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Speaker 1: This is earning their stripes our fist Stripes podcast show

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Speaker 1: dedicated to Miami Marlins minor leaguers. I am Eli Susman,

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Speaker 1: the managing editor of Fish Stripes, where we cover the

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Speaker 1: Marlins every single day in our own way. We hope

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Speaker 1: you subscribe to this podcast for whatever platform you receive

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Speaker 1: your pods on, and that you check out our full

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Speaker 1: coverage on fishstripes dot com. You may be wondering what

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Speaker 1: possible storylines on the minor league side do we have

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Speaker 1: to address At this time, It's nearly two full months

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Speaker 1: removed from the end of the twenty twenty one MiLB

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Speaker 1: regular season. It's close to five months until the start

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Speaker 1: presumably of the next minor league season. It seems to

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Speaker 1: be on the surface a dead area.

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Speaker 2: Well.

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Speaker 1: The release of the show is being syncd up with

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Speaker 1: the announcement from the Marlins high a Beloit affiliate about

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Speaker 1: their rebrand after more than a quarter century as the

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Speaker 1: Belaite Snappers, their new name the Beloit Skycarp. The team

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Speaker 1: was accommodating enough to set up a one on one

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Speaker 1: interview between myself and Quint stud He owns the Skycarp

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Speaker 1: as well as the Double A Pensacola. Wahoo's coming off

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Speaker 1: his first year in partnership with the Marlins as affiliates

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Speaker 1: of that parent club. He's a fascinating guy, as you'll

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Speaker 1: hear very shortly, and we had a lot to cover

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Speaker 1: about minor league baseball itself, the business of baseball. So

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Speaker 1: I hope you enjoy that and stick around for that

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Speaker 1: coming up. Leading into it, I think we can agree

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Speaker 1: that JJ Bleday has earned the spotlight for himself. We

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Speaker 1: have talked about day on a weekly basis on Fish

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Speaker 1: Stripes Live, our Wednesday live streams on YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch.

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Speaker 1: They've been Arizona Fall League updates on every show. I

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Speaker 1: believe since the Fall League got underway, Bladay has been

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Speaker 1: a steady producer in that league. But he's only getting

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Speaker 1: better as the league is getting closer to its conclusion.

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Speaker 1: We're just one week away, finally until the end of

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Speaker 1: the Fall League, and I don't think Bladay is in

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Speaker 1: any hurry to get out of the desert. It's been

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Speaker 1: such a long year for him. It's probably the longest

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Speaker 1: year for any player in professional baseball. I would say

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Speaker 1: he was part of Marlin's Major league spring training, which

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Speaker 1: means that he'd been doing workouts with the team since

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Speaker 1: February or nine months later, and he's still playing on

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Speaker 1: a near daily basis out in Arizona. On Saturday, he

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Speaker 1: put the cherry on top of his Fall League performance

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Speaker 1: already in the regular season, their quote unquote regular season

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Speaker 1: in the Fall League. Through twenty one games, he was

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Speaker 1: slashing three twenty nine, four, forty seven, six hundred, nearly

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Speaker 1: as many walks as strikeouts, right near the league leaders

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Speaker 1: in runs batted in. He'd been terrific well deserved selection

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Speaker 1: to the Fall Stars Game, which is pretty self explanatory

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Speaker 1: recognizing the best producers and general prospects in the Fall League.

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Speaker 1: The cherry on top was starting in the cleanup spot

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Speaker 1: for the AFL East team, hitting a two run homer

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Speaker 1: in his first played appearance.

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Speaker 2: Lost his way this year and he was able to

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Speaker 2: come out here and I think feels much more like himself.

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Speaker 2: He smacks that bitch to deep center, riding back and gone.

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Speaker 1: JJ Blaney muscles up for two and ties the game,

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Speaker 1: just getting robbed barely of a hit his second time of,

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Speaker 1: and then an RBI single his third time up to

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Speaker 1: lead the AFL East to a victory six to five

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Speaker 1: with half of those runs driven in by jj blday

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Speaker 1: Well deserved MVP honors for the Marlins. Former first round

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Speaker 1: draft pick also, Cameron Meisner was a late addition to

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Speaker 1: that team's roster, and he got in for a couple

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Speaker 1: endings off the bench, but they only played the first

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Speaker 1: what five five and a half innings before being subbed out.

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Speaker 1: Himself certainly made an impression while he was there. Very

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Speaker 1: long year and more bad than good for him in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty one relatively aggressive assignment to put him up

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Speaker 1: to double A. From the very start of the regular season.

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Speaker 1: He struggled as one of the presumed to be most

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Speaker 1: polished hitters of his draft class, and in the entire

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Speaker 1: Marlins organization he wasn't hitting for most of this year,

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Speaker 1: spent a lot of it below the Mendoza line. Not

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Speaker 1: a ton of game power to speak of. What you

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Speaker 1: could always see almost consistently throughout the entire thing is

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Speaker 1: just his innate understanding of the strike zone and being

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Speaker 1: able to recognize pitch types as well. That these are

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Speaker 1: things that are very very difficult to teach, and he

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Speaker 1: has them ingrained within him. So those peripheral stats, even

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Speaker 1: during the regular season were pretty good, and he's taken

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Speaker 1: them even to a higher level here in the Fall League.

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Speaker 1: You can't just take the Fall League stats on their

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Speaker 1: own in a vacuum. It's an extremely hit or friendly league,

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Speaker 1: both due to the atmospheric conditions and also just the

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Speaker 1: quality of the pitching is not very good. That's why

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Speaker 1: this Fall Stars game performances this playing barely half of

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Speaker 1: the game. Why even that's ridiculously small sample is encouraging

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Speaker 1: because he faced three different pitchers in his three Blood appearances,

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Speaker 1: and all of them were again being put hand selected

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Speaker 1: to this game based on their prospect pedigree and their

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Speaker 1: Fall League performance. So even against some of the better

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Speaker 1: pitchers that the Folly has to offer, he was still

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Speaker 1: doing that. He's not necessarily the top prospect, even on

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Speaker 1: his own team with the Mesa Solar Socks, But even so,

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Speaker 1: like what he's done is really reassure us of how

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Speaker 1: high his floor is as a player because of his

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Speaker 1: understanding of the strike zone in his consistent hard contact.

