He’s been across most of the United States to watch baseball already, visiting 25 of 30 ballparks used by Major League Baseball teams on regular trips with his family, and this summer one Penn State student plans to make one of those facilities his second home.
Senior John McGonigal earned a spot in the highly competitive summer internship program conducted by MLB.com, and he’ll focus on the Pittsburgh Pirates while working at PNC Park.
McGonigal, from Aston, was the 23rd Penn State student selected to participate in the internship program in the past eight years.
Interns who participate in the program work as associate reporters and produce daily stories and videos about their assigned teams. Each intern is required to work for a minimum of 10 weeks, and they may have the opportunity to stay throughout the season and into the playoffs.
“It’s a great opportunity,” said McGonigal, who will begin his internship May 19, 10 days after he’s scheduled to graduate from the University with a degree in journalism and minors in business and history. “It’s a wonderful internship program, I’ve heard so many good things about the program from other Penn State students, and baseball is probably my favorite sport. It’s just exciting in so many ways.”
Those who made the selections were excited about McGonigal as well. More than 350 students applied to the program by submitting a cover letter, resume and writing samples. McGonigal and other Penn State candidates also met with the MLB.com program director, Bill Hill, for an on-campus interview.
After interviews across the county, the top 70 candidates were asked for additional samples and completed a writing test.
The MLB.com opportunity adds to McGonigal’s growing list of experience. He’s the sports editor of The Daily Collegian and has written for the Philadelphia Daily News, Bleacher Report and The Daily Collegian, covering seven different sports -- football, men’s basketball, baseball, men’s soccer, softball, women’s gymnastics and women’s rugby -- during his undergraduate career. In addition, McGonigal covered the 2014 Little League World Series for the Associated Press and previously completed an internship with Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia.
Although the internship might prevent any ballpark trips this summer with his family -- father John, mother Lisa, brother Joseph (a freshman at Penn State) and sister Katelyn once visited California and the Grand Canyon around a West Coast road trip for the Philadelphia Phillies -- McGonigal anticipates all that comes with the opportunity.
“It’s everything from trying to find an apartment to starting a career,” McGonigal said. “It’s just exciting, and I can’t wait to start.”
McGonigal is a member of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism, housed in the College of Communications. The Curley Center, created in 2003, explores issues and trends in sports journalism through instruction, outreach, programming and research. The center’s undergraduate curricular emphasis includes courses in sports writing, sports broadcasting, sports information, sports media and society, and sports and public policy, which is cross-listed with the Penn State Dickinson School of Law.