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A year ago, Pete Berryman was working remotely as a software analyst for a sports technology company in Fort Worth, Texas.
Currently, he is immersed in Royals baseball as a major league analyst, accompanying the Royals on road trips and supporting the coaching staff in any way he can.
“It's a dream come true,” Berryman said. “It was more fun than I thought it would be to come to the ballpark every day and try to contribute to winning in any way I can. It's much more fun to work for that purpose than for a company that's just trying to make money. So it's been really great so far.
“I think my whole life of wanting to work in baseball in some way started at a really young age.”
Berryman grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and played football, baseball, and basketball at Mountain Brook High School before enrolling at Auburn. As a freshman, he was a “normal” college student, attending classes and playing intramural sports. But he missed the competition and team atmosphere that track and field offered. So as a sophomore, he joined the Auburn baseball team.
“I always thought baseball was my best sport,” Berryman said. “But I frankly didn't make the team. It's not sugar-coated.”
Berryman laughs about it now, but at the time he remained focused on what was next. That was football. He joined the Auburn team as a walk-on wide receiver/tight end and quickly found himself on the sideline at Jordan-Hare Stadium on SEC Saturdays. He primarily practiced on Auburn's scout team in 2016, but found an opportunity on special teams in 2017.
“I thought, 'I might as well try out and see what happens,' and that ended up defining the rest of my time at Auburn,” Berryman said. “It was really great to be a part of it, even as a walk-on. I think it was definitely formative and prepared me for a lot of the challenges I'll face here.”
Berryman graduated in May 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and a minor in Spanish. He intended to find a job after graduation, but since he has dual citizenship in the United States and Canada, he had a sports agent contact him about the Canadian Football League. Berryman's parents, Tim and Cynthia, are Canadian and both were athletes. Tim was a linebacker at the University of Ottawa and played six seasons in the CFL.
Pete signed with Edmonton, the same team that selected his father with the first pick in the 1976 CFL Draft.
“I definitely wasn't as good as him, but it was cool to share that,” Berryman said. “And it was quite an adventure.”
Berryman played professional football for a year, then hung up his cleats and found work in software development and engineering, something he never thought he would do. While working his job, he earned a master's degree in analytics from Georgia Tech in hopes of helping him return to the sport.
“I’ve always been a big fan of statistics, and there has to be a technical angle to the game,” Berryman said. “If you love baseball and have an aptitude for that kind of thing, it's a really great path. And I think this field is just getting started. In fact, every year we analyze data to understand more about the game. It seems like there are more opportunities.”
As a major league analyst, he works directly with the coaching staff on daily reports and questions that arise when discussing offensive, defensive, or pitching strategies.
“I'm there to answer a lot of their questions, dig into what they're interested in, and get ideas out of them,” Berryman said. “What I see, what our department sees, and it allows us to move these conversations forward faster than we would otherwise.”
Each player has specific information and level of detail needed to prepare for a match, and Berryman helps report on those as well. Berryman has an easygoing and calm demeanor that makes him a good fit in the clubhouse as he juggles the structure and responsibilities of daily baseball.
“He was great,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He's as motivated to learn from us as we are to learn from him. The communication just flows better.”
In that sense, Berryman's time with Auburn football helped prepare him for his current role.
“How do you deal with losing a game?” Berryman said. “How do you create a mindset that makes it easy to return to work the next day?” How can you convey everything? How can you convey things clearly? I think back to some of the coaches I interacted with in college and how they described it to me. The coaching staff is very supportive and I really enjoy helping them win. ”
