Ernie DiStefano is combining his past experience as a baseball scout with his current day job at Gander Hill prison to create a socially progressive and positive niche in the troubled world of professional sports.
The Hockessin resident’s clients are baseball players that have been derailed by injury, substance use, steroids, gambling and other problems. He wants to help them resurrect their careers, whether that means the majors, minors or professional leagues overseas.
DiStefano is a psycho-forensic counselor for the Public Defender's Office at Howard R. Young Correctional Institution (formerly known as Gander Hill Prison). Previously, he worked at Glen Mills School, a Pennsylvania reform school for juvenile delinquents whose curriculum includes a healthy dose of sports.
Years ago, DiStefano was on the verge of being signed as a free agent by the Cincinnati Reds but an injury in college cut his career short. His love for sports soon led him to coaching, and ultimately scouting for the Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies and the Global Scouting Bureau.
DiStefano received his agent training from Sports Management Worldwide based in Portland, Ore. SMWW exists to bring integrity and a fresh approach to the world of professional sports.
Professional sports tend to be run by former players and coaches, so it’s hard to get them to effect change, in terms of the character issues sports faces, said SMWW founder and president Dr. Lynn Lashbrook. That makes guys like DiStefano – a relative outsider with a fresh look who is in it for the love of the game – an ideal SMWW agent.
“We want to bring people with an ethical foundation into our business,” Lashbrook said. “Ernie’s a great example. You don’t have to make money to stay in business. In the end, the reason most agents don’t spend much time on this [niche] is the chance for return is slim.”
SMWW doesn’t promise its agents the world. In fact, it literally tells them to not quit their day jobs.
That’s no problem for DiStefano: the baseball agent gig is an opportunity to pursue his interest in baseball, a passion surpassed only by his family.
“The first thing that I had to decide for myself was that a big commission was not my primary direction. That’s not to say that I don’t mind making money,” he said, “but I’m not going to do that at the expense of the athlete.”
DiStefano has always believed in working hard and a modicum of humility, something he intends to pass on to his clients. He wants to help them overcome their often inflated perceptions of their opportunities, and to address the root issues that veered them off course. DiStefano has to be convinced that an athlete has come to grips with their issues, or there’s no point in working with them.
“Some guys get it, some guys don’t,” he said. “Confidence is not a cockiness or arrogance. Confidence is something you have inside, while still maintaining respect for other people and your opponent. Cockiness often masks an insecurity.”
The next big challenge is selling that athlete to potential teams, and convincing them that a troubled player’s issues are resolved.
But he also has to coordinate his agent work with his day job and other ventures. In addition to working in prison, he is an adjunct professor of sports management at Wilmington University and is working on starting a non-profit athlete assistance organization with colleague Mike Mingrone of Pittsburgh.
Currently, DiStefano has two clients. He intends to keep his roster at a maximum of 10 in the Delaware, southern Pennsylvania and northern Maryland areas. Athletes who fit DiStefano’s niche can send a note to happyathlete@verizon.net.
DiStefano, 46, lives in Hockessin with his wife, Lisa. Their daughter, Laura Taylor, is a softball coach St. John's University.
