Ross Ohlendorf didn't mention his 95 mph sinking fastball, butit probably wouldn't have hurt his chances. Department officialswere impressed that the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher wanted to workfor them in the offseason.
Doug McKalip, confidential assistant to Agriculture SecretaryTom Vilsack, recalled the secretary's reaction when told ofOhlendorf's e-mail: "Are you serious? A major league player wantsto do this?"
Good location is key to both pitching and landing a job, andOhlendorf had mastered that this summer, arranging to catchVilsack's opening pitch at a Pirates game in Pittsburgh because ofthe pitcher's interest in agriculture.
"I talked to him briefly afterward and told him my familyraised longhorns," Ohlendorf recalled in an interview at his USDAoffice. "A little while later, it came into my head that it wouldbe a great opportunity to intern here in the offseason."
Hefollowed that up with an e-mail to McKalip.
Ohlendorf said he and his father are involved in their longhorncattle business outside Austin, Texas -- the pitcher works on theranch's Web site, even during the baseball season -- and that he'sbeen developing an interest in how government works.
"So this was a really good opportunity to combine the two," hesaid.
Now, Ohlendorf shows up every day at the office for hisinternship in a kind of throwback to earlier times when baseballplayers had to supplement their income working offseason jobs.
Except that Ohlendorf isn't getting paid, and he usually takesafternoons off to work out. He typically logs a little more than 20hours a week, and plans to extend his eight-week internship, whichbegan last month, by two weeks.
Ohlendorf, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound right-hander, shares a small office with another USDA employee. His work ismainly focused on animal identification -- the nationwide trackingsystem intended to pinpoint an animal's location after a disease isdiscovered.
"I've really enjoyed it," he said. "In addition to learning alot of things and meeting a lot of neat people, I've gotten to dosome cool events too."
He mentioned one at the EisenhowerExecutive Office Building, next to the White House, focused onyouth sports, and another at a local elementary school with firstlady Michelle Obama, a fellow Princeton grad, aimed at promotinghealthy eating among children.
"If you know Ross," said Ohlendorf's baseball coach atPrinceton, Scott Bradley, "everything about his life is alwaysabout making himself better and making himself more educated. He'snot someone who wants to sit and not do anything. This is a perfectfit for him."
Ohlendorf said he's also picking up some insights that mighthelp the business back home.
"We haven't sold our beef directly to consumers very often,"he said. "But longhorn beef's very healthy, and our meat for themost part is grass-fed. I'm becoming more familiar with the demandfor grass-fed and local products. There's more of a market that wecan explore. ... I'm just learning about certification programsthat USDA runs, where you can become organically-certified, orgrass-fed certified."
Many of the cattle on the ranch are sold to people who want toraise registered longhorns, Ohlendorf said, "because they like theway they look, and they want to get enjoyment out of raising them,more so than for the end product."
Ohlendorf, 27, had a breakout season this year, winning 11 gamesas a starter for the last-place Pirates and posting a 3.92 ERA. Hewas drafted in 2004 by the Arizona Diamondbacks, who traded him tothe New York Yankees as part of the deal that brought Randy Johnsonback to Arizona. New York later shipped him to Pittsburgh inanother multiplayer trade.
Ohlendorf's college thesis was on the investment return formajor league teams on draft choices.
ESPN's Tim Kurkjian haswritten that Ohlendorf "may be the smartest player in baseball andthe smartest person in almost any room he enters."
His teammate, pitcher Zach Duke, said he wasn't surprised thatOhlendorf is spending his offseason interning with the government.
"He's a guy who has an unquenched thirst for knowledge," Dukesaid in a telephone interview. "This is something he's verypassionate about, and if he can learn more about the industry andthings that can affect his business in a positive way, he's goingto do it."
"He's kind of a geek, as we refer to him," Duke added with alaugh. "I'm kind of jealous of him after talking to him because hetold me he's doing all this stuff, getting to meet people" likeMichelle Obama. Duke said he's spending his own offseason "justkind of hanging out."
Ohlendorf said he might consider a career in public serviceafter playing baseball.
"At this point, there are a lot of things that interest me, butit is certainly one of them," he said.
But like a pitcher carefulnot to telegraph his pitches, Ohlendorf declined to share any viewson public policy -- except to say he's impressed with the USDA'sefforts at promoting healthier lifestyles for kids.
Now that's good politics.
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