By STEVE KRAH
Josh Rawitch wore something special at Cooperstown on July 23 — the day for the 2023 enshrinement class went into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Hall of Fame president since September 2021, Rawitch had something in-common with one of the honorees.
Scott Rolen, who was born in Evansville and shined on the diamond and hardwood at Jasper (Ind.) High School, is the director of player development for baseball at Indiana University. Rawitch earned a bachelor’s degree in Sport Marketing & Management and a minor in Business at Indiana in 1998.
“On the day of the induction I wore an IU tie,” says Rawitch. “Most of the world just thought it was a red tie. It had a small IU logo at the bottom and I took a picture with Scott and I was showing it off at the end of the day.”
Through Sport Management professor Paul Pedersen, who had brought Rawitch to speak to his classes and devoted a chapter to him in his text book, a relationship was formed with Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Rolen.
“It was very cool to be part of the group to call him in Bloomington to let him know that he had gotten in (to Cooperstown),” says Rawitch. “(Pedersen) actually stayed at my place during the induction. With (Anderson, Ind., native) Carl Erskine (who received the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award) there were a lot of Hoosier people in Cooperstown in July and it was pretty cool to see all those people and feel a kinship with them.”
Josh grew up in Los Angeles, the son of Bob and Cynthia Rawitch. They were were journalism veterans. His mother was a career professor and later a provost and his father was a reporter and editor at the LA Times and an adjunct professor for years. Both worked at Cal State-Northridge.
A cousin from Massachusetts — Ken Roth — attended Indiana about a decade before Josh and moved out to LA and lived from Josh and his family.
“He always talked about how great Indiana, Bob Knight and the Big Ten,” says Rawitch, who played second base and third baseball for Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles and got to visit when his father had a Midwest conference. “When I saw the campus I just fell in love with it and realized that’s where I wanted to go.”
IU is where Rawitch met the women he would marry. Josh and Erin have two children. Emily (15) works in the Hall of Fame gift shop. Braden (13) is a shortstop and pitcher who played at Cooperstown All Star Village this week.
As Hall of Fame president, Rawitch has had the chance to experience many special moments, including being on stage at the induction ceremony or attending the dinner the night before that is just for living Hall of Famers plus the commissioner and the museum president.
“Those are the most surreal things that have happened since I’ve been here,” says Rawitch. “But for me it’s really been it’s just seeing this community, the people that work here and being part of a really, really incredible institution. Almost everyday something happens where I pinch myself and say I can’t believe I get to be a part of it.”
Rawitch, who turned 47 in July, oversees the daily operation of the Hall of Fame which employs nearly 100 full-time staff members a welcomes more than 300,000 annual visitors.
He estimates that about 400 artifacts are brought into the collection and many others are considered.
“It is a living, breathing museum every single day,” says Rawitch, who says the Hall of Fame’s library contains 3 million documents and many books, documents, photos, audio tapes etc. are regularly considered for acquisition. “It’s not as well known to the public, but it’s pretty cool.”
Fundraising or helping in the building of an exhibit is another part of Rawitch’s job.
“We’re constantly looking for ways to promote the game,” says Rawitch.
About a week a month, Rawitch is traveling. He spends the rest of the time in Cooperstown.
Trips might include taking a plaque to a park or visit to the World Series, All-Star Game or spring training.
In 2023, Rawitch has been at the London Series with the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals and Mexico City Series featuring the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants.
Before taking his current position, Rawitch was with the Arizona Diamondbacks, serving as senior vice president of communications then senior vice president of contest & communications.
While with the D-backs, he was also an adjunct professor of Strategic Sports Communications in Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Beginning in 1995, Rawitch spent two stints with Los Angeles Dodgers, holding the titles of vice president of communications, director of public relations and broadcasting, assistant director of public relations, baseball information coordinator, advertising & special events coordinator and intern.
In 2001-02, he was a beat reporter for Major league Baseball Advance Media then went back to the Dodgers.
He has also served as an adjunct professor in the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
“The class that I taught was basically everything I did for the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers — everything from media relations and how you pitch a story to how you find statistics to the point you’re making for a broadcaster. Social media grew dramatically over the time I taught the class.
“We debated on how things were handled from a communications standpoint and how we might have handled it differently,” says Rawitch.
In 2018, Rawitch received the prestigious Robert O. Fishel Award for Public Relations Excellence.
“Probably 15 years ago or so I had a boss that told me he thought I could be a club president some day,” says Rawitch. “The seed was planted that somewhere during my career down the road the opportunity would come up.”
It was not until previous Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson was getting ready for his retirement that he reached out to Rawitch about applying for the position.
“It’s certainly not something I ever thought about,” says Rawitch. “I dreamed about being in Cooperstown with a plaque when I was a kid, but I certainly never dreamed of working and living in Cooperstown.
“I’ve done it for a couple of years and it’s better than I could have ever imagined. It’s such a special place. It’s a great community and great place to raise a family.”
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