Welcome to part 2 of the “Catching up with Rosey.”
As I mentioned last week Chris Rosenbaum was kind enough to respond to my email about what he’s been up to since his last blog “And so it ends.”
Some of what you are about to read actually took place before his last blog and it’s included to fill in the gaps.
After being released by the Angels, Chris went back to his part time job with H&R Block in Tempe, Arizona. Meanwhile his girlfriend was finishing up an internship at Athletes Performance in Phoenix. When tax season ended Chris got in touch with Jaime Cevallos of The Swing Mechanic who is noted for his work with Tampa Bay Rays Ben Zobrist before his monster 2009 season.
Chris went to go work out with Cevallos for a week in Dallas. He had been trading video assessments with him. Cevallos is known for helping hitters get the most power out their swing (which was one of the knocks against Chris’s hitting).
He was hoping to hook up with an Independent League team. While there, he signed a contract with the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League.
Chris went to their spring training for two weeks and during the process he decided his time was probably going to be better spent elsewhere focusing on what he called his “real career” which would either be in business or possibly in the front office side of baseball.
Being from up-state New York, Chris returned to Albany, New York to begin his quest. Armed with an under-grad degree in Finance and an MBA he decided to focus on investment banking. He looked at the field as the “professional baseball of the finance world.” As he would soon learn, it would be just as hard to break into as baseball.
He started from ground zero, cold calling and emailing banks; mostly small to mid-level sized banks. He knew the competition at the bigger institutions would be steep and those armed with Ivy League degrees and internships would have an advantage.
While searching for a job, Chris taught himself about “modeling” through an on-line course. He learned different ways to value companies; something that wasn’t one of his strengths. Just like in baseball, he realized he had to work on his weaknesses in the business world as well.
He spent a lot of time talking to people; looking for “someone who knows someone.” According to Chris, networking is very important part of breaking into the industry. Chris put in the effort, but the results weren’t coming along as he had hoped.
While Chris has had some luck talking to people, the interviews weren’t as plentiful. His most promising opportunity came at a full service investment firm in Tampa, Florida.
It all happened right around the third week of August. Chris flew down to Tampa with his family to help his sister, who was going to be a sophomore at the University of Tampa move back into school. Afterwards, he ended up flying back to California to help his girlfriend drive cross country to take her new job as an athletic trainer in Mobile, Alabama working with the baseball team at the University of South Alabama.
Along the way while traveling to Tempe, Alabama and back to Albany, Chris learned the bank was no longer interested in discussing a position with him.
Chris noted that his lack of experience in modeling and in working in the industry in general didn’t help his cause. Even though he has an MBA he lacks relevant work experience; something that’s hard to gain when you’re playing baseball. Chris said, that when push comes to shove, experience was “trumping education.”
That’s the finance side of the career search.
On the other hand, a few weeks back Chris started sending our “blind emails” to major league baseball front offices. He contacted somewhere between 15-20 teams. He’s now trying to network with this group to find out how they got involved in professional baseball.
Chris has discovered the best way in to a front office job is probably through an internship. Some are paid and some are not. His focus is on a paid internship, realizing that teams that put an emphasis on hiring from within are more likely to pay to get good quality people that they can retain if things pan out.
He believes his best shot is an internship with a Scouting Department. Chris may have found his best career path. As his girlfriend pointed out to him – he might not stand out when applying for a job in the finance world, but in baseball he’s unique because he not only has playing experience (“playing three years at a high level in a well-respected organization;” the Angels) he also carries an MBA with him.
So, that’s basically where he stands right now.
He also mentioned that he may do an internship with a AA team in Mobile, Alabama near his girlfriend. He hasn’t ruled out an internship in the business world. He’s basically looking to do anything to get some more relevant experience on his resume for either career path.
And that’s where our friend is today. Not the story book ending we might have hoped for, but then again – Chris’ journey is far from over.
We'll be sure to check back with Chris in the near future to see if there are any new developments.
If you're finding us for the first time - be sure to read Part 1 of this post as well.
Showing posts with label Chris Rosenbaum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Rosenbaum. Show all posts
October 20, 2010
October 14, 2010
Catching up with "Rosey"
When I first started writing True Grich I hadn’t really read a lot of other blogs. If I did, I probably didn’t even realize they were blogs.
