SV grad Henne earns full-time media relations job with Cincinnati Reds
MILWAUKEE — Luke Henne’s tour of the National League Central continues.
The 2019 Seneca Valley graduate was an intern under Dan Hart in the Pittsburgh Pirates media relations department in 2022 and part of 2023. He then accepted an intern position with more responsibility with the Milwaukee Brewers during the 2023 campaign.
Now Henne, 23, has accepted the full-time position of team manager of media relations with the Cincinnati Reds.
“Their vice president of media relations, Rob Butcher, is retiring and that created a shuffle in the staff there,” Henne said. “I was hired as the third guy. It’s a full-time job and I’ll have a lot more job duties.
“Dan recommended me to Milwaukee for that job and Mike Vassallo (Senior Director of Media Relations for the Brewers) recommended me to the Reds. That gives me confidence that I’ve been doing a good job so far.”
Among Henne’s job duties with the Reds are handling news media credentials, preparing game notes on the team and organizing player interviews with media outlets.
Recently moving out of his apartment in Milwaukee, Henne, with help from his parents, drove from Milwaukee to Cincinnati with plans to search for an apartment there. He discovered the Reds organization was putting him up in a hotel for a few days, he’d be on the job in Cincinnati for four days, then fly to Arizona to join the team, in spring training.
That’s life in the big leagues.
“It can get pretty hectic sometimes,” Henne admitted.
But he’s happy his first three positions in Major League Baseball are with teams in the same division.
“Everyone in media relations on these teams know each other and get along so well,” Henne said. “Those tight relationships have already helped me. I feel like I’ve already developed a lot of positive contacts.”
Once Vassallo told Henne he recommended him for the Cincinnati opening, Henne contacted the Reds and a Zoom job interview was arranged.
“I did the interview at 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning,” he said. “Then I got a text from Larry (Herms, Director of Media Relations) at 9 a.m. Sunday offering me the job. I didn’t hesitate. You can’t. You get offered a job in this business, you have to go for it.
“I don’t think this has hit me yet. Since I was 9 or 10 years old, I knew I wanted to work in baseball. This industry is so hard to break into. .. To get a full-time position at 23 ... I don’t take a bit of this for granted. It’s an incredible situation. I think God has a plan for me, the way everything has fallen into place.
“The Reds are known to have one of the best public relation staffs in the league. I know I’m going to learn from them. I can see myself staying here for a long time.”
