Club 303 Origins: Stokes POV

Roughly 2 years ago on Mother’s Day of 2023, I loaded up my car and drove from West Central Arkansas all the way to Southern California. I had found this random internship during a late night of searching for cool-ish summer gigs that would allow me to watch baseball for money. I somehow stumbled upon a team from Palm Springs, California and figured I’d apply. They were offering housing, a couple hundred bucks every two weeks, and a chance to call Southern California home for the summer seemed like a tough deal to beat.

On my second day in Palm Springs, I met Zach and within an hour of meeting each other we were already sharing our best fraternity war stories and I knew I’d made the right decision. We spent hours working on the field, marketing graphics, or player rosters. Soon after, Andrew and Pat made their way to town and immediately a group had been formed. We spent countless nights talking ball with our other intern friends. The apartment that me, Zach, and Pat lived in seemed to be the designated party room for the interns and 303 was the place to be after work. Some of my favorite memories will forever be coming home at 11pm after working the morning collegiate league games and then the premier game at night and getting a chance to talk shop with my boys. It was really incredible getting to see sports and life perspectives from such a variety of walks of life and backgrounds. Most nights felt like sitting down with a group of people I’d known for my entire life.

We made it a point to stay in touch following our departure from Palm Springs. Then after about a year of groupchat sports talk, we did what any sensible group of friends would do and we started a podcast. Our first couple episodes have already been released and we are eagerly working on new content for baseball fans just like us. It’s already been a blast so far and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Growing up in Arkansas meant that I didn’t have direct access to a major league team. The rangers were 5 hours away, royals were 8 hours, Astros were 5 hours, and the cardinals were about 7. My older brother however took a liking to baseball during the 90’s and the reign of the Yankees so as most younger brothers do, I followed suit and have been a lifelong supporter of the Bronx Bombers. Following the end of my days of playing baseball and going to college, I developed a love for Sports Media and front office operations. In Arkansas I’ve had the chance to work as a broadcaster for Arkansas Tech University and Lake Area sports covering baseball, football and basketball. I have also worked for the Chicago White Sox organization as the media and content director for the scout teams as well as the Natural State Collegiate League as a Public Address Announcer. I am currently finishing my degree in Human Resources Management to work in an MLB front office in the near future.

Major League Baseball has been a passion of mine for my entire life, and I’m glad to have a group of friends who're just as fired up as me.

27 Rings