Although this was considered Week 3 for most of the class, Friday marked the conclusion of my first week with MSBA in New York City. My first week as a sports business professional has been quite eventful and Friday was no exception. I’d always heard that many work places have “Summer Fridays,” days that are a little more laid back or shorter than others, but I had no idea what to expect at my office. I was unsure if I’d even make the MSBA Friday Field Trip to Yankee Stadium in time to meet up with the group but fortunately, I was able to leave in the early afternoon and make it there as planned. While being able to leave early was quite exciting after a long, exhausting first week of work and MSBA programming, it was not nearly as exciting as our trip to Yankee Stadium ended up being.
“My first week as a sports business professional has been quite eventful and Friday was no exception.”
Once we arrived, the crew was given a tour of the stadium’s historic Monument Park – a museum located behind the outfield with monuments and plaques highlighting some of the Yankees’ greatest players. While the avid baseball fans and Yankees history buffs were mesmerized by the history, some of us found ourselves more intrigued by the live players as we plastered ourselves against the fence overlooking the entire stadium. We were right on field level – it almost felt like we were on the field itself. Next, we moved inside to the Yankee Museum where Babe Ruth’s jersey, 27 different World Series Rings, World Series trophies and hundreds of signed baseballs captured all of our attention. Even though I’m not a Yankees fan (I cheer for the economy #MondaySpeaker), I felt really fortunate to be surrounded by so much history.
After looking at the existing Yankee history, we got to witness A-Rod make history with his 3000th hit! We were all hoping that this would happen tonight, but not a single one of us expected it to be a home run in the first inning on the first pitch of his first at bat. Yes, that happened, and the whole crowd went absolutely wild – high-fives and jump-hugs were abundant. To be honest, probably half of the stadium was on Snapchat and the other half was on Twitter or Instagram. I, on the other hand, elected to embrace the moment without my phone and simply soak it all in. I don’t regret that, but I also have zero pictures. You win some and you lose some. We all made jokes about what we would’ve done if we’d caught the ball (shout out to Mitch Batchelder for saying he’d have A-Rod donate an exorbitant amount of money to charity), and we learned later that night that the kid who caught the ball decided to keep it…head scratch.
In conclusion of this post and the first week, I’d like to say that while I have only just recently met the other students, I can already say that I have made unbelievable friends. I’m lucky to have the opportunity to learn the industry with 24 other individuals whose interests align so closely with my own and I’m incredibly grateful to MSBA for connecting us all. Definitely looking forward to the next 5 weeks together!