners. Johnson; whose father, Dave, pitched for the Orioles from ’89 to ’91, struck out nine batters in six innings pitched. His first major-league start just so happened to occur exactly 23 years after his father made his first career start in Baltimore.
Johnson’s father, who presented centerfielder Adam Jones with the MLBPAA Heart and Hustle award during a pre-game ceremony. was there to see his son’s spectacular debut.
As if seeing a young player do well the first time out on the mound doesn’t win over any crowd, Johnson’s post-game interview about his father being there to see his first W is enough to bring on the waterworks.
“It’s something I was thinking about for a long time — get my first win and have him here,” Johnson said. “And the way those days worked out, 23 years to the day, it’s just special. It’s all I can really say about it. It means a lot to me.”
Equally exciting, Justin and B.J. Upton each hit their 100th career home runs on Friday, August 3rd. Obviously siblings are competitive with one another, but that’s just ridiculous. Surprisingly enough, the Upton brothers join the club of five other pairs of brothers to reach that milestone. Those on the list include: Joe and Vince DiMaggio, Sandy and Roberto Alomar, Clete and Ken Boyer, Bret and Aaron Boone, and Bob and Irish Meusel.
What’s even more surprising? The Upton brothers have homers on the same day 13 times during their careers. Including, their 99th home runs and their 100th homers.
Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports
Not the first time the Upton brothers have made history. In 2002, the brothers became the first brother duo to ever be selected first and second overall in the baseball’s amateur draft.
So who gets bragging rights? Justin went No. 1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks AND connected for his 100th home run 44 minutes earlier than B.J. Geez, B.J. really has some catching up to do…
Another week in baseball; two more marks in history made.
MLB Social Media Sites #Hacked
Derek Jeter missing the remainder of the season for a sexual reassignment surgery? The Washington Nationals are relocating to Montreal? Boy, Thursday was a pretty eventful day in baseball for many clubs…
More like Thursday proved a lesson to us all that in today’s day and age, social media should come with a ‘WARNING: Handle with Care’ sign. The vast majority of us all, rely upon social media for the latest headlines and sources for information. In the workplace, it’s used as a primary tool for organizations to engage with fans and communicate with them the latest and greatest information related to their company. Well that’s fine and dandy when the information is accurate and truthful, but it can be more along the lines of disastrous and damaging when the information is false. This was the case for the N.Y. Yankees, and eight other baseball organizations, when let’s say– colorful, tweets were sent out to their 5.9 million fans on Facebook.
Evidently, a not-so-happy employee of the Major League Baseball Advanced Media is responsible for the bizarre postings on the social media site; of which they have access to all 30 MLB teams’ social media pages. Lesson here: social media is immediate and permanent. Even if the postings are removed, 6 million+ followers already saw it before you removed it.
With great power comes great responsibility? Clearly, superheros aren’t the only ones who carry that load…
Full story on the incident can be found here: http://deadspin.com/5931486/yesterdays-flood-of-berserk-baseball-team-facebook-posts-were-made-by-a-rogue-mlb-employee
Clinic Recap, Moving Forward
Posted by Spencer Heintz
On Saturday, July 28th, I had my Legends for Youth clinic at the United States Air Force Academy. I am proud to say that the clinic was very successful and it felt amazing to see all of my work come to fruition before my eyes on the Falcons baseball field. With the help of the alumni clinicians Mark Lee, Brian Fisher, Fran Mullins, Bob Knepper, Michael Thompson, Skip Jutze, and Frank Kolarek; local youth from the Colorado Springs and Denver regions were able to learn baseball fundamentals from the very best. At the end of the clinic, there was an autograph session and I couldn’t help but notice the joy on the faces of all the kids who just received six inspiring autographs. Looking back, I feel so proud that I was involved with such a great event of the MLBPAA. With only about two more weeks to go in my internship, the MLBPAA staff will begin phone interviews today for the Fall Internship program. It will be very interesting to see the other side of the interview process as I was the one being interviewed just months ago. I am confident that we will select some great interns for what should be a very busy Fall season.
MLBPAA Fall Internship Openings- What does it take to be an MLBPAA intern?
By: Spencer Heintz, Nicki Keller and K.C. Kolarek
As the end of summer is fast approaching, the MLBPAA is actively seeking qualified candidates for the Fall 2012 internship program. A full list of qualifications can be found on our website, baseballalumni.com.
Having been interns for the past two and a half months, we thought that it would be helpful to hear about the internship from our personal perspectives. Whether you’re interested in event planning, marketing, public relations, or a little bit of everything; the MLBPAA internship program provides hands on experience into the fast-paced sports industry.
Special Events internship position, Spencer & Nicki: The past few months have been a great experience here at MLBPAA. Every day is different as there are always different tasks and projects to be completed. The two main projects during our internships this summer have been planning and managing our very own Legends for Youth clinics in Denver and Colorado Springs as well as coordinating 15 Heart and Hustle Award presentations each for the American and National Leagues.
The Legends for Youth Clinic project was spread out over the course of three months. It began with booking a venue for the clinic and inviting former Major League baseball players to teach the youth. We then promoted the events through email blasts and various social media outlets. More steps go into the planning of the clinic, but on the day of the event, we were the leaders and we ran the show.
MLBPAA’s Heart and Hustle Award was a very different project from the LFY clinic, but still required an attention to detail and communication. We were responsible for coordinating presentation dates, booking alumni presenters, and promoting the award to all baseball fans alike. This was an amazing experience to establish contact with each Major League Baseball organization. Scheduling an event of this magnitude was fulfilling to see it come to fruition as well as on live TV.
You will learn what it takes to work within a sports organization by working with special events, promotions, marketing, and social media.
Public relations internship position, K.C.: Although the public relations internship will expose you to an array of responsibilities, the constant theme and focus throughout this summer has been on good communication. Communicating with all 30 MLB teams and media outlets through press releases about:our Heart and Hustle Award presentations, Legends for Youth Clinics, and special announcements/events related to the organization. In addition to sending out follow-up emails with children’s parents who attended the clinics to survey their feedback of their child’s experience at the clinic. Helping to manage the social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest) in regards to uploading/pinning photos, status updates, Tweets, and Facebook notes, is another large responsibility of the PR intern. The newsletter, which is published three times a year, requires a lot of time in writing/editing material and coordinating the spacing of the material. I was allotted the opportunity to go to the creative ad studio to observe the process and monitor the steps that go into the various proofing stages of the newsletter. Finally, helping to promote and coordinate two campaigns, the Jumbotron/ P.A. script in all 30 MLB parks, and the Mobile Cause were two other major responsibilities.
Although pretty lengthy, that in no way covers everything of the internship. My biggest advice would be to stay flexible and eager to help with any type of project! You’ll get to work very closely with MLBPAA’s Public Relations Coordinator, Nikki Warner, which allows for a first-hand look into being a P.R. professional if that is something you’re interested in pursuing as a career.
Feel free to reach out to us with any questions related to the internship program. Again, the full listing can be found on the website http://mlbpaa.mlb.com/mlbpaa/about/employment.jsp All cover letters and resumes can be emailed to Geoff Hixson, Chief Operating Officer, at geoff@mlbpaa.com.
K.C. Kolarek
MLBPAA Intern 1
Nikki Warner
Ryan Modica
Sam Lovstad
spencerheintz
