Rawitch didn't think path would lead to Cooperstown

By Charlie Vascellaro • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

The first thing that came to mind upon hearing that 45-year-old Josh Rawitch was hired as the new president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame (he was 44 when it was announced) is how young he seems to be.

Like his predecessor (once removed) and interim President Jeff Idelson, who was 43 when he first ascended to the position in 2008, Rawitch is a baseball wunderkind, having worked in the industry since his teenage years, beginning his career as an intern with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1994.

“I don’t feel that young, maybe, because I was so lucky to start so young in baseball,” Rawitch said in an exclusive interview. “I was 18 years old when I got my first internship. Often, when my mom sees my bio and it says 27 years in baseball, she says, ‘how is that possible?’ and now I’m 45, and the answer is, I started when I was 18.”

Rawitch continued to work for the Dodgers for 15 years before more recently spending 10 years with the Arizona Diamondbacks, ascending to his most recent job as president of content and communications.