For Nick Perez ’19, it’s always been baseball. From his one-year stint on the baseball team at Rutgers University to his 2018 summer internship with the administrative arm of the New York Yankees — not to mention his three-year tenure on the diamond for Haverford — baseball has been the evident through-line of Perez’s collegiate career. It’s only fitting that post-graduation he is bound for another major league internship, this time with more of a focus on baseball rather than business.
Perez will be interning with the Chicago White Sox in their player development department. For him, this will mean moving to Great Falls, Montana, to collect video and data on the players of the Great Falls Voyagers, the White Sox’s Advanced Rookie affiliate team. Hopefully, this will be one of his first strides towards a career in the front offices of major league baseball.
“Although moving out to Montana is a big step, I’m really looking forward to learning from some great baseball minds while I’m out there and getting my first true taste of the way the baseball industry works,” said the economics major. “I’m really looking forward to contributing to a major league organization and looking to be the best resource I can possibly be for the players, coaches, and front office staff members I will be working with this summer.”
This opportunity to support a major league organization will hopefully deliver Perez to a subsequent position. “After I return from this role, I will be preparing to head back out to the MLB Winter Meetings for the second time—I attended this past year as well—to try to secure a full-year position with a Major League club.”
Perez’s ticket to the inside world of baseball came through the Haverford alumni community. “When I came to Haverford, I learned about some of the alumni connections in Major League Baseball, and I really cannot express my gratitude enough to all of the alumni in the industry who have helped guide me through these past two years,” he said. “I’ve met many Haverford alumni in the industry already, and they’ve been extremely kind and helpful in guiding me through this process.”
Perez went on to note that Haverford’s alumni network is only one facet of how the College has helped launch him into his dream industry. From the classroom to the baseball diamond, Haverford provided Perez with the materials and opportunities to prepare himself for the future he wanted.
“My time at Haverford guided me to these opportunities because Haverford really, truly motivated me,” he remarked. “Having the opportunity to learn such a diverse set of skills within a college experience is something I am truly thankful for, and something I believe will help me immensely in my pursuits. Haverford made me more eager to learn the things that I was interested in, and it sparked me to begin actively seeking out opportunities that interested me and then chase them relentlessly.”
“Where They’re Headed” is a blog series reporting on the post-collegiate plans of recent Haverford graduates.