Lettermen's Spotlight: Carlos Brizuela

LITTLE ROCK – This month's Lettermen's Spotlight features former Little Rock baseball player Carlos Brizuela. Brizuela won a Sun Belt Tournament championship with the Trojans in 2011 and currently works in the front office of the Milwaukee Brewers.
 
After graduating with a degree in Business Management in Dec. 2011, Brizuela was a graduate assistant in the Little Rock Department of Athletics. Specializing in student involvement, Brizuela helped increase student section attendance at men's and women's basketball games while reaching out to local elementary schools about attending the Trojans' home games. He went to earn a MBA from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business in 2013.
 
Describe your current position with the Milwaukee Brewers.
 
I'm the Official Spanish Translator and Media Relations Assistant. So I'm the translator for all the Latin players on the team, especially for interviews with the press. At the same time, I help out with the media relations department when it comes to dealing with the press and I run our Spanish Twitter during the games. I also help out with the baseball operations side. I help out with the videos for the players during the games. I do a little bit of everything, but my official title is Spanish Translator and Media Relations Assistant.

What was the path that led you to your current positon?
 
After I finished at UALR I got a job with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim working in player development. I worked there for two years, 2013 and 2014. As of last year I was out of baseball for a while and wanted back into it. Last winter, I was contacted by a few different teams about this opportunity and one of those teams was the Milwaukee Brewers. I interviewed with a couple of different teams and it came down to Milwaukee or Houston. In the end I picked Milwaukee over Houston.
 
What made you pick Milwaukee?
 
The people and the opportunity. I already had familiarity with the front office. I knew people here so I felt like this was my best opportunity moving forward.  It's a young team with a new General Manager. I know we are in the middle of rebuilding, and we didn't have the best season but I'm excited in the direction we're heading.
 
What is your favorite part of your job?
 
I get to come to a baseball stadium every day and watch baseball. I mean, I can't complain about that. I'm around big-league players, guys that I've known for a while or followed for a while, but now instead of watching them on TV I get to be around them every day. I get to watch Major League Baseball every day.
 
What the most challenging part of your job?
 
During the season the traveling can get a bit challenging. Traveling from city to city and seeing new stadiums is fun. Yet at the same time, you might have a night game the night before, travel overnight and then have to get up the next morning and be ready and prepared. You've got to find something to do because it's long hours. You're at the ball park for a long day so you've got to always keep yourself busy. You can get tired at the end, so I think that is the most challenging part.

Is there anything about your job that surprises people?
 
A lot times when people hear translator they just think that if nobody is needing anything translated I just hang out and don't do anything. That isn't true. I'm also helping the media department and helping our guys in the baseball operations department. I do a little bit of everything behind closed doors where people don't notice. It's kind of funny because it surprises people. They say, "Oh, you actually do all that?" I try to keep myself busy.
 
As far as the media relations stuff goes, what part of that did you not expect to be doing?
 
Dealing with reporters was a first for me. You see the reporters a lot, they travel on the road as well so you see them pretty much every day. You make a friendship with them, but at the same time have to be able to draw the line with what you can and can't tell them. All the little things that go on behind the scenes in the P.R. department that people don't notice, such as making sure all the stats are correct and doing all the little things required when getting ready for a game. You see everything a little different when doing this. I was always in the dugout so I never really thought about what everyone did in the department until now. It's a different perspective.
 
What made you want to attend the University of Arkansas at Little Rock?
 
Well, at the time it was my best scholarship offer. I was at junior college and I had a chance to go back to junior college, but the then-Little Rock coaches called me and made me an offer and gave me the great opportunity. At the time I felt like a small school was the best fit for me.
 
As a former Trojan what are your current thoughts on the baseball team?

I think Chris Curry has done a great job since he got there. I had the chance to meet him when he first got there and a couple other times. I think it's mostly the mindset of the team that has changed, from what I've seen personally and what I've heard from players. Coach Curry's mentality has changed the mentality of the team a lot. He's trying to make everyone sticks together and they have the same goal. I think Curry has done a great job. It looks like they keep building in the right direction.
 
What is your fondest memory as a Trojan?
 
When it comes to on-the-field memories it has to be us being the Sun Belt Champions in 2011. That was a lot of fun that year. The women's and men's basketball teams made it to the NCAA then we, baseball, came out of nowhere, had a great Sun Belt Tournament and also made the NCAA Tournament. So it was crazy seeing both men and women's basketball and baseball all make it there I believe we were one of just a few NCAA schools to have those three sports make it to the NCAA tournament that year.
 
On a personal level, I made a lot great friendships at Little Rock. I still talk to some of my former teammates and friends from UALR almost every day. We live thousands of miles away but we still keep in touch and try to meet up once or twice a year.
 
How do you keep up with the baseball team and the Department of Athletics as a whole?
 
Through social media, mostly Twitter. I follow the @LRTrojans Twitter account. Once in a while I'll go on the website and read any news releases and whatnot.
 
Do you have any long-term goals? What the next step?
 
I'm enjoying this for now. I would like to get back into the baseball operations side. Like I said earlier I'm involved with some of the video, so I'd like to get more involved with the game itself. One of the reasons I came here in the first place was for the opportunity to get more responsibility on the baseball side. I'm hoping I can get more involved in the future, but for now I'm enjoying it as much as I can and just having fun.
 
For those who want to work in sports or baseball specifically, what advice would you give them?
 
You work long days without many off-days during the seasons, but if you love sports it won't feel like you're working. It's very competitive and a hard industry to get into. When it comes to sports, specifically baseball, there are only 30 teams so it's a very small industry. My best advice is to reach out to people, meet as many people as you can. My first contact with the Angels was someone I met because they knew my brother. When I was looking for a job he was one of the people I emailed, and he got back to me because he knew me and had heard good things about me.
 
Same thing with my current position – a few teams reached out to me because they had heard and received my resume from other people. Be open to meeting people. It isn't an easy industry to get into. Making a good impression is extremely important. Getting an opportunity in sports isn't easy, but once you do get one you have to take it and run with it. Be thankful and work your butt off.