Jack Bloniarz '23 paid admission to visit his summer internship site last year. Unfortunately, he wasn't wearing company gear. Best to burn the evidence.
In 2015, Vanderbilt's Dansby Swanson was voted the best collegiate shortstop in the country. Jack was a big fan. He was just starting a promising high school career, and he looked up to the big hitting infielder from Georgia. Later that year, Arizona drafted Swanson with the number one overall pick in the MLB draft, then traded him months later to the Atlanta Braves. So, Jack bought a Braves jersey to represent Swanson, and also because, "I just love the colors." That was treasonous, in hindsight.
Jack's own baseball career didn't pan out the way he'd hoped. Injuries in high school derailed any chance of playing on scholarship in college, but he ultimately joined Siena's club team and always hoped he would find a way to stay involved in the game. Somehow. This spring, the business major, with concentrations in strategic communications and sports marketing, scored a sports marketing internship with the Albany FireWolves, a professional lacrosse team. He enjoyed the work and was looking to leverage the opportunity elsewhere, but to no avail.
"I've always had a passion for sports. I was happy to get my foot in the door with the FireWolves, and honestly, at my age, I'll take any position I can get. After my spring internship, I spent months looking on LinkedIn for similar opportunities. I couldn't find anything. Finally, on a whim, I googled 'Mets Internship.' I never thought I would actually hear back."
Jack was one of 700 college students who applied to be marketing interns with the New York Mets this summer. His experience selling tickets for the FireWolves was a plus, and his many years working with kids at a summer camp turned out to be a bonus. Only six applicants landed the internship (0.86%). Jack was one of them.
Last summer, he took his girlfriend to Citi Field wearing the enemy colors of a divisional rival, his Braves jersey. This year, the former high school player who gave up on his big league dreams is working in a big league stadium. And sometimes mingling with the players.
"I've been throwing a baseball around since I was three years old. Baseball has always been a passion. And now I'm in the presence of big leaguers, and it's my job. It's surreal. I was walking through the players tunnel last Sunday to get to the storage closet, and I walked by all-star Francisco Lindor getting a haircut."
Jack is a gameday marketing intern on the kids' club team. He sells family memberships on the concourse and organizes events for kids, including the Sunday post game run around the bases. Jack is hoping to parlay this experience into a full-time position with the Mets next year (assuming the Braves don't try to steal him away).
"The first time I was down on the diamond at Citi Field, I was standing behind the plate, and I was like, 'Wow, this is unbelievable!' I've been in the executive offices, and I've had a chance to talk with some of the players. They're just normal people. You see them on TV, and you think they're superheroes. But they're just normal guys playing baseball."
Jack Bloniarz '23