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Speaker 1: Now the limitation of his game is when you look

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Speaker 1: at his peak exit velocities. We've been able to get

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Speaker 1: a lot of that information from the Fall League that

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Speaker 1: we didn't have consistently during the regular season that he

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Speaker 1: is not a standout in that regard. It is worth

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Speaker 1: wondering exactly what type of game power he will be

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Speaker 1: able to bring to the highest level when the ball

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Speaker 1: isn't traveling quite as well, and whether he'll be able

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Speaker 1: to get away with what I'll call non barrels. There

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Speaker 1: have been a couple instances in this Fall League breakout

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Speaker 1: performance where he's actually gone deep on balls that he

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Speaker 1: didn't necess sssarily get everything up that just barely carried

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Speaker 1: over just enough power. He's more of a just enough

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Speaker 1: power than a no doubt or power. His home run

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Speaker 1: in the Fall Stars game was estimated at four hundred

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Speaker 1: and seventeen feet. I believe that was either his longest

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Speaker 1: or probably maybe his second longest of the entire foll

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Speaker 1: League out of a total of six. He does not

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Speaker 1: have that true plus power tool in him, but he

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Speaker 1: is such a well rounded hit or otherwise holding his

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Speaker 1: own defensively. He's played I believe, a little bit of

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Speaker 1: all three outfield positions during the Fall League, including a

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Speaker 1: couple starts in center field. There have been times during

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Speaker 1: the regular season where colleagues of mine have I would

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Speaker 1: say overreacted to his struggles, dropping him down their prospect list,

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Speaker 1: kind of discounting him at somebody the Marlin should be

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Speaker 1: planning on through it all. I've always maintained that he

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Speaker 1: is a great prospect, not quite the sure fire impact

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Speaker 1: guy I was projecting coming out of the draft, but

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Speaker 1: he'd been number six, I believe on my list six

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Speaker 1: or seven throughout the late summer, and I have a

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Speaker 1: full update of those prospect rankings coming out at the

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Speaker 1: end of this month. The expectation is that he's probably

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Speaker 1: gonna stay exactly where he is, number six out of

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Speaker 1: all Marlin's prospects, where you can comfortably see him being

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Speaker 1: an average major leaguer corner routfielder that he is, even

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Speaker 1: with some questions about exactly where the power is going

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Speaker 1: to go. Barring any physical changes to him, that he

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Speaker 1: does enough in terms of he'll be able to get

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Speaker 1: on base consistently, and he'll be able to find get

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Speaker 1: himself out of slumps relatively quickly. This was a big

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Speaker 1: year for him in terms of trying to self correct

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Speaker 1: any inconsistencies that he was having. He made tweaks to

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Speaker 1: his setup position in the box, his hand position with

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Speaker 1: the bat He's currently settled on a routine where he

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Speaker 1: drapes it over his shoulder, which is a little bit

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Speaker 1: unconventional messing around with his leg kick at this moment.

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Speaker 1: His leg kick is relatively mild, especially by today's standards,

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Speaker 1: and also just how well he's rotating on his hips

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Speaker 1: and how he's utilizing his legs. You can see that

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Speaker 1: in some of these game performances that there's no doubt,

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Speaker 1: aside from just facing what may be easier competition than

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Speaker 1: he saw during double A, that he is just in

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Speaker 1: a great groove right now that a lot of hitters

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Speaker 1: simply don't find it this kind of groove where he

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Speaker 1: is just seeing the pitches incredibly well and making a

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Speaker 1: ton of hard contact, hard enough to find holes in

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Speaker 1: the defense and especially in the following, hard enough sometimes

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Speaker 1: to get over the wall even when he doesn't completely

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Speaker 1: barrel it. It was just this morning that I was

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Speaker 1: thinking it over because I've had a lot of time,

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Speaker 1: a lot of trouble finding a like an appropriate player

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Speaker 1: comp forward JJ Bladay. Coming out of the draft, there

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Speaker 1: were more than a few people that pointed to Michael

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Speaker 1: Confordo there were some similarities in their college performance in

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Speaker 1: just I guess some physical resemblance to them as well.

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Speaker 1: I don't like making comps for guys that are still

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Speaker 1: very much in the middle of their career, like when

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Speaker 1: you make a comp to Michael Confordo. I don't think

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Speaker 1: that's a very coherent thing to do, because Confordo is

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Speaker 1: still in his twenties, like he's not even done yet.

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Speaker 1: I'd like to look more to guys that or have

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Speaker 1: made it all the way across the aging curve, or

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Speaker 1: ones that have recently retired. There's just this morning that

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Speaker 1: I do think I've found one that makes more sense

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Speaker 1: as a ceiling ford JJ Bladay, and that would be

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Speaker 1: the recently retired Nick mar Cakis for a bunch of

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Speaker 1: years with the Orioles and then later with the Braves.

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Speaker 1: So even that one is not perfect because he was

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Speaker 1: a little unorthodox in his agingua and that for whatever reason,

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Speaker 1: once he got into his thirties, he continued to be durable,

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Speaker 1: he continued to perform well, but he lost he completely

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Speaker 1: lost his power at that point. Is over the fence

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Speaker 1: power during his years with the Braves. So I think,

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Speaker 1: aside from that one kind of anomalous aging detail with

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Speaker 1: him that I could see that as a ceiling for

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Speaker 1: JJ Blude as a guy that flirts with hitting three

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Speaker 1: hundred during his peak seasons. That is a great situational

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Speaker 1: hitter that most likely is going to be relegated to

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Speaker 1: an outfield corner, but potentially could play very well even

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Speaker 1: without premium athleticism at that position. Mark Keikus quietly accrued

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Speaker 1: a ton of hits. I don't know if Day will

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Speaker 1: get quite as many, but I think he'll get on

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Speaker 1: base potentially at an almost comparable level, well well above

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Speaker 1: league average, and that you know when all of a

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Speaker 1: sudden done. But they could be a guy that hits

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Speaker 1: more than two hundred home runs in the big leagues.

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Speaker 1: That's a part of a lot of winning teams, and

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Speaker 1: that perhaps sneaks into an All Star Game that he

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Speaker 1: does have that All Star upside if everything comes together.

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Speaker 1: Not going to change the franchise on his own, but

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Speaker 1: that's a pretty potential big piece of the organization, and

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Speaker 1: I don't think they're willing to give up on that

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Speaker 1: anytime soon. The expectation is he'll start next year in

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Speaker 1: Triple A and then we'll take it from there. As

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Speaker 1: soon as an opening arises on the Major league Cross.

