NEW YORK – Every Yankees season opens with the intent of being the last ones standing. If Mike Pinsky carries that same mindset into reality television, he ought to feel right at home.
The Yankees’ assistant director of baseball operations, Pinsky has been revealed as a contestant for the upcoming 51st season of "Survivor," which will premiere Sept. 23 on CBS.
“I don’t do anything for second place,” Pinsky said in a CBS release. “I’m here to win the game. Period. Full stop.”
Though his day-to-day responsibilities generally include advising general manager Brian Cashman on roster construction and contract negotiations, Pinsky will soon build new alliances – an opportunity that has been a dream for the 33-year-old executive.
“I have been watching and playing 'Survivor' since I was 8 years old,” Pinsky said. “We would make up challenges, we would take turns being [host] Jeff [Probst], we would vote each other out.”
Pinsky said that, while at Princeton University, he and his friends would “drop everything for our sacred Wednesday night viewings.” His marriage proposal to his high school sweetheart, Becky, incorporated a Probst catchphrase.
“I am someone who shoots for these seemingly impossible-to-reach targets,” said Pinsky, who has been with the Yankees since 2017.
Pinsky will be part of a 21-player group that ranges in age from 24 to 49. Among the other castaways set to appear in the long-running TV series, which debuted in 2000: a chef, criminal defense attorney, voice actress, professional wrestler and airline gate agent.
“My expectations for [Season] 51 are through the roof,” Pinsky said. “I know that Jeff is going to throw some weird stuff at us.”