An opportunity for students to meet a Major League Baseball General Manager

C/O McMaster Sports Community, Guest speakers Sundeep Dhillon & Richard Martinelli

McMaster alum and 2021 World Series Champion Alex Anthopoulos to headline event with the McMaster Sports Community

The McMaster Sports Community is offering McMaster students an opportunity of a lifetime to those interested. Alex Anthopoulos, the General Manager of the Atlanta Braves, will be joining MSC for a general discussion and a question and answer session over Zoom, marking the first time the speaker has ever returned to the school. The event will be taking place on Dec. 8 at 6:00 PM. 

At the event Anthopoulos will be joined by close friends of his from his time at McMaster, Sundeep Dhillon and Richard Martinelli, who Anthopoulos credits as being highly impactful in his career success, and a large part in both his life journey, and his time in university. 

As a former Mac student who studied economics, Anthopoulos has built an impressive career for himself in the world of sports. He acted as the GM of the Toronto Blue Jays from 2009 to 2015, and currently works as the GM of the Atlanta Braves. Impressively, he has recently become a World Series Champion in the 2021 season, and is the first Canadian to ever do so as GM. 

Why is Anthopoulos’ experience relevant to MSC? Jack Hinde, Co-President of MSC, described the excitement club members feel towards the opportunity to meet and hear from a Mac alum who has carved such a successful sports career for themselves. 

“Everyone within the club is extremely excited to have Anthopoulos over to talk about his career. It really is an amazing opportunity for all McMaster students. Not only is he one of the most important GMs in [Major League Baseball], but he is a Mac alumni, which makes this event even more exciting to all of us,” explained Hinde. 

Interestingly, it was during an interview for the Silhouette that Anthopoulos was invited, and accepted to attend this MSC event. Jovan Popovic, Sports Editor for the Silhouette and Co-President of MSC, invited the accomplished Mac alum to host the event for the club. 

“Well, when Jovan [Popovic] had an interview with Anthopoulos a couple of weeks ago, he offered the GM an opportunity to host the Q and A over zoom for the club. To our excitement, Anthopoulos accepted and that is what made us really happy: to have a very busy man with consistent duties take some of his time to do an [event] for our club,” explained Hinde. 

While this is an excellent chance for students to learn from a figure in sports of significant stature, this is also an opportunity for Hinde and the rest of MSC to represent the Mac community for all it’s worth. 

“Most of us are still in disbelief about this, as it means so much to the community, especially the baseball fans who knew about Anthopoulos for years. We are just so thankful for it, but now I feel like we have a bigger job to do when it comes to the interview. We have to be well organized and we want to represent the club in the best way possible to him,” said Hinde. 

Those interested can keep their eyes peeled on the MSC Instagram page, where they will post frequent updates about the event. Sign ups for the event also remain open through their Google form. The guest speaker appearance is available to all McMaster students, not just club members, although sign-ups will be capped at 50 people.