Inclimate weather postponed my first day on the job for a week. Since I was unable to get into the ballpark at all, I had nothing to do on my own at home. The rain did decide to stop at some point, and I was able to finally start.
About an hour's drive down the highway, I got to the ballpark for my internship. On my first day I should’ve looked at Google Maps a little bit closer because it took me a while to find street parking.
I’m working under Calvin Sichler in Stadium Operations, which is the everyday care of the ballpark and field. Most of the work that I’ve done has been cleaning up the stadium and solving problems that are inconveniences for guests. This looks like fixing leaks, cleaning the stadium walks and field, or setting up the dugout for players. Being able to be around the ballpark and help make it enjoyable for everyone is a great feeling. It’s been a bit smelly at times, but I enjoy the work, and I like getting to be at the ballpark all day.
During games, I go into the press box and help the team there with their duties. Within the press box, 6-8 people are usually working. So far I have gotten the opportunity to work with two different statistics systems called Trackman and DakStats.
Trackman is a statistics system that tracks each pitch thrown during the game. It measures pitch break and run, which is the movement of the ball. It also gathers data from the batter, in the event that the batter swings at the pitch. This data is useful for players and coaches, as it allows them to pinpoint a strength or weakness within their game. For example, a pitcher and their coach who want to achieve more run on a slider would look at the data gathered and determine the next step to achieve more movement.
DakStats is a system that tracks the entire game. They work closely with the official scorekeeper to document the plays. The system is also paired with the videoboard, so certain inputs like the number of strikes, balls, or outs in the inning are displayed through the software to the videoboard. Every single pitch is documented on this software, so if a player or coach wanted to view a certain moment and track the movement of the ball, they would be able to do so by reviewing the game log. When working with this software, my job is not only to document the entire game, but to be as specific as possible when describing the resulting play.
I have only been working a week at this point, but so much has been thrown at me already. I am super excited to get back to work and continue learning different softwares and data collection systems used by the team. I hope that as I move forward in this internship, I am able to get more time with this data outside of the games and write my own conclusions about the team’s and players’ performance.