All that changed in the past year as I went looking to find the best baseball blogs on the internet. Turns out there are quite a few of them. Some are written by professional writers like Sports Illustrated’s Joe Posnanski and many of them are written by every day folks just like me.
And then there are those that are actually written by professional baseball players. You might be surprised by who actually blogs (I have a list of some of them on the left).
I recently found a real gem called “Looking through the Mask” written by Chris Rosenbaum (Rosey), a former minor league baseball player from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim farm system.
Chris does an amazing job of telling his audience what it’s like to be a professional baseball player who is trying to achieve the ultimate goal of making it to the major leagues.
He had this to say in 2008:
For the lay baseball fan, it often goes overlooked that we are really baseball players in training, and that the final product on the field every night is not always going to be well polished. The time put in everyday working on hitting, fielding and pitching mechanics often goes unnoticed during days that usually begin five to seven hours prior to game time. Playing at the Class A level, we still have four more rungs to climb to get to the Majors (A-Advanced, AA, AAA, MLB). While we go out every night trying to win a baseball game, our primary objective is to develop as a player so that we are better players at the last day of the season than we were when we arrived in Cedar Rapids.
As you read through all his blog entries, you get a sense of what it must be like working your way through the minor leagues. He talks about his interactions with the fans, his relationships with teammates, the struggles of making it on a meager salary, the long days and so much more.
I found this piece regarding his relationships with teammates interesting:
Everyone in this business is trying to make it to the top. It is paradoxical that while no one can get to the Major Leagues by themselves, there is not enough room for everyone to make it. This is a team game played by individuals. While everyone is striving for the team to win, players are looking out for their individual success along the way. This balance is often strained and is a major reason why the relationships you develop with people should be kept professional with minimal vested emotion. There is only so much of the pie to go around, and no one around you is afraid to take your share.
Since Chris was a catcher and more importantly a catcher in the Angels organization that has Mike Scioscia’s thumb print all over it – it was a natural for Chris to talk about what it meant to be an Angels catcher.
He said this:
If there is a common thread throughout all of the teachings throughout the organization as it pertains to catchers, it is the strong emphasis on the pitcher and catcher relationship. When a pitcher is comfortable with his catcher, he is confident and will perform at his highest level. For this reason, fostering and maintaining these relationships is crucial for a catcher’s success in the Angels organization. These working relationships are so strongly valued that they are viewed at the same level of any other stats kept track of by the organization and can be enough reason to keep a mediocre performing offensive catcher around for several years.
Chris’s love for baseball was evident throughout his posts.
Several people have questioned why I put myself through this lifestyle when it appears that I could take my Bachelor’s and almost Master’s Degrees and go get a lucrative job in corporate America. I stick around because I love to play the game. I love the challenge that every day presents and how you never know what the next baseball discovery you will uncover. I stay in the game to experience the moment I did when we defeated Clinton in the divisional semifinals Thursday night. The excitement that our team shared that night with each other and with our devoted fans that made the trip is something I will never forget. This was the first playoff series Cedar Rapids had won since 2000, and it was amazing to see the energy of the team and the fans after winning that series.
More revealing tidbits from his blog:
The hardest part about minor league baseball is that there are no guarantees. What I mean by this, is that tomorrow is never guaranteed; you never know if you will have a job tomorrow, nor can you even be certain where you will be and who will be around you….
It is unfathomably hard to invest so much time and energy into something that can be gone without warning. Playing baseball is such a fickle profession where knowing the right people and being in the right place at the right time can be just as important as performing well on the field. However, the love of the game keeps most going during the long bus rides, minimal pay, unjust personnel decisions, and time away from home. It is the dream that most of us have had since we were young of playing in the Big Leagues that gets us through the setbacks to face another day.
Chris’s blog is all about his journey through baseball and like all journeys they eventually come to an end.
His final post “And so it ends” was posted on July 3, 2010. In this post Chris says good-bye to baseball. This post was actually the first post I read by Chris. It was so compelling, that I foun myself going back to read all of his previous posts. When I was done, I decided to reach out to Chris to find out what happened to him.
So I emailed him and much to my surprise he replied. We exchanged a few emails and Chris gave me an update on what he’s been up to. That will be the subject of my next post (coming soon). So… stay tuned.
In the mean time, I encouage you to visit his blog. If you really love baseball, you will probably enjoy learning about "Rosey." I encourage you to read all of his posts. Trust me, it will be like reading a good book.