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Speaker 1: They'll have an interesting decision to make with Bludet because

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Speaker 1: he is I wouldn't say he's a finished product, but

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Speaker 1: we have a pretty clear idea of who he is

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Speaker 1: as a player, and they made such a big investment

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Speaker 1: in him. It's only a matter of months, I think,

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Speaker 1: until we reach a point that they want to find

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Speaker 1: out exactly how that translates to the majors. One other

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Speaker 1: heads up you guys is that this coming Friday should

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Speaker 1: be the deadline for teams to set their restricted lists

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Speaker 1: ahead of the possible Rule five Draft. It's awkward because

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Speaker 1: we might not have the Rule five draft at the

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Speaker 1: usual time with the work stoppage looming over all of us.

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Speaker 1: Potential work stoppage kicking in on the night of December first,

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Speaker 1: I think, regardless, because it's still a few weeks away

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Speaker 1: that this deadline will remain the same. The Marlins have

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Speaker 1: to sort out their forty man roster ahead of a

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Speaker 1: potential Rule five draft, and it's a pretty boring time

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Speaker 1: for the team, not because they don't have a lot

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Speaker 1: of interesting prospects that are at that stage of their career,

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Speaker 1: but they got a head start on this. If you

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Speaker 1: remember a couple of their key candidates in this regard

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Speaker 1: late in the summer were Nick Fortes, who was having

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Speaker 1: a great season at Double A, Peyton Henry, who they

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Speaker 1: just traded for from the Brewers, and somewhat surprisingly, they

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Speaker 1: call them both of those guys towards the end of

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Speaker 1: the season to the major leagues, which put them on

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Speaker 1: the forty men roster, and already made this decision well

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Speaker 1: in advance. So aside from them, the one guy still

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Speaker 1: on the outside looking in at the forty men roster

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Speaker 1: who we expect to get protection would be Griffin Conine,

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Speaker 1: coming off a very fascinating three true outcomes heavy year

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Speaker 1: in the minor leagues where he's far from a finished product,

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Speaker 1: and I think there's perhaps a case to be made

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Speaker 1: that he's not the type of player that would get

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Speaker 1: selected in the Rule five draft anyway, even if he

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Speaker 1: is left unprotected, But the team I expect to err

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Speaker 1: on the side of caution, especially considering how many current

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Speaker 1: members of their forty men roster are very expendable. It's

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Speaker 1: not really much of an issue to make room for

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Speaker 1: Conine and continue to try to iron out his approach

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Speaker 1: and his well documented strikeout issues. Other than that they

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Speaker 1: have dozens of other players in the organization who are

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Speaker 1: ruled eligible. You could actually see all them if you

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Speaker 1: go to roster resource on fangrafts. Their depth charts have

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Speaker 1: a nice indicator of which players are Rule five eligible.

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Speaker 1: It's dozens of players, but most of them are just

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Speaker 1: relievers that you don't expect to really be worth the

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Speaker 1: trouble of protecting. Tommy Eveld, Colton Hawk, Jake Fishman. Those

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Speaker 1: are the biggest names, and if you go further down,

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Speaker 1: there are others that including some Fall League players Jeffrey

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Speaker 1: John and Justin Evans. So not a total coinctence. Those

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Speaker 1: guys went to the Fall League because they will be

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Speaker 1: eligible for selection assuming we do have a Rule five draft.

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Speaker 1: Another player that had a standout year who is eligible

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Speaker 1: Bryson Brigman. We talked about Bryson Brigman all year. He

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Speaker 1: is the type of player that I could see potentially going,

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Speaker 1: but not no guarantee. He was eligible actually last year

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Speaker 1: as well and then get selected, so you never no again.

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Speaker 1: You could see the full list on a roster resource

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Speaker 1: and I'll link to it in the article page of

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Speaker 1: this podcast episode. That deadline coming up on Friday for

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Speaker 1: roster protection so we'll have that covered on fish stripes

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Speaker 1: as well. That's more than enough of my soliloquy. We'll

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Speaker 1: turn it over to this interview between myself and Quin's

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Speaker 1: stud owner of the Double A Pensacle of Blue Wahoos

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Speaker 1: and the newly rebranded High A Beloit skycarp enjoy earning

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Speaker 1: their stripes is back with a fascinating guest. For decades.

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Speaker 1: He's been an innovator in the healthcare industry, is the

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Speaker 1: founder of the Studor Group, a devoted philanthropist, an accomplished author.

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Speaker 1: He's a talented podcaster as well, so he's not intimidated

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Speaker 1: one bit from coming on here with me and having

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Speaker 1: this conversation. And in his spare time, Quin Student owns

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Speaker 1: two of the Marlins Minor League affiliates, the Double A

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Speaker 1: Pensacle of Blue Wahous and the newly rebranded High A

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Speaker 1: Beloit skycarp By the time you're listening to this, it

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Speaker 1: will be official, it'll be public. Quint. It's a privilege

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Speaker 1: for me to have somebody with your unique perspective come

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Speaker 1: on the show. I greatly appreciate the time.

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Speaker 2: No, I appreciate the time, and I appreciate you know

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Speaker 2: you guys are great for the Marlins and great for

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Speaker 2: helping the brand, so appreciate everything you do well.

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Speaker 1: You're speaking a few days in advance of the big reveal,

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Speaker 1: which will be on November fifteenth. So what is the

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Speaker 1: prevailing emotion that you're feeling in regards to the skycarp

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Speaker 1: a few days away? Have you reached this inner piece

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Speaker 1: with the way that the job has been done and

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Speaker 1: the answer that you've arrived on or is there still

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Speaker 1: some anxiety that's lingering until the fans see it in

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Speaker 1: react for themselves.

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Speaker 2: I'm really excited about it. I think it fits what

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Speaker 2: we've wanted to do, and I think the message is

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Speaker 2: there everything we've learned from the first moment that I

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Speaker 2: started getting involved in the Bloit franchise. So I'm very

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Speaker 2: excited about this. I think it just fits into where

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Speaker 2: Bloite's been going as a community. You know, I write

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Speaker 2: books on this, you know, I write book book called

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Speaker 2: building a Vibrant Community, and I think, you know, the

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Speaker 2: a vibrant community is one that keeps its talent home,

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Speaker 2: and I think this was this whole way we're going

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Speaker 2: here is how do you create a place where you

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Speaker 2: keep your young people particularly home or get young people

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Speaker 2: back so really excited. I think the name fits perfectly

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Speaker 2: what the whole message of what we've been trying to

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Speaker 2: do with Bloit and not what we've been doing. We're

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Speaker 2: just part of that big Bloit organized, you know, community

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Speaker 2: that's been doing a lot of great things for the

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Speaker 2: last ten years.

