Todd Stein was a four-year member of the Emory baseball program, suiting up for the Eagles from 1993 through 1996. A native of Atlanta, he emerged as a key member of the pitching corps over his final two campaigns. He served as a captain during his senior season, closing out that year second on the club in both wins (6) and ERA (2.11) while tossing 47 innings. During his career, Emory baseball rang up 109 wins, won two UAA titles and made the school's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Q: Occupation and where do you reside?
TS: I am the Senior Vice President for Irrimax, a medical device company in Lawrenceville, Georgia. This is my 12th job since graduating from law school in 2000.
Q: How did you decide on the career path that you have chosen?
TS: I went to law school so that I could be a lawyer and work on Capitol Hill in Washington. When I was growing up, I read a lot about Watergate and was intrigued by the personalities and the pictures of Members of Congress and their staffs whispering to one another during hearings. I was also intrigued by the fact that congressional hearings could change the direction of the country.
Q: Can you provide an update on some of your experiences post-Emory to where you are now?
TS: After Emory, I went to King’s College, University of London where I earned a Masters’ degree and then moved to Nashville to attend Vanderbilt for law school. I then moved to Washington where I worked for Troutman Sanders, an Atlanta-based law firm. However, I wanted to be on Capitol Hill, so I left the law firm and worked on some campaigns in South Carolina to get political experience.
I moved back to Washington where I found an entry-level policy job with Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut. I worked on Capitol Hill for nearly 7 years, including stints as a lawyer for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, where I focused on domestic Islamist terrorism, and as Senator Lieberman’s Legislative Director, which meant I was responsible for moving bills through the committee process and on and off the floor of the US Senate. I also had the opportunity to organize numerous congressional investigations and hearings, help draft new laws passed during the Bush and Obama Administrations, and assist with four Supreme Court nominations. A copy of one of the investigatory reports I wrote for the Homeland Security Committee was found in Osama bin Laden’s room when he was killed.
In 2011, my wife (who I met in Washington but who is also from Atlanta) and I moved back home to raise our two kids and be closer our families.
In Atlanta, I have taught healthcare policy at Morehouse School of Medicine and national security policy at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech. I started my own law firm and eventually joined one of my clients – Irrimax – full-time in 2018. I am also a Senior Fellow at the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security at Auburn University.
Q: What were the primary factors in you choosing Emory as your college?
TS: My dad has taught at Emory since 1977 and I kind of grew up on the campus. The first baseball coach – Doug Kovash – saw one of my high school games and asked if I would play at Emory. The chance to play baseball was the deciding factor for me.
Q: Can you reflect upon your time at Emory, both as a baseball player and as a student?
TS: I learned as much on the baseball field as I did in the classroom. I was (and still am) not a fast runner. Coach Kovash told me I was going to have to learn to pitch to have a spot on the team. So, I did. I did not pitch in high school, but eventually started as a pitcher my junior and senior years and was a GTE-Academic All-Region selection. A mild accomplishment, at best I know, but it was some affirmation that perseverance, patience, and a positive attitude make a difference. I have drawn on that ever since.
Q: Who played influential roles during your time at Emory?
TS: The most influential people tend to be those who push us the hardest or set examples. On the baseball field, that meant Coach Kovash, who gave me a chance, and Coach Kevin Howard, the program’s second coach. We called Coach Howard “Gunny” for his intensity, including off-season 9:30 pm circuit workouts with trash cans strategically placed for those who couldn’t hold down their dinner. That level of intensity wasn’t for everyone, but I liked it.
As for teammates, Artie Sposaro, who played first for four years, was a great example of giving 100% all the time and Doug Markott, who transferred from Kennesaw State, had only one focus – winning. Then there was Scott and Jeff Kramer who both threw in the 90s, had an incredible work ethic, and became the first in program history to play professionally. With Scott or Jeff on the mound and Doug and Artie in the lineup, we could compete with anyone, including beating Doug’s former team, NAIA national champions Kennesaw State, 1-0.
Q: Your senior season, Emory qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Nowadays, it is a big deal to earn a berth in the postseason -- how did that team react to earning a NCAA berth?
TS: Earning that first berth in the NCAA Tournament was a huge milestone. When I joined the team in the fall of ’92, we were playing .500 ball on what is now the Kaminsky intramural fields. The next four years saw real improvement in the quality of the facilities (we moved to Chappell Park in ’95) and the quality of the players coming to Emory to play, all culminating in the NCAA tournament berth in 1996.
When we got the news, we were obviously excited, and when we arrived at Methodist College in North Carolina to play, we were a little star struck by the ritual of the whole thing. We went two and out, but I like to think that set the stage for the program moving forward in that the NCAA tournament should be the norm, not the exception.
Q: In addition to the NCAA Tourney year, are there any of highlights that you remember while competing at Emory?
TS: One of my favorite memories was boarding the bus in Cocoa Beach, Florida after winning the 1994 UAA Championship for the ride back to Atlanta and watching Doc Partin dance down the aisle to Ini Kamoze’s “Here Comes the Hotstepper.” I also pitched in the 1996 NCAA tournament against Millsaps, which was a great memory, but I also gave up the first home run at Chappell Park in 1995 on opening day in a game against Presbyterian, which wasn’t such a great memory. However, that home run also led to a memorable mound visit. Coach Howard asked if I knew that the guy who hit the homerun was an All-American. I shook my head no and he followed up with – “Don’t you think that is something you should have known. You’re done for today.”
Overall, though, I really enjoyed the first two years (1993 and 1994) as much as any because of the personalities and the scrappiness of the team. Back then, there was no high school travel ball or recruiting program and the team was only a couple of years removed from being a club sport. Players like Doug Serafin (who sometimes washed his practice gear), Ted Chappell, Jon Chapman, Danny Owens, Mike Posey, Brad Barnes, and Billy Standifer (who never washed his practice gear) made playing baseball a lot of fun.
Q: How you are surviving the pandemic and how has it affected you?
TS: Like everyone, we are doing are best to keep our lives as normal as possible while keeping everyone safe. We have twins who are in second grade. Our biggest challenge, just like so many parents, is to keep their schooling on track and minimize the disruption in their lives.
Q: Any interests/hobbies or things you do to relax when away from work?
TS: I like to coach my kid’s sports and play golf when I can.
Q: Any former teammates that you are in contact with?
TS: Most of my closest friends from Emory remain those from the baseball team or other Emory athletes. Those shared experiences – practices, games, road trips – certainly create a great foundation for lifetime friendships.
Q: Are you able to keep up with Emory baseball?
TS: It’s been awesome to see what Coach Twardoski has accomplished in his 21 years running the program. I can tell the respect the program has in and around Atlanta from talking to parents and coaches whose kids want to play college baseball. And I follow the team every year and when they make the NCAA tournament – and especially when they make it to the World Series – I follow the games very closely online. I also like seeing where the incoming class of players are from – I am always impressed with the national scope of Coach Twardoski’s recruiting efforts.
Q: Is there anything that you take from being a student-athlete into your profession?
TS: One of the things I have noticed is that some of my best professional colleagues have been former college athletes. They have an internal drive, a strong sense of teamwork, and a heightened level of self-discipline that translates well in almost any setting.
Q: Any advice you would give Emory students/future grads?
TS: The faster you can figure out what you want to do with your life, the more likely you will be able to achieve your goals. And enjoy playing baseball – for nearly all of us, it’s the last opportunity we will get to do that.
Todd Stein and his family.