All that changed in the past year as I went looking to find the best baseball blogs on the internet. Turns out there are quite a few of them. Some are written by professional writers like Sports Illustrated’s Joe Posnanski and many of them are written by every day folks just like me.
And then there are those that are actually written by professional baseball players. You might be surprised by who actually blogs (I have a list of some of them on the left).
I recently found a real gem called “Looking through the Mask” written by Chris Rosenbaum (Rosey), a former minor league baseball player from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim farm system.
Chris does an amazing job of telling his audience what it’s like to be a professional baseball player who is trying to achieve the ultimate goal of making it to the major leagues.
He had this to say in 2008:
For the lay baseball fan, it often goes overlooked that we are really baseball players in training, and that the final product on the field every night is not always going to be well polished. The time put in everyday working on hitting, fielding and pitching mechanics often goes unnoticed during days that usually begin five to seven hours prior to game time. Playing at the Class A level, we still have four more rungs to climb to get to the Majors (A-Advanced, AA, AAA, MLB). While we go out every night trying to win a baseball game, our primary objective is to develop as a player so that we are better players at the last day of the season than we were when we arrived in Cedar Rapids.
As you read through all his blog entries, you get a sense of what it must be like working your way through the minor leagues. He talks about his interactions with the fans, his relationships with teammates, the struggles of making it on a meager salary, the long days and so much more.
I found this piece regarding his relationships with teammates interesting:
Everyone in this business is trying to make it to the top. It is paradoxical that while no one can get to the Major Leagues by themselves, there is not enough room for everyone to make it. This is a team game played by individuals. While everyone is striving for the team to win, players are looking out for their individual success along the way. This balance is often strained and is a major reason why the relationships you develop with people should be kept professional with minimal vested emotion. There is only so much of the pie to go around, and no one around you is afraid to take your share.
Since Chris was a catcher and more importantly a catcher in the Angels organization that has Mike Scioscia’s thumb print all over it – it was a natural for Chris to talk about what it meant to be an Angels catcher.
He said this:
If there is a common thread throughout all of the teachings throughout the organization as it pertains to catchers, it is the strong emphasis on the pitcher and catcher relationship. When a pitcher is comfortable with his catcher, he is confident and will perform at his highest level. For this reason, fostering and maintaining these relationships is crucial for a catcher’s success in the Angels organization. These working relationships are so strongly valued that they are viewed at the same level of any other stats kept track of by the organization and can be enough reason to keep a mediocre performing offensive catcher around for several years.
Chris’s love for baseball was evident throughout his posts.
Several people have questioned why I put myself through this lifestyle when it appears that I could take my Bachelor’s and almost Master’s Degrees and go get a lucrative job in corporate America. I stick around because I love to play the game. I love the challenge that every day presents and how you never know what the next baseball discovery you will uncover. I stay in the game to experience the moment I did when we defeated Clinton in the divisional semifinals Thursday night. The excitement that our team shared that night with each other and with our devoted fans that made the trip is something I will never forget. This was the first playoff series Cedar Rapids had won since 2000, and it was amazing to see the energy of the team and the fans after winning that series.
More revealing tidbits from his blog:
The hardest part about minor league baseball is that there are no guarantees. What I mean by this, is that tomorrow is never guaranteed; you never know if you will have a job tomorrow, nor can you even be certain where you will be and who will be around you….
It is unfathomably hard to invest so much time and energy into something that can be gone without warning. Playing baseball is such a fickle profession where knowing the right people and being in the right place at the right time can be just as important as performing well on the field. However, the love of the game keeps most going during the long bus rides, minimal pay, unjust personnel decisions, and time away from home. It is the dream that most of us have had since we were young of playing in the Big Leagues that gets us through the setbacks to face another day.
Chris’s blog is all about his journey through baseball and like all journeys they eventually come to an end.
His final post “And so it ends” was posted on July 3, 2010. In this post Chris says good-bye to baseball. This post was actually the first post I read by Chris. It was so compelling, that I foun myself going back to read all of his previous posts. When I was done, I decided to reach out to Chris to find out what happened to him.
So I emailed him and much to my surprise he replied. We exchanged a few emails and Chris gave me an update on what he’s been up to. That will be the subject of my next post (coming soon). So… stay tuned.
In the mean time, I encouage you to visit his blog. If you really love baseball, you will probably enjoy learning about "Rosey." I encourage you to read all of his posts. Trust me, it will be like reading a good book.
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