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Speaker 1: Right I think it's fair to say that there might

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Speaker 1: not be a Snappers or a Skycarp or any affiliated

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Speaker 1: Bloite baseball right now if this new ballpark, ABC Supply

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Speaker 1: Stadium had come about making that transition from Pullman Field

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Speaker 1: and it was unorthodox, I'd say to open up the

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Speaker 1: new stadium on August third, That was about two thirds

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Speaker 1: of the way through this twenty twenty one regular season.

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Speaker 1: For people that weren't following the process super closely outside

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Speaker 1: of Beloyd, could you just take us through the factors

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Speaker 1: that led to opening up the ballpark when you did,

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Speaker 1: and you know how that turned out.

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Speaker 2: I think we're anxious to open it during the season.

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Speaker 2: We know we couldn't open it at the beginning of

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Speaker 2: the season. I mean, the fact that this stadium was

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Speaker 2: built in fourteen months by CCI is really incredible because

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Speaker 2: you know, it was all brick, so it wasn't an

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Speaker 2: easy thing to build. It was a more difficult the

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Speaker 2: craftsman was not easy, supply chain issues. The fact that

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Speaker 2: it got built before the season ended was great. We

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Speaker 2: wanted to move in because we thought that gives us

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Speaker 2: a twenty four games to get used to the stadium,

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Speaker 2: twenty four games to learn how session lines work, where

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Speaker 2: people sort of gravitate too. Because I know we opened

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Speaker 2: up Blue Wahou Stadium, you know, we wish we would

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Speaker 2: have had twenty four games to get ready for the season.

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Speaker 2: So I think this was a nice trial run to

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Speaker 2: pilot what worked well and what improvements we needed to make.

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Speaker 1: From what I can tell, average home attendance essentially quadrupled

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Speaker 1: from the games early in the year at Pullman to

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Speaker 1: the games at ABC Supply and in particular that opening

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Speaker 1: day full sellout up to capacity at thirty five hundred.

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Speaker 2: Did all that medior.

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Speaker 1: Expectations in terms of people being able to go to

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Speaker 1: the games and their general game to experience that they

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Speaker 1: got in the newer facility.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think was nice. I think we want to

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Speaker 2: do better, you know, I think we want to make

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Speaker 2: sure now that we've got a whole year to sell groups.

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Speaker 2: You know, we couldn't sell groups, and you know, groups

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Speaker 2: is a huge part of any type of stadium experience,

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Speaker 2: all new staff. So I'm really looking forward to coming

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Speaker 2: into this year and what I tell people, you know,

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Speaker 2: can you imagine we're discussing a name and if you

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Speaker 2: love baseball and you wanted baseball bloit, this is this

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Speaker 2: is just fringe benefit. I mean, the reality is three

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Speaker 2: years ago, if you and I were betting people, we

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Speaker 2: would have been in Vegas, taken all the odds in

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Speaker 2: the world that Bloy would not have a baseball team.

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Speaker 2: And that was that's when there were going to be

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Speaker 2: one hundred and sixty teams and Blit was on the

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Speaker 2: not going to have a team. And then all of

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Speaker 2: a sudden you go into the one hundred twenty teams

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Speaker 2: once again. You know, Bloy was I think on the

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Speaker 2: list of the second most likely team not to make

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Speaker 2: the one twenty. So the fact that this can and

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Speaker 2: with no public money. You know, right now, when you're

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Speaker 2: reading about all the new stadiums are being built or renovated,

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Speaker 2: it's usually with public money. To have a community set

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Speaker 2: up and privately fund a stadium was really quite remarkable

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Speaker 2: and quite great for the taxpayers. So the fact that

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Speaker 2: we're talking about a name, like you said, is really

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Speaker 2: the fringe benefit, because who even thought we were Bloit?

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Speaker 2: Was even ben have a team three years ago?

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Speaker 1: We're talking with quin Studter here about the newly rebranded

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Speaker 1: Beloit skycarp This isn't your first rodeo. Necessarily. This is

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Speaker 1: much different, i'd say, than the process in Pensacola. But

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Speaker 1: when you were bringing affiliated baseball down to Pensacola, this

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Speaker 1: was about a decade ago. Along with that came a

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Speaker 1: new name in the Blue Wahoo's changing from what they

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Speaker 1: had previously. Did anything about that process in Pensacola go

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Speaker 1: into this process. Were there any best practices that translated

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Speaker 1: from that situation to Beloit in terms of determining what

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Speaker 1: he felt was the right name for the team.

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Speaker 2: I think I think with Bloit we knew a little

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Speaker 2: bit more so, I think we were a little bit

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Speaker 2: understanding of the process. I think it was important which

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Speaker 2: we did. What we learned what worked in Pensacola was

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Speaker 2: to utilize the community. So you know, when I first

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Speaker 2: got involved with the team, one of the first questions

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Speaker 2: I got was what's going to happen to Snappy. It

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Speaker 2: was pretty interesting. It seemed to be more worried about

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Speaker 2: the mascot than the name. It wasn't Snappers as much

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Speaker 2: as Snappy. And so I think on my first radio interview,

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Speaker 2: I said, if you know what we do in Pensacola,

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Speaker 2: I have no problem with Snappy sticking around. I mean,

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Speaker 2: my god, he needs a partner, and you know, he

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Speaker 2: needs another person to hang out with. And especially with COVID,

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Speaker 2: people like work life balance and Snappy might want to

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Speaker 2: day off periodically and hang out with the other turtles

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Speaker 2: on the Rock River where the stadium is right next to.

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Speaker 2: So I think we looked at that, and I think

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Speaker 2: we really looked at the bloite market. It's a small market,

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Speaker 2: and you know, Rishi and I and my wife take

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Speaker 2: no money out of a team. We don't pay ourselves.

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Speaker 2: And all profits in Pensacola have gone right back into

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Speaker 2: things like early brain development, building a children's hospital. Now, Bloyd,

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Speaker 2: you know all profits if there are, and he will

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Speaker 2: go right back into the community. So you want to

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Speaker 2: make it sustainable. And when we looked at the merchandise issue,

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Speaker 2: which is a huge issue for a bloy because you know,

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Speaker 2: you have so many fans you can draw. Because you've

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Speaker 2: got a small market, your sponsorship is more local. So

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Speaker 2: what you want to make is do you have how's

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Speaker 2: your merchandise sales? And they weren't ever very good in Beloit.

