This article is featured in the 2026 Commencement special issue.
I cannot play baseball.
I am scared to catch a flyball, and I am lucky if I can make contact with a bat. The last time I officially played a baseball game was when I was seven years old, 15 years ago.
However, I will always say that baseball is the best sport. It is one of the very few sports where a clock does not end a game.
When I was applying to college, I wrote about the only thing I ever loved: the New York Mets. I schedule my life around the Mets. I cancel plans to attend games, I do my homework after watching the games and I plan trips based on where they are playing.
So when it was time for me to add another activity to my freshman year schedule, I thought becoming a sports writer for The Dartmouth would be the best choice.
I believed this opportunity would be the best time for me to showcase my baseball knowledge and let the world know my thoughts on Major League Baseball. However, I was disappointed to learn that I could not write about MLB but only Dartmouth Sports. Despite my disillusionment, I still signed up to write my first article on basketball in hope that I would eventually be able to write a piece about baseball.
After I wrote one basketball and three tennis articles, Dartmouth Baseball finished a three-game series against the University of Miami. I was itching to write an article about it despite the Big Green being swept.
I had so many questions, I watched all the highlights from all three games and I learned everything I could about the players. However, the thing I wanted to do the most was interview head coach Bob Whalen.
At the time, Coach Whalen was starting his 34th season at Dartmouth and was well established as the longest-tenured Ivy League baseball coach. By the time I arrived at Dartmouth, Whalen had 626 wins with the Big Green and was already the winningest Dartmouth baseball coach.
Due to timing, I was not able to meet with Whalen, but I was able to meet and interview three welcoming collegiate baseball players. After finishing my first baseball article, I realized that I needed to continue the baseball beat.
The first time I met Whalen was when I was interviewing him about baseball’s 2023 spring trip. I remember getting in the elevator to go to the highest floor in Floren Varsity House and feeling petrified. I really wanted him to like me and think that I was a true baseball fan.
What I didn’t know then was that my first interview with Whalen would become my favorite I’ve ever conducted. Before we even started, he took a genuine interest in getting to know me. By the end, I was already looking forward to covering the team again the following week when the University of Pennsylvania came to town,
Throughout the season, I met so many new people. Wayne Young ’72 was one of the broadcasters calling Dartmouth Baseball’s games. He taught me so many new things about the game and told me fascinating stories I will never forget.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Kim Whalen, Coach Whalen’s wife. She is one of the kindest people I have ever met. She made me feel so comfortable in a spot where I felt intimidated.
No matter the outcome of the game, Coach Whalen always made time to talk with me after. It was my favorite part of writing. Being able to learn from one of the best to ever do it gave me so much joy and knowledge. Being the beat writer for Dartmouth baseball in 2023 is one of my favorite experiences at Dartmouth.
I was devastated when the season was over because I couldn’t watch live baseball every weekend anymore. Even though I could focus more of my time on the Mets, I knew I would miss the environment of Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park.
Over my freshman summer, I had an epiphany that I wanted to drop my engineering major to work in baseball. I enjoyed writing about the team so much that I wanted to work in baseball for the rest of my life. I was advised that the best way to break into the baseball industry was working for my collegiate team.
I remember emailing Whalen the first day of sophomore year proposing a student manager role. I was over the moon when he got back to me and told me to meet him in his office in an hour-and-a-half.
Whalen told me about his past in baseball and what the game meant to him. I walked away seeing the sport through an entirely new lens: not just a series of stats and scores, but a deeply personal journey that shapes the people who play it.
We finished the conversation by discussing what a role on the team would look like for me which made me excited for what the future held in store for me.
During this time, I was also working in the Dartmouth football offices, which are also in Floren. Every time I finished my shift, I would stop by Whalen’s office and give him my life updates. He was always happy to lend an ear.
When Whalen gave me my first task of operating the scoreboard for the annual fall ball game against Northeastern University, I was jumping for joy. I cancelled my plans to go to Harvard University to be at the game.
This marked the beginning of my baseball career.
I am so honored to have known Coach Whalen during my time at Dartmouth. He has forever changed my life by teaching me so many life lessons.
Thank you, Coach Whalen for welcoming me into your team, trusting me, creating a team of student managers, being in my corner, coming to my thesis presentation and opening so many doors for me. I would not have as much love as I do for baseball now if it was not for you.
Coach Whalen, your impact extends far beyond the diamond. The lessons you've instilled, in leadership, perseverance and what it means to show up for others, are ones I will carry with me for the rest of my life. It has been the greatest honor.
Go Big Green!
