TCNJ

16 SUMMER 2015 Minor league baseball is probably unique among American sports in that winning games really isn't your top priority. What do you see as your primary goal in running these teams? GREG COLEMAN: We want to put out a quality product, but we define that differently than our major league partners might. We're trying to create an environment that's welcoming, fun, affordable family entertainment. WILL SMITH: Affordable family entertainment—that's how I always answer. Some people aren't aware of where the relationship with major league clubs begins and ends. I say, "We're in control of everything outside the white lines." Everything on the field of play, the major league clubs are in control. Outside the lines, we make sure the hot dogs are hot, the beer is cold, and the kid zone is clean and fun. That's obviously the appeal for many minor league fans, as well. Does that have an impact on how much attention you pay to the game? SMITH: We always say—and I know Greg 's heard this before—that we're a marketing company with a game going on in the background. COLEMAN: My first year in baseball, '98, I worked with the Daytona Cubs, and the coolest part of my day every day was driving to the ballpark. You'd pinch yourself: I'm going to work at a ballpark. Over time, that changes, and it becomes a little bit less about the game, but you always try to appreciate it. SMITH: It depends on the time of year, too. It might be April, late on a Wednesday night, a 4-4 game with a few hundred fans here, and you really do pay attention. But in the middle of summer, it gets so crazy with everything else going on, you might not even catch a pitch. For the players, the minors are a necessary stepping-stone to the big leagues. Is it the same for you guys—did you get into this dreaming of running a major league club? COLEMAN: I wanted to be general manager of the Boston Red Sox. But then you learn things about the business, learn things about yourself, and honestly, I don't have an interest in running a major league team at this point. I love the fact that you can make a difference, and I think that becomes harder to do in a larger city. The minor league side is where it's at for me. SMITH: Well, I went to school for mechanical engineering, but I wasn't a very good mechanical engineer. (Laughs) So I went down to the job fair at baseball's winter meetings, did a little bit of homework, applied to a bunch of places, and finally got my start in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2001. Like Greg said, getting into the small business world, you really have the ability to make memories. Coleman took over as president of the ERIE SEAWOLVES, a Detroit Tigers farm club, in 2011, while Smith has been general manager and chief operating officer of the Yankees affiliate TRENTON THUNDER since 2008. We recently got them on the phone together to talk about their career paths, what inspires them, and their most creative ballpark promotions. Given the all-in-this-together nature of minor league baseball, they're more colleagues than competitors—unless, of course, mascot bragging rights are at stake.

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