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Speaker 2: I think the best year was twenty years ago. I

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Speaker 2: think when cecil or when Princefielder was playing, was the

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Speaker 2: last time they had good sales. So we looked at it,

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Speaker 2: and then we got the names from the community and

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Speaker 2: they voted, and I could have lived with all any

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Speaker 2: of the five names I was fine with. I will

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Speaker 2: say I think Skycarp is my favorite because I think

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Speaker 2: it symbolizes everything we want to do in Beloit, which

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Speaker 2: you know, Skycarp is a goose, and you know I

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Speaker 2: teach leadership, and I use geese as an example of leadership.

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Speaker 2: They fly in a certain formation, they have great teamwork.

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Speaker 2: They honk to encourage their other geese to stay in

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Speaker 2: the formation. The lead geese will trade off when he

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Speaker 2: gets tired, and when a goose goes down, two other

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Speaker 2: geese go down with them until they recover or they

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Speaker 2: pass away. So geese have always been a cool animal

433
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,920
Speaker 2: in my mind about leadership and teamwork and then when

434
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,080
Speaker 2: I asked, what's a skycarp and they said it's a goose,

435
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,480
Speaker 2: says okay, then why is it called a skycarp because

436
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:15,520
Speaker 2: I didn't know, and they said, it's a goose that

437
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,080
Speaker 2: doesn't migrate. And if you've heard any of my talks

438
00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:20,760
Speaker 2: on cities, I talk about one of the things that

439
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,800
Speaker 2: small and mid market cities must do is reverse migration.

440
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:27,720
Speaker 2: You can't lose talent because it all comes down to talent.

441
00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:32,440
Speaker 2: So I said, isn't this cool a goose that doesn't migrate?

442
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:35,800
Speaker 2: And that's what this whole message is about. Bloke is

443
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,080
Speaker 2: a great community and it's getting better every day. So

444
00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:41,440
Speaker 2: it's a place that young people don't want to leave,

445
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,040
Speaker 2: people want to come back to, and people want to stay.

446
00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:48,080
Speaker 2: So I think the fact that the skycarp is a

447
00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:52,280
Speaker 2: goose that doesn't migrate just fits perfectly into what the

448
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:54,320
Speaker 2: message we're trying to make with the team. And what

449
00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:56,840
Speaker 2: we've also learned is you want to create the type

450
00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:59,560
Speaker 2: of name where people say what is that? So you know,

451
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:01,760
Speaker 2: I first time I heard sad poodles and what's a

452
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,080
Speaker 2: sad poodle? And I said, that's a prairie dog. Well

453
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,280
Speaker 2: that's sort of cool, you know, So we're really excited

454
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,159
Speaker 2: that the name symbolizes all the good parts about what

455
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,919
Speaker 2: we're trying to accomplish in Bloyd. When I say we,

456
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:17,479
Speaker 2: it's not baseball, it's the entire community pulling together to

457
00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:19,600
Speaker 2: continue to build a vibrant community.

458
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,880
Speaker 1: And you have been refreshingly blunts. I would say about

459
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,680
Speaker 1: the importance of having those merchandise sales, and for whatever reason,

460
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:33,040
Speaker 1: if snappers had after a full generation of being the same,

461
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:35,480
Speaker 1: if it had lost its lustter for whatever reason, or

462
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:39,400
Speaker 1: just failed to capture the imagination of out of market fans,

463
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:43,159
Speaker 1: that that was one of the priorities in making a

464
00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:47,040
Speaker 1: change like this. But I'm fascinated by what you also

465
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:51,560
Speaker 1: mentioned there. How at first, at first glance, people don't

466
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,159
Speaker 1: know what a skycarp is. I've lived most of my

467
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:57,320
Speaker 1: life in areas with geese in them, and on the

468
00:26:57,359 --> 00:26:58,920
Speaker 1: East Coast, and here on the East Coast, I could

469
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 1: tell you that that's slaying is not part of our vernacular.

470
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:06,159
Speaker 1: So we had the same questions on like hearing that

471
00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:07,800
Speaker 1: name in the first place and trying to make sense

472
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,200
Speaker 1: of it. You think that's actually a positive in generating

473
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,520
Speaker 1: sales that have having a name that needs to be

474
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,640
Speaker 1: investigated or looked into further. You think that is going

475
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,320
Speaker 1: to do more to capture the imagination of out of

476
00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,560
Speaker 1: market fans than a more direct Nablood.

477
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,760
Speaker 2: I think for out of market fans, I'm not sure

478
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,640
Speaker 2: it resonates that much as much as when people ask

479
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,639
Speaker 2: about Bloyd. Here's an example in Pensacola. My wife and

480
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,199
Speaker 2: I are very involved in early brain development, which we

481
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 2: are also now involved in Adam Bloit eighty five percent

482
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,520
Speaker 2: of the brains developed by age three, So how do

483
00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,320
Speaker 2: we get kids' brains developed? And we do a lot

484
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,560
Speaker 2: of early brain development. So we had our fundraiser here

485
00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:49,720
Speaker 2: about a month ago called Light Up Learning, and we

486
00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:52,240
Speaker 2: do an auction and one of the auction items we

487
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:57,600
Speaker 2: auctioned off was a trip to Blite. Airfare to Blite

488
00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,640
Speaker 2: for two people, stay in the whole toel Hell, Goodwin,

489
00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:05,480
Speaker 2: downtown Beloit, eat at the Velvet Buffalo in downtown Beloit,

490
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,040
Speaker 2: and go to a Bloit baseball game. And it sold

491
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,240
Speaker 2: for four thousand dollars. So I think that's sort of cool.

492
00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:14,480
Speaker 2: And what you want to do is create When people

493
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:17,119
Speaker 2: do ask what a skycarp is, you can explain it

494
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,640
Speaker 2: but then I think the real question is how cool

495
00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:22,359
Speaker 2: is the brand, you know, for out of town people,

496
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:25,160
Speaker 2: And maybe I'm just this shallow. I want to when

497
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:27,160
Speaker 2: I look at buying something, I want to wear something

498
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,199
Speaker 2: that's sort of cool, something that people ask about. I

499
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:32,880
Speaker 2: think when you look at the logo and you look

500
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,920
Speaker 2: at how they put geese into skycarp or you put

501
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:38,120
Speaker 2: the bee in Beloit and you look at the goose

502
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:40,800
Speaker 2: and you look at the I showed a person in

503
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,200
Speaker 2: Pensacola this orange scarf, which is you know, we call

504
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:48,120
Speaker 2: it blight Hunter orange, and right away she says, I

505
00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,720
Speaker 2: want one of those guars. Or you have the aviator

506
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:54,520
Speaker 2: glasses because the second female aviator in the world was

507
00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:57,640
Speaker 2: from Bloit, Wisconsin. Or you look at the wrench in

508
00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,880
Speaker 2: the goose. You know, Bloit's and ironwork type town and

509
00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:04,240
Speaker 2: was built on manufacturing. So I think the more you

510
00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 2: peel this onion, for some people that'll just love the

511
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:09,920
Speaker 2: merchandise because they like the look. But the more you

512
00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:12,680
Speaker 2: peel the onion, the cooler the story gets.

