GM Interview: JetHawks Brad Seymour Part 1

In Part 1 of a candid two part interview Merisa Jensen sat down with JetHawks GM Brad Seymour and the veteran minor league GM talked about his experience, the difference between his job and Joe Garagiola Jr's, and how he got Barry Zito and Gabe Kapler to come to Lancaster's Hanger.

The Lancaster JetHawks season was a success, finishing both halves of the California League Season in first place.  In Part 1 of an exclusive interview with FutureBacks.com's Merisa Jensen JetHawks General Manager Brad Seymour lets the audience in behind the curtain.  His duties, his players, his promotions, and how he got Barry Zito and Gabe Kapler to stop by 'The Hanger.'

How did you get started in the baseball business?

I started out at age 16 as a souvenir kid for the San Jose Giants. I became an intern with the Sioux Falls Canaries in the Northern Independent League after high school. I spent a year and a half as a Food and Beverage intern, helping to run the concession operation. I was hired on as a ticket manager after that. We only had a four person staff when I first started up there, so I was doing ticket manager, and all the merchandise and sales. Those were the facets of my job. Then, as we brought up more people, I was able to alleviate myself from some of those things. After that, I became the General Manager for four years. Through my progression I have worked in every area that you can in minor league baseball, whether it’s a game-day employee to the position I’m in now as General Manager. I’ve literally worked in every position, except for maybe being the PA guy. So, from that perspective, I’m able to have some insight into what each person is going through on a daily basis, because I’ve done it and this is the only job I’ve ever known. I’ve been fortunate in that aspect to be given the opportunities to continue to move up.

How did you get this job as GM for the Lancaster JetHawks?

I just put myself out there and said that I was looking to come back to the West coast. The JetHawks got in touch with me and that’s how it happened.

I’m interested in what a minor league General Manager’s duties are. Can you go over some of those duties?

I oversee everything that happens off the field. There are several different facets that play into minor league baseball. We run a food and beverage business. That’s one area that sometimes gets left off the hook. We’re a marketing business, we’re an advertising business and then we’re in entertainment when it comes to the promotions. So, there are a lot of different facets and overseeing every one of those is my main priority. Every day is different. It really is. One of the great things about this job is that you’re not stuck in a cubicle; you’re not doing just one thing. Because we’re a high profile business, we’re obviously on the radar screen for the community. However, internally it’s really trying to maintain the motivation and the internal drive for everybody to want to make this thing succeed. Right now we have a huge challenge of trying to get people back in the ballpark, trying to get people to regain their trust in the organization, and so on and so forth. That’s probably the biggest thing that I’m doing right now: trying to reestablish a culture internally that is both motivating but also seeing us succeed in all of these different facets. It’s an interesting job. I serve as the main liaison between the Diamondbacks and the club. And that has everything to do with issues that may come up with the team, working with the manager, and making sure that things that are happening with the team are being done properly. So, making sure that the organization is doing as much as we can to help the team succeed on their side.

We know that, right now, major league GMs, like the Diamondback’s Joe Garagiola, are trying to resign players, and sign free agents, etc. What are your duties during the off-season?

Sales, and basically taking our 70 home games next season, which are 70 different events, and planning them and what promotions are going to be taking place. Also, planning what groups we’re going to go after for group ticket sales and leading the ticket sales effort in general. All of us involved right now are involved in sales, and going out and meeting with the community and trying to generate that interest for next year. Again, it has nothing to do with the baseball aspect of it. We’re out there trying to sell the entertainment value and the community value of what goes on here. That’s what takes up our day-to-day activities.

So, you’re not involved at all in setting the roster?

Absolutely not. In my previous job, yes. Half of what I did was involved in putting together the team. Literally talking to the manager everyday identifying needs that we would have on the field, what positions we needed to fill, where we could upgrade, that type of thing. Here, it’s strictly the business side of it.

What do you think are your single most important duties during the regular season and during the off-season, is it pretty much the same?

It’s the same. It’s, again, keeping a motivated sales effort and keeping the energy level of what we do. During the off-season you are planning, planning, planning. During the season you’re executing everything that you planned for, during the previous 6 months. It’s keeping the ideas going. I’m very big on keeping things a little bit different for each of the 70 games. So, just trying to maintain that kind of environment with the staff is what you do year round. During the off-season it’s all sales, it’s planning the season. During the season it’s execution.

Tell me about your staff and how important they are in helping you do your job?

