via CBS
A new season of “Survivor” premieres next week, and one of the 21 castaways competing for $1 million lives on the Upper West Side. He’s been watching the show since he was 8 years old, and his day job is in professional baseball.
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Mike Pinsky, 33, is the assistant director of baseball operations for the New York Yankees. He lives on the Upper West Side, CBS reported, and he’s part of the cast of “Survivor” Season 51.Pinsky grew up in Manhattan and started watching the show at age 8, according to The Athletic. He and his friends would invent their own challenges in his childhood bedroom, take turns playing host Jeff Probst and vote one another off. He’s since seen every episode of the show’s 50 seasons, and he first tried out a couple of years ago, for Season 49.
He learned he’d made this season’s cast while sitting in a rental car in the parking lot of George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ spring training home in Tampa, The Athletic reported. He called his wife, Becky, and his father right away.
“I felt like I was walking on air the rest of the day,” he told the outlet.
Then came the preparation. Pinsky hit the gym and rewatched the previous 10 seasons, taking detailed notes on what worked and what didn’t for past players and what the winners had in common, according to The Athletic.
“You can do some things like hitting the gym hard and packing on some extra calories and practicing puzzles and things like that,” he told CBS. “But, you know, ‘Survivor’ is pretty intense, and I think that if you’re just cramming at the last minute, it’s probably not a great idea.”
“It’s no joke,” he added. “They really put you through the wringer. They make sure you’re ready for it.”
The season takes place on Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands. Pinsky is back home, but under his agreement with CBS, he isn’t answering questions about what happens on the show, The Athletic reported.
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That includes questions from his colleagues. Pinsky told The Athletic he was nervous to ask Yankees general manager Brian Cashman for time off, and that Cashman encouraged him not to pass up a lifelong dream. Cashman told the outlet the front office plans to get the popcorn out and watch.The show’s Instagram account introduced Pinsky with this quote: “I don’t do anything for second place. I’m here to win the game. Period. Full stop.”
The two-hour premiere of “Survivor” Season 51 airs Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. on CBS, and it’ll stream on Paramount+.
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