513
00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,640
Speaker 1: And from what I've been made aware of, there were

514
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:21,360
Speaker 1: a whole lot of revisions to this particular logo to

515
00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:23,800
Speaker 1: get it exactly right. I mean you did have time

516
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,680
Speaker 1: on your side, probably more time than is typical in

517
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,120
Speaker 1: this situation between you know, reaching the name and actually

518
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:34,440
Speaker 1: unveiling it publicly. I'm curious when, how do you know

519
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:38,840
Speaker 1: when you created the right version? When did it feel right?

520
00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:42,280
Speaker 1: What was what is the between either yourself and whatever

521
00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:45,520
Speaker 1: other parts of your circle you trust? How do you

522
00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,760
Speaker 1: reach that decision that this design was final? How does

523
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:52,120
Speaker 1: it really how do you feel certain about that knowing

524
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:53,479
Speaker 1: how big a decision it is.

525
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,400
Speaker 2: I think you show it to users, potentially users, So

526
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,480
Speaker 2: you show it to who buys merchandise. You show it

527
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:03,000
Speaker 2: to women because we want you know, we're a big

528
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,800
Speaker 2: fan of women and women come to the gift merchandise

529
00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:09,120
Speaker 2: store and what they wear. Some of our bigger purchases

530
00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:12,960
Speaker 2: of merchandise at Blue Wahoo Merchandise are females. So you

531
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,880
Speaker 2: look at females, you look at well, well, young people

532
00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:19,520
Speaker 2: think it's sort of neat. You know. We know I

533
00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:22,360
Speaker 2: travel for a living, and if you look at baseball

534
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:25,120
Speaker 2: caps and airports, I will tell you the number one

535
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,120
Speaker 2: baseball cap in an airport is a Boston Red Sox Bee.

536
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,400
Speaker 2: Now is everybody a huge Boston Red Sox fan in

537
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,680
Speaker 2: the entire world maybe, or maybe they just love the

538
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,280
Speaker 2: looks of that bee, and so we really wanted to

539
00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,080
Speaker 2: make sure that we had a one that just captures

540
00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,320
Speaker 2: the imagination. I know, for me, when I saw the

541
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:48,760
Speaker 2: bee with the goose head on top, I'm so excited

542
00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,760
Speaker 2: to wear the hat. I can hardly you know, I

543
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:54,640
Speaker 2: have not worn one yet, so I'm so excited to

544
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,200
Speaker 2: do that. I just think when people see the look

545
00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,760
Speaker 2: and how the goose is implemented into it is just

546
00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:05,160
Speaker 2: a really really neat look, neat colors. It's just real clean,

547
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:07,240
Speaker 2: and I think it's going to be real attractive. So

548
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,120
Speaker 2: you look at users, you test it out with the market,

549
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,040
Speaker 2: and that's really what you do. It's not two or

550
00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:15,240
Speaker 2: three guys in a room. You go to who's going

551
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:17,520
Speaker 2: to be buying these things, and you show them different

552
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:19,560
Speaker 2: looks and see what they gravitate too.

553
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:23,560
Speaker 1: And the point that you brought up about the Boston

554
00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:25,200
Speaker 1: Red Sox b as somebody that has a lot of

555
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:27,120
Speaker 1: family in New York, it can assure you that not

556
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:31,720
Speaker 1: everybody loves it. And just to justify what you're getting

557
00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:34,760
Speaker 1: at there, I think you can't really have an extended

558
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:38,760
Speaker 1: conversation about this year twenty twenty one without talking about COVID,

559
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:44,520
Speaker 1: this being after a cancelation in twenty twenty running what

560
00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,720
Speaker 1: was relatively close to a full length season in the

561
00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,720
Speaker 1: midst of a pandemic, and as somebody like yourself, I

562
00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:53,160
Speaker 1: feel like you were the person perfect person to bring

563
00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:55,440
Speaker 1: this up with because of how involved you are in

564
00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:59,800
Speaker 1: healthcare and all that. I didn't for people like my

565
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:02,880
Speaker 1: else who didn't get an opportunity to visit Belloyd or

566
00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,600
Speaker 1: Pensacola in this particular unusual season, but it was open

567
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:10,040
Speaker 1: to most fans during the course of the year. Can

568
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:12,680
Speaker 1: you describe what it is that your teams had to

569
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:15,840
Speaker 1: do to modify the game day experience and try to

570
00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:20,400
Speaker 1: strike that balance between safety and civil responsibility while still

571
00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:24,120
Speaker 1: preserving everything that makes minor league baseball fun for the fans.

572
00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,280
Speaker 2: I think we were pretty fortunate, and the fact that,

573
00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:30,640
Speaker 2: of course we're outdoors, and when you're outdoors, that changes

574
00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,360
Speaker 2: the whole format. I think he went from the beginning

575
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,120
Speaker 2: of the year to the middle of the year, so

576
00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:39,200
Speaker 2: I think for fans, we trust the fans to handle it.

577
00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:41,640
Speaker 2: We didn't really have any issues. I think the real

578
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:44,880
Speaker 2: credit goes to Major League Baseball. You know, I think

579
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:48,320
Speaker 2: if major League Baseball wasn't operating Minor league baseball, I'm

580
00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:50,960
Speaker 2: not sure we could have had this year because they

581
00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:53,320
Speaker 2: really worked hard. So I think the biggest change for

582
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:58,000
Speaker 2: us was the fact that they players were so off

583
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,640
Speaker 2: limits and their coaches. Our fans were great. You know,

584
00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:05,000
Speaker 2: our fans didn't complain they weren't getting close to the players.

585
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:08,640
Speaker 2: Our fans didn't complain, they weren't getting autograph sessions. Our

586
00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:12,840
Speaker 2: fans didn't complain. There weren't any camps. Their fans were great.

