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5-Step guide to getting a job in pro baseball

By Nicholas Ian Allen

May 17, 2015; Frisco, Tx, USA; A general view of Dr. Pepper Ballpark during the game between the Corpus Christi Hooks and the Frisco RoughRiders. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
May 17, 2015; Frisco, Tx, USA; A general view of Dr. Pepper Ballpark during the game between the Corpus Christi Hooks and the Frisco RoughRiders. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 6, 2015; Jupiter, FL, USA; Houston Astros owner Jim Crane (right) speaks with St. Louis Cardinals chairman & chief executive officer William O. DeWitt Jr. (left) before a spring training baseball game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 6, 2015; Jupiter, FL, USA; Houston Astros owner Jim Crane (right) speaks with St. Louis Cardinals chairman & chief executive officer William O. DeWitt Jr. (left) before a spring training baseball game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

After You’re Hired: Continue to Network, and Sell, Sell, Sell

An internship is your ultimate foot in the door, and working with a minor league (or Major League) club for an entire season is a great way to make connections in the game. And those connections aren’t solely within the one organization you work for.

Most minor league teams have corporate ownership groups that oversee multiple teams, and the executives of those clubs communicate with each other periodically for a variety of reasons (such as putting in a good word for a hard-working intern that needs a full-time job), and they will see one another at corporate meetings, league meetings, and the Winter Meetings. Once you’ve completed your internship and found a full-time job in the game, you too can meet and greet with other executives within your league or ownership group.

Also, many of the other interns you worked with over the summer will be spread out for new jobs, which can expand your network. Keep in touch with everyone you meet because you never know when you may be able to help one another down the line with anything from a job opportunity to just having someone to bounce ideas off of.

Finally, once you find yourself in a full-time position, you will need to sell. Hopefully, you gained some sales experience through your internship, whether making cold calls for ticket packages or selling adds in the souvenir program. If not, you probably need to spring for some sales training or at least invest the time and effort to read books from the library and research sales strategies online.

Unless you are working in baseball (on-field) operations, everyone sells in pro baseball – and really, professional sports. Regardless of the job title: General Manager, Assistant GM, Director of Marketing and Community Relations, Radio Broadcaster, Director of Food and Beverage. If it’s a 12-month position, it might as well be sales, sales, sales, sales, sales. Offseason? What offseason. It’s time to pick up the phone and pound the pavement.

Working in baseball is very hard work, but it’s also a ton of fun and can be very rewarding. And, if you follow these five steps, you’ll have a great shot to get a job in professional baseball.

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