By Brandon Thomas
Cornell Athletic Communications

After one season of playing professional independent league baseball in 2010, Domenic Di Ricco '09 called it quits and entered the corporate tech world in Silicon Valley. But really, his baseball career was only beginning.
 
Now in his seventh season in the Colorado Rockies' front office, Di Ricco is just one example of the pipeline that's developed between Cornell and Major League Baseball.
 
Di Ricco has ascended the ranks through a niche he cultivated through conversations with a former Big Red teammate, now serving as the director of baseball operations for the Rockies. Casey Brett '09 went straight from Cornell to work with the Seattle Mariners as an assistant to the player development manager, then passed along his early learning of the major league level's hierarchy.
 
"He and I talked about the anatomy of the front office and the different opportunities, and I thought about where I might be able to carve out my niche," said Di Ricco, who hit better than .300 in both of the two seasons he garnered All-Ivy League honors with the Big Red. "What I identified was trying to become a rules and transaction strategy expert and that being my value to bring to a front office."
 
A few years later, he got his opportunity in exactly the role he envisioned. Di Ricco was hired by Major League Baseball for a role that essentially acted as a consultant for all of the league's 30 teams on rules interpretation and strategies relating to managing the active 26-man, the often over-looked 40-man roster, and player movement through some of the league's lesser-known avenues like waivers and the Rule 5 draft.
 
"Baseball is very litigious and we all operate under the same rules, so a potential competitive advantage is being able to maximize our opportunities under those rules," he said.
 
The Rockies plucked Di Ricco from the league offices less than two years later, and he has been in baseball operations with the team for 5½ years. His job has many facets, like preparation for the team's upcoming opponents. His communication background is on full display there, as he acts as a conduit between what the coaches and the research and development teams bring to the table.
 
All teams have their own unique challenges when it comes to building an overarching strategy. But perhaps no team as a bigger applicable factor than that of Colorado and its home environment. The thin, mile-high air allows a baseball to both fly farther and spin less – both moving the needle drastically toward a hitter's advantage. And while Coors Field's fair territory measures up as the largest in Major League Baseball at 2.67 acres, that added acreage helps to keep home runs at a reasonable level with a byproduct of asking much more of manual defense.
 
"Playing in Coors Field presents its challenges, but we also recognize that both teams have to play there," Di Ricco said. "So the basic fundamentals of baseball still hold true – pitching well, putting the ball in play and putting pressure on the defense. This is our home stadium, though – so we feel there are opportunities to exploit in the marketplace from player acquisition to talent acquisition."
 
Brett, who now serves as Major League Baseball's vice president for gaming and new business ventures, and Di Ricco are far from the only Cornell connections to Major League Baseball. Alex Smith '14 (Chicago Cubs) and Trey Baur '18 (Philadelphia Phillies) also hold positions in baseball operations, and Frankie Padulo '17 (Minnesota Twins) is an advance scout.
 
Beyond alumni specific to the baseball program, there is a whole other collection of Cornell graduates at all levels of the world's top baseball league. At the team level, Neal Kaplan '95 (vice president, strategy) and Jeff Lebow '11 (assistant director, professional scouting) are in the New York Mets' front office. At the head of it all are two more School of Industrial and Labor Relations alumni – Rob Manfred '80 has entered his seventh year as the commissioner and Dan Halem '88 serves as a deputy commissioner for baseball administration and chief legal officer for Major League Baseball.
 
More recently, the student-run Big Red Sports Network has seen former play-by-play broadcasters Alex Gimenez '15 (Coordinator, Major League Operations for the Boston Red Sox) and Hudson Belinsky (Area Scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks) make waves.
 
"We all do our best to stay in touch, and at certain points on the calendar when we're not competing on the field, we're always developing that network and keeping in touch," Di Ricco said.
 
Remembering those who helped him find his path, Di Ricco enjoys reciprocating those efforts. He's involved with the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network, and he's worked with former teammate Frank Hager '12 – now an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the team – develop the Cornell Baseball Mentorship Program.
 
"I enjoy conducting informational interviews with prospective front office applicants, because that is the way I got my break," he said. "It was through developing relationships and getting to know people in the industry until I got my big break, so I want to be sure to give back."