587
00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:15,800
Speaker 2: And I think the real change for us was you

588
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,320
Speaker 2: currently have, you know, identify one person from your team.

589
00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:22,560
Speaker 2: So for example, I don't bug the players. I'm not

590
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:25,120
Speaker 2: hanging out in the locker room, but I usually know

591
00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:29,440
Speaker 2: the players somewhat. This year, I never went into the

592
00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:34,880
Speaker 2: locker room in Pensacola the entire year, So usually at

593
00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:37,440
Speaker 2: least you know the players. I really don't know any

594
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:40,920
Speaker 2: of the players, really didn't know the coach all that well.

595
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:43,360
Speaker 2: We did a dinner form, but that's sort of the

596
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:48,120
Speaker 2: manager in Beloit. I went once just to introduce myself

597
00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:49,840
Speaker 2: to the players and tell me we want to create

598
00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,000
Speaker 2: a great place for them to play in the trainers

599
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:56,160
Speaker 2: and that. So I think the biggest change was you

600
00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,720
Speaker 2: really couldn't do the interaction, which even led to making

601
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:01,760
Speaker 2: sure you could solve issues, so making sure the nutrition

602
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 2: was right. Normally your chefs in the locker room, making

603
00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:07,959
Speaker 2: sure it's right. So I think the fact that there

604
00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:12,040
Speaker 2: was such a firewall between the players and coaches and

605
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:15,319
Speaker 2: the whole team and the fans. Our cameramen had to,

606
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:18,120
Speaker 2: you know, always wear masks and things like that. But

607
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:21,000
Speaker 2: I think great credit to Major League Baseball because you know,

608
00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:25,120
Speaker 2: they don't make any money from minor league baseball. We

609
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:28,160
Speaker 2: don't send them a check per se, and so they

610
00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:30,400
Speaker 2: could have easily said, you know, this is too much work.

611
00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:32,880
Speaker 2: We're just going to keep our players in spring training

612
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:35,600
Speaker 2: and not do this. The fact that they worked so

613
00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:39,480
Speaker 2: hard to provide minor league baseball with the season was

614
00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:42,479
Speaker 2: really incredible. The fact that they let Triple A even

615
00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:45,560
Speaker 2: go longer than normal, the fact that they did sort

616
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:48,880
Speaker 2: of playoffs, that I just give all the credit to

617
00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:51,919
Speaker 2: Major League Baseball for getting us through this year.

618
00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:55,799
Speaker 1: There are a couple questions as we wind this down

619
00:34:55,880 --> 00:35:00,520
Speaker 1: on the players themselves, one being last month, a multiple

620
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:04,840
Speaker 1: reports that pretty Circle circulated very widely about a decision

621
00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:07,960
Speaker 1: that seems baseball has reached in terms of providing housing

622
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:12,359
Speaker 1: for minor league players which had not been done in

623
00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:16,640
Speaker 1: recent memory, whether that's providing a stipend for them or

624
00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:19,880
Speaker 1: actual physical housing for them, that seems to be the

625
00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,719
Speaker 1: plan hitting into next year, and that would include both

626
00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:29,040
Speaker 1: Beloit and Pensacola. Just your reaction to that, because I

627
00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:31,879
Speaker 1: imagine that's something that you've thought about before. Even though

628
00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:35,959
Speaker 1: it's it really isn't the responsibility of the minor league

629
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,360
Speaker 1: teams themselves. The fact that we've reached this point where

630
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:42,880
Speaker 1: Major League Baseball itself seems to be stepping up in

631
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:44,600
Speaker 1: this regard where they haven't done it before.

632
00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,719
Speaker 2: Wrote you know, chafter Growth had a minor league for

633
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:51,480
Speaker 2: the Marlins, has been nothing but great to work with

634
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:54,600
Speaker 2: this this whole time. And yeah, the challenge that I

635
00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:58,040
Speaker 2: was interviewed by ESPN on this whole topic and they

636
00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:00,400
Speaker 2: didn't run much of what I said. But the reality

637
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:04,040
Speaker 2: is COVID had a huge impact on minor league baseball housing.

638
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:08,080
Speaker 2: So for example, I know I know Pensacola better than

639
00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:12,520
Speaker 2: Bloy because you know, been in Pensacola about half our

640
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:16,359
Speaker 2: players stay in host families, particularly the Latin players, they

641
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:19,160
Speaker 2: tend to stay in host families. These are host families

642
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:23,120
Speaker 2: that have had Latin players. They're bilingual, the food is

643
00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:26,000
Speaker 2: made for them. In fact, I remember when some of

644
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:28,320
Speaker 2: the Latin players get called up to the major leagues,

645
00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:31,080
Speaker 2: the first person they call after their own mom, is

646
00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:34,919
Speaker 2: their host family mom to talk about. So I think

647
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:37,759
Speaker 2: when you look at taking fifty percent of the players

648
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:42,759
Speaker 2: out of host families, dub that created the challenge. I

649
00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:45,440
Speaker 2: think if we still had host families, we could have

650
00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:48,719
Speaker 2: made it through. So that means some people now there's

651
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,719
Speaker 2: limited supply of housing, and it depends I think it

652
00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:55,080
Speaker 2: also depends on the city Eli. If you look at Pensacola,

653
00:36:55,640 --> 00:37:00,719
Speaker 2: Pensacola's whole market is hot. Not in the winter. We

654
00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:03,640
Speaker 2: don't get a lot the snowbirds like maybe Miami does.

655
00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:07,600
Speaker 2: Ours is the summer. All these people from Tennessee and

656
00:37:07,719 --> 00:37:11,960
Speaker 2: Georgia and they jam into the beautiful white beaches in Pensacola.

657
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:15,920
Speaker 2: So our tourist season runs from April till the end

658
00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:18,880
Speaker 2: of August. So nobody's going to sit here and sign

659
00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:22,399
Speaker 2: a short term lease for a minor league ballplayer when

660
00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:24,560
Speaker 2: you look at what you can get from the tourists.