They are why we’re able to follow through on everything. Again, because there is so much that is involved in putting on minor league baseball, everybody’s departmentalized to a certain extent, but we’re also in a small business environment where we only have 8 or 9 full-time folks. We all kind of get a chance to interact on a daily basis with what’s going on with each area. We pitch in and we help wherever it’s needed, whether it’s, during games, wrapping hotdogs, helping out with an on-field promotion, or taking tickets. It’s very, very hands on. It takes a team environment. We all work extremely long hours, especially during the season, so it’s important to enjoy what you’re doing. Trying to maintain that energy level with the staff is critical, but without the staff you don’t get any of it done.

Last season, the JetHawks gave away bobble head dolls of local Aerospace members, William J. "Pete" Knight and C. Gordon Fullerton. How involved are you in promotional ideas such as these?

Very involved. I mean, the ideas come from everybody, but with the promotions manager or myself, we’re spearheading a plan. That whole idea came about when we were in a promotions meeting. We knew the bobble head craze was obviously still there, but instead of just doing the next JetHawks player, we challenged the staff to find someone from the community that we could honor. Obviously, Aerospace immediately comes to mind, and then it was whom does the community respect? And again going back to, how can we attract people into this ballpark, that normally wouldn’t come? Well, we decided to put on an Aerospace appreciation night. It’s a huge part of our community, it’s a fun night, and it ties into the whole bobble head craze. On that night there were a lot of people here that normally wouldn’t be here. That’s why we do the different events that we do. That’s why we do the fireworks, the different promotions. Because you’re getting people that aren’t necessarily going to just come out and watch baseball. On that night, it was everything about the Aerospace community. We had educational booths set up in the concourse to educate people as to what has gone on here. We’re serving as a community avenue to let people know about the important and historic events that have taken place here. That’s just one area of how we take an idea, we develop it, and then we execute it during the season. Also, it’s a major part of my job to identify some of these opportunities that we may have and try to follow through on them.

Do the JetHawks have any promotional ideas for 2005 to gain a bigger following?

Yeah, certainly we’re going to do the Aerospace night again. Right now we’re currently determining whom we want to honor with the bobble head dolls. We’re also looking into expanding our fireworks shows. We’re looking at six to seven fireworks shows this next year. There will be some changes that people will see in terms of the in-game entertainment. Everything from how we do our public address announcing to the on-field promotions that take place. There will be some changes in terms of, operationally, how people see the game. So, those are some of the things that kind of are on the docket, but we are right in the midst of the planning stages, so there’s going to be a lot more to come.

How involved were you in organizing the Baseball camp that is coming up Dec. 3 – 5 and, on a side note, how did we manage to get Barry Zito and Gabe Kapler to come to Lancaster?

Hitting Home Baseball Academy contacted us, wanting to host an event at a facility that’s first class, and this is it for this area. Hitting Home is a baseball academy based out of Santa Clarita. It came about that there are some folks that operate the business down there that have relationships with Barry and Gabe. Barry and Gabe are donating their time to come up here and they want to be involved in a community event like this. I am a huge advocate of putting on events outside of JetHawks baseball. Again, it’s about ways to get people into the ballpark, for them to see what this facility is all about. That will generate the interest on the backside of what goes on here. A lot of it is about education. A lot of it is just about giving people the opportunity to come into the ballpark. So, that’s how the baseball camp came about: through our willingness to put on an event like that and their willingness to step forward and say they will help us host it.

So Barry and Gabe are coming on the last day of the camp?

They’ll be here Sunday, all day. It’s really a two-day camp. It starts Friday night, but that’s just a settle in night. The kids are going to be sleeping in the clubhouses, playing games and what not. Saturday and Sunday are the two instructional days, and they will be full days. So, Gabe and Barry will be here on Sunday morning and they’ll be down in the trenches with the kids. It’s not just a show up and sign autographs thing. It’s a show up for these kids so they can really learn from the best.

Do you think this event might be an annual event or does it depend on its success this year?

Based on the response, yes, I could see it becoming an annual event. The response has been larger than what we’d expected. It’s really picked up over the past few weeks, as we’ve gotten closer.

You’re also hosting an open house on Dec. 4?

We’re hosting the open house for the community. We’re going to have discounts and sale items in our merchandise area. We’re offering tours of the ballpark, taking people into areas they don’t normally get to see, whether it’s the clubhouses, or the suites, or the press box, and onto the field. It’ll be an opportunity for the people to come out and think baseball for a couple of hours in the dead of winter.