Ross Ohlendorf: research intern

There was a time when most ballplayers had regular joe jobs in the offseason. Some guys sold cars. Others sold real estate. Richie Hebner dug graves for cryin’ out loud. That practice is long gone now that even league minimum salaries are more than enough to live on through the winter, but somebody forgot to tell that to Pirates’ pitcher Ross Ohlendorf:

An e-mail requesting an internship arrived at the Agriculture Department this summer with an impressive resume: Princeton University degree in operations research and financial engineering, 3.8 college GPA, 1520 SATs. Ross Ohlendorf didn’t mention his 95 mph sinking fastball, but it probably wouldn’t have hurt his chances. Department officials were impressed that the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher wanted to work for them in the offseason . . .

. . . Ohlendorf, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds, shares a small office with another USDA employee. His work is mainly focused on animal identification -- the nationwide tracking system intended to pinpoint an animal’s location after a disease is discovered."I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said. “In addition to learning a lot of things and meeting a lot of neat people, I’ve gotten to do some cool events too.”

Ohlendorf actually had a decent enough season for the Pirates this year, so he probably won’t need to think about getting a real job for a while. But maybe teammates Matt Capps and Brandon Moss should take note and start sharpening their resumes a little.