My Two Summers in Professional Baseball

For the past two summers, I was given the incredible opportunity to intern with the Brooklyn Cyclones, the minor league affiliate of the New York Mets, as the team’s photographer. My job was to capture everything from home games to events to some away games for use on social media, the website and other marketing materials.

My work days were pretty routine. My dad and I got in the car, made a stop at Starbucks and prepared to sit on the Belt Parkway for an hour on the way to the ballpark.

You may be wondering, why was my dad there? Well, he loves a good adventure so he went to almost every single game during the 2018 season. Sometimes my mom and sisters came too, so the family support made it even better.

Besides, who wouldn’t want to spend quality time with me every day? Anyway, not the point of this story.

A normal day was just capturing everything possible. Whether it’s action shots, fans or contests, you could always find me running around the field and the concourse. and other fun things happening around the park. At the end of the day, I drive 45 minutes back home—since there is significantly less traffic late at night—and I do it all again next game.

I was definitely nervous at the start of the season because interacting with professionals is very different than being around college athletes. Luckily, the team was great and became super comfortable with my presence. They even started to pose whenever I had my camera on them and purposely goofed off so I could capture it.

I even got to meet some Mets players that came to Brooklyn for rehab assignments. Are you familiar with Noah Syndergaard and Todd Frazier?

Yeah, those guys.

Next thing I know, the summer is over and I said goodbye to everyone to head back to Quinnipiac for my junior year.

You didn’t think the story ended there, did you?

On January 8, 2019, I received an email from my supervisor asking if I’d like to come back and intern for another season.

I couldn’t have said yes fast enough. I was returning with team experience, some new equipment and skills I learned throughout the year.

The first person I told was my dad. As soon as I was done filling him in, he decided to become a season ticket holder to fully immerse himself in the Cyclones world for the second time around.

This summer was easier because I already knew most of the employees, staff and how to function in this environment. The toughest part was getting to know the new team and making sure they were comfortable with me throwing a camera in their faces every day.

Luckily, they loved it just as much as I hoped they would.

When the end of August rolled around, I said my goodbyes once again so I could get ready for my senior year. However, I felt like it wasn’t the end.

Playoffs were right around the corner, and I knew this team was too special to miss out on it.

Flash forward to September 4. I’m in my dorm and I hear that the Cyclones will be returning to Brooklyn the next two days for the semi finals. Next thing I know, I’m emailing professors and packing my bag to head back home.

They won both games. The Brooklyn Cyclones were going to the New York-Penn League finals for the first time since 2010.

And I was going to be there to shoot it.

Tuesday, September 10. The series was tied and the winner-take-all game was set.

Instead of telling you what happened, I’ll let my pictures do the talking.

After hours of celebrating, reminiscing and a ton of hugs and high fives from players and staff, I packed up my equipment and left the ballpark for the final time. I spent my drive home looking back at my crazy week of driving back and forth from Connecticut to Brooklyn to capture these championship moments.

At the end of both seasons, my supervisor gave me a stack of baseball cards. After looking through them I saw that a lot of the photos were mine. My photos were on a professional team’s baseball cards.

How’s that for a parting gift?

Looking back now, I can’t begin to express how grateful I am for the Brooklyn Cyclones organization and what it did for me. It solidified my passion for photography and gave me an outlet to be creative and learn to work in the crazy sports world.

This internship was just a taste of what’s to come, and I’m thrilled to find out where I’m heading next.

“The ‘Clones are hot!” – 2019 Brooklyn Cyclones