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Samantha Sirico has been named one of fifty finalists for Major League Baseball’s 2012 “MLB Fan Cave” competition. The 50 men and women include fans from across the U.S. and Canada and represent a wide range of backgrounds and occupations, including recent college graduates, journalists, bloggers, actors, musicians, a self-described “unemployed comedian,” a celebrity hairstylist, a made-up superhero and a professional wrestler.
The contest, which received over 22,000 video applicants through MLB.com, will reward it’s winner with a season-long stay in a 15,000 square foot penthouse located in the heart of New York City’s Greenwich Village, in the same location that formerly housed the world renown Tower Records. The winner of Major League Baseball’s “Dream Job” will have watched all 2,430 regular season games plus every Postseason game, all the while chronicling their experiences and sharing their viewpoints on baseball and pop culture through Facebook, Twitter and MLBFanCave.com while also making regular appearances on MLB Network.
Sirico, 24, readily admits her lifelong, fanatical fandom of baseball. From her beginnings in Fairfield, Connecticut, Sirico and her father were regulars at fabled Yankee Stadium until the family moved to San Leandro, California when Samantha was five years old. Despite being across the country from her beloved Yankees, who she identifies as part of her family, Sirico spends significant time during the summer at San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics games and can always be found in the crowd when the “Bronx Bombers” visit the Bay Area.
Samantha translated her love for baseball into a successful 20-year softball career. Sirico also played collegiately for two seasons at Chabot College in Hayward, California where she was a two-time all-conference selection. Upon transferring to San Jose State University in 2008, Sirico hung up her cleats to pursue a film degree, but remained active in the sport by coaching local youth teams. She still plays softball recreationally in her free time.
Sirico currently works as a video content coordinator for the San Jose, California-based isport.com where she is responsible for shooting and editing instructional and drill videos for individuals looking to get involved in a new sport or hope to improve upon their current skill set. Prior to that, the San Leandro, California native worked as a video intern for the Tampa Bay Rays where she was responsible for shooting and editing video for use on the scoreboard at Rays home games at Tropicana Field.
Fans can vote for the remaining 50 contestants from now until Wednesday, February 22 at mlbfancave.com. Major League Baseball will select 30 finalists based on fan voting, quality of the original submissions, and the ability of the contestants to generate buzz and interest in their campaigns. The 30 finalists will earn a trip to Spring Training in Arizona at the end of February, where they will compete in a variety of challenges to determine the final group of contestants. These winners will begin the season in the MLB Fan Cave with the goal of watching all 2,430 MLB games on a large wall of big screen Sony televisions while chronicling their experiences online through videos, blogs, and social media. Along the way, they will compete with one another over the course of the season in a series of challenges, with fans online helping decide who gets to stay in the Fan Cave and who gets eliminated with one eventual winner crowned before the end of the World Series.
For more information contact Sam Sirico at ssirico2 @ gmail.com