Mike Petriello at Dodger Stadium
Michael "Mike" Petriello (born September 20, 1981) is an Italian-American award winning sports writer and Dodger fan. His work has appeared in prominent media outlets including Deadspin, MLB Trade Rumors, NBC's Hardball Talk and The New York Times. He is the co-founder and writer of MSTI and a moderator of the comments section.
The shirt from Mike's tee-ball team that led him to become a Dodger fan.
Early Life[]
Mike was born Brick Township, New Jersey. As a young child, he came to love baseball but did not become a fan of either of the local franchises - the Yankees were a bad team at the time, and Mike felt no connection to the Mets.
When he was six years old, he was able to sign up for tee-ball. He was randomly assigned to be on the "Dodgers" team, and recieved a blue shirt with the Dodgers logo in it. The following year, in 1988, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series. Mike's pride in wearing a shirt from the championship team led him to become a fan.
When the Dodgers called up Mike Piazza in 1992, Mike felt a deep personal connection with him. They shared many characteristics - born in the same geographical area with the same ancestral heritage and same first name. He has described that event as the moment he knew he was going to be a Dodger fan for life.
In 1999, Mike began attending Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated in 2003.
Mike's avatar on MSTI
Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness []
In 2007, Mike started a Dodgers blog with a friend under the pseudonym "Vin" called Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness, a reference to the Simpsons episode "Homer At the Bat". Over time, Mike became the sole writer and manager of the site.
Due to a likable mixture of intelligent, professional analysis, along with smart, opinionated commentary, the blog spread like an illness around the web. In 2011, it was named by LA Weekly to be the Best Sports blog of the Year.
In April 2012, Mike revamped his site to include an improved design, new features such as daily Game Threads, and a new commenting system under Livefyre. Mike's traffic grew exponentially, and a community quickly grew to discuss each Dodger game live. By 2013, his blog was averaging 2 million hits a year, or more than 5,000 hits a day.
Personal Life[]
Mike married his wife on September 15, 2012. They live with their two children and two cats in New York City. Mike and his wife have appeared along with their cats on the TV Show "My Cat from Hell".
Career[]
Mike Petriello worked as a Stage Manager and Scorebox Operator for the New England Sports Network in 2003. He went on to work as a Technical Producer and Production Specialist for the Gotuit Media Corp from 2003 to 2006. He was a Senior Digital Producer at Ketchum from 2008 to 2013, overseeing the creation of Corporate brand sites.
Sports and baseball have steadily gained a more prominent role in Mike's career. Mike worked for a year with MLB.TV in 2008. He wrote a weekly fantasy baseball column for Baseball Prospectus for 2 years starting in 2010. He started writing for FanGraphs in 2012, and ESPN in March 2013. On September 6, 2013, he quit his job at Ketchum to work at SportsOnEarth.
Trivia[]
- Mike played the bass for the Pop Punk band "The Tattletales" from 2007 to 2011.
- Mike's favorite basball player is A.J. Ellis.