Brice Everson ’20 Clinton LumberKings – I would like to start off by thanking the Mellon Foundation for funding my internship opportunity this summer. I am truly grateful to be able to have a meaningful internship as a freshman.
I am currently an Operations Intern with the Clinton LumberKings, a Class A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners located in Clinton, Iowa. This summer has gotten off to a great start and I’m already learning a lot about how professional sports teams operate on a daily basis. As part of the internship, I am running a program called GameDay, which is a computer application used by all MLB and MiLB teams. I track the entire game from the press box and document every pitch from pitch location to result of the play. While I do this, I am constantly contacting people who work for the MLB in New York, who are helping me operate the program smoothly and resolve any issues I encounter during the games.
After the game, I work in the front office with financials, where I help count money using a bank system they have developed. Using bags containing revenue from the game that night, we create a bank of the earnings from each bag and keep track of them individually and add all up to find out how much was made in total revenue each night and compare it to the actual inventory given by the computer. I found this experience to be the most useful for a couple reasons: first, I plan on working in finance. Second, I get to rub elbows with the General Manager of the team, Ted Tornow, who is a great connection for me to have for more possible opportunities in the professional sports industry.
Overall, this has been an incredible experience and the knowledge and connections I am garnering can be helpful for me next summer when I intend to intern for another baseball team. I have really enjoyed seeing what it’s like behind the scenes, from set-up to close-down, for a professional sports team. I am looking forward to finishing my internship up strong and bringing back a story to tell for everyone to hear!
