Job Posting: Boston Red Sox David Ortiz Fellowship
Position: Boston Red Sox David Ortiz Fellowship
Location: Boston
Description:
The Boston Red Sox, in partnership with Major League Baseball have created The David Ortiz Fellowship Program, with one of its purposes being to promote and encourage greater racial and gender diversity within baseball front office positions. While the specific job responsibilities may change from one year to the next, each calendar year one new individual will be selected for this Fellowship to work in a Red Sox front office position. In addition, the Fellow will travel to New York two or three times during the course of the year to meet with leaders within Major League Baseball and work on projects for the Commissioner’s Office. The goal of this work will be to broaden their exposure to the baseball profession and give them the skills they need for future positions in the field.
The position reports to the VP, Baseball Research & Development, and candidates are expected to start in Jan. 2018.
Responsibilities:
For the 2018 calendar year, the Fellowship will include a focus on analytics,c while also providing exposure to all departments within baseball operations. Some specific responsibilities include:
- Statistical modeling and quantitative analysis of a variety of data sources, for the purpose of player evaluation, strategic decision-making, decision analysis, etc.
- Ad hoc queries and quantitative research in support of general Baseball Operations tasks.
- Overseeing daily updates to our baseball information system.
- Monitoring the quality of external data feeds.
- Staying current on publicly available baseball research.
- Various game-day duties, as necessary.
- General intern duties.
Qualifications:
The Fellow we choose will embody the determination, enthusiasm and energy that David Ortiz brought to Fenway Park and the game of baseball each and every day. People of color and female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Additional desired qualifications include:
- A college or graduate school alum seeking to gain entry-level experience within the sports industry.
- A strong foundation in mathematics, statistics, computer science and/or engineering.
- Experience using SQL.
- Familiarity with current baseball research and analysis.
- Familiarity with a statistical software package such as R.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word).
- Other programming and database skills are a plus.
- Strong work ethic.
- Excellent communication skills.
- Attention to detail while also having the ability to work quickly balance multiple priorities.
- Ability to work evening, weekend, and holiday hours is a must.
- Lastly, and most importantly, a passion for baseball and strong baseball knowledge.
To Apply:
To apply, please send an email to analyticsresume@redsox.com with the subject “David Ortiz Fellowship.” Please include the following items/answer:
- Updated resume.
- Example of analysis you’ve done, preferably related to baseball.
- What is a project that you believe would add substantial value to a baseball team? Please describe the project and provide an overview of how you would complete it.
Paul Swydan used to be the managing editor of The Hardball Times, a writer and editor for FanGraphs and a writer for Boston.com and The Boston Globe. Now, he owns The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Acton, Mass. Follow him on Twitter @Swydan. Follow the store @SilUnicornActon.
I was hoping from the job title that the work requirements were simply providing David Ortiz with company.
I was hoping it involved nothing but spitting in batting gloves and rubbing them together.
A posting in mid-December after the winter meetings for a job that starts in January??
david ortiz fellowship? i assume a degree in the administration of masking agents is required.
For your own sanity, don’t use that STEM background and R/Excel skills to figure out what you’re getting paid on an hourly basis.
Them: “Dear Santa, we would like a cost controlled lefty, a unicorn, and most of all, a statistician who smiles enough to embody David Ortiz”
Santa: “I can do the first two, but is there any chance we could rename this the Carl Everett Fellowship?”
20 bucks says this position is for minimum wage with no health insurance
The paycheck is mostly about pride. The majority of the young, notable baseball executives have never and will never worry about things like rent and health insurance.
Unfortunately for the proud people working for them, the landlords and doctors don’t accept payment in pride, so the paycheck does matter. If not, does this add diversity since you can only fill the position if you can afford to live in Boston off of savings since you will be working an around the clock job for basically no pay?