661
00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:27,480
Speaker 2: So ours has always been a bit of a bigger challenge,

662
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:29,680
Speaker 2: but we've been able to pull it off because we

663
00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:33,640
Speaker 2: had host families. So actually, as you know it's been publicized,

664
00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:36,880
Speaker 2: we're in the process of purchasing property anyway. So I

665
00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:40,799
Speaker 2: think it's I think it's three groups responsibilities, not just

666
00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:44,480
Speaker 2: Major League Baseball. I think it's the minor League Baseball's

667
00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:48,040
Speaker 2: responsibility to do everything they can to find what's available housing,

668
00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:51,399
Speaker 2: what is there because they live there, they know who's there,

669
00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:54,319
Speaker 2: they know the hotels. The Marlins aren't going to know

670
00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:58,000
Speaker 2: that from Jupiter what's available in Pensacola. So I think

671
00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:02,319
Speaker 2: I have a responsibility and herein in Beloite to know

672
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:05,160
Speaker 2: what's available and talk to that. Number two, I think

673
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:09,080
Speaker 2: the community has a responsibility. I mean, look at the

674
00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:12,360
Speaker 2: Beloite name change. If you look at that blit, it

675
00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:15,240
Speaker 2: will probably get more media coverage from the name change

676
00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:18,080
Speaker 2: than they will probably anything else in the last four

677
00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:21,319
Speaker 2: or five years. Pensacola is the same thing. You know,

678
00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:23,680
Speaker 2: You've got Bubba Watson, who owns the Blue Woho's with

679
00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:26,280
Speaker 2: me coming out with the new book Caught ups and downs,

680
00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:29,000
Speaker 2: and he's been on the Today Show, He's been everywhere,

681
00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:31,080
Speaker 2: and of course where does he do his interviews from

682
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:35,160
Speaker 2: Blue Wahou's stadium. So the reality is the city needs

683
00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:37,919
Speaker 2: to help, you know, the chamber or the city, how

684
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:41,040
Speaker 2: can we help make sure there's their supply Because it's

685
00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:44,359
Speaker 2: a supply issue. Then major League Baseball can come in,

686
00:38:44,560 --> 00:38:47,839
Speaker 2: and major League Baseball can come in with assurances of

687
00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:51,799
Speaker 2: some whether it's however they do it the right funding mechanisms,

688
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:53,960
Speaker 2: and I think the funding mechanisms are going to have

689
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:57,439
Speaker 2: to be dependent on the community and the city. You know,

690
00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:01,759
Speaker 2: Pensacola is more expensive than the Bloite. That's just the

691
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,880
Speaker 2: nature of the beast. And so I think we'll have

692
00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:08,480
Speaker 2: more challenges in Pensacola if we don't have host families,

693
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:12,520
Speaker 2: then we will in Bloit. However, Diane Hendrix, as you know,

694
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:16,600
Speaker 2: was a phenomenal lady in Bloit. She's already talked last

695
00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:20,160
Speaker 2: year about making sure these players have great places to live.

696
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:23,680
Speaker 2: And so I think in both communities, we're committed to

697
00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:26,200
Speaker 2: work with Jeff and the rest of the Marlins organization

698
00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:28,839
Speaker 2: because it just fits. You know, why did major League

699
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:32,480
Speaker 2: Baseball take really over minor league baseball. They wanted to

700
00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:35,600
Speaker 2: assure there was standardization of bus travel. They wanted to

701
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,080
Speaker 2: make sure that nutrition was right in the locker rooms.

702
00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:40,920
Speaker 2: They wanted to make sure the turf was good, the

703
00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:44,520
Speaker 2: lights were bright, and the locker rooms had enough space

704
00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:48,040
Speaker 2: to make you know, to nutrition not in the locker room.

705
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:50,600
Speaker 2: We've done a lot of these moves before the new

706
00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:53,719
Speaker 2: facility requirements, so it wouldn't make sense then to make

707
00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:57,360
Speaker 2: sure the living arrangements outside the ballpark had that same

708
00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:00,799
Speaker 2: standardization as hotels and so on. So we've been really

709
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:04,120
Speaker 2: support of this whole process, and I think as have

710
00:40:04,239 --> 00:40:07,040
Speaker 2: the Marlins been. So we're working on this even before

711
00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:07,720
Speaker 2: this came.

712
00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:13,680
Speaker 1: About, right, and I can't wait till details are official

713
00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:16,840
Speaker 1: on that. And I just know from speaking to players

714
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:20,080
Speaker 1: that for many of us really reduce the stress that

715
00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:24,960
Speaker 1: an extra consideration that they had some anxiety that they

716
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:27,160
Speaker 1: had about securing housing, affording housing.

717
00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:29,600
Speaker 2: That we all depends on the player too. You know,

718
00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:31,960
Speaker 2: some of them want their girlfriends with them, some of

719
00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:34,319
Speaker 2: them want wives with them, some of them want kids

720
00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:36,480
Speaker 2: with them, some of them want their dogs with them.

721
00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:39,160
Speaker 2: So you know, it really isn't just a one size

722
00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:44,560
Speaker 2: fits all situation and the travel where we're looking all

723
00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:47,160
Speaker 2: the property we're looking at for the players is within

724
00:40:47,239 --> 00:40:50,640
Speaker 2: walking distance of the stadium, because again that reduces the

725
00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:54,879
Speaker 2: need for travel and cars and things like that. So yeah,

726
00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:56,759
Speaker 2: I think it's a collaborative thing. But I don't think

727
00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:59,160
Speaker 2: it's just major leagues responsibility. I think that the minor

728
00:40:59,239 --> 00:41:02,720
Speaker 2: league team plays are you know, the community gets tremendous

729
00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:06,920
Speaker 2: publicity from having a minor league baseball team, publicity and

730
00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:10,720
Speaker 2: name recognition they would not get without the major league brand.

731
00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:15,239
Speaker 2: So I think also communities have a responsibility. You know,

732
00:41:15,719 --> 00:41:19,239
Speaker 2: our community gives millions of dollars to advertise to get

733
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:22,319
Speaker 2: tourists down here. Well, I think you know that. I

734
00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:26,080
Speaker 2: think even cities can also help in this issue.

735
00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:29,680
Speaker 1: On a lighter note, I imagine you had an opportunity

736
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:33,240
Speaker 1: to attend to fair serve games in Pensacola and Summon Bloyd,

737
00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:36,960
Speaker 1: and perhaps even some time to watch them when you

738
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:40,920
Speaker 1: weren't there in person. Not asking you to be a

739
00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:44,719
Speaker 1: professional player evaluator or a scout, but are there any

740
00:41:44,719 --> 00:41:47,680
Speaker 1: particular Marlins players that you saw with with either team

741
00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:50,920
Speaker 1: that made a strong impression on you this season that

742
00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:54,000
Speaker 1: just as a baseball fan, you enjoyed watching.

743
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:56,839
Speaker 2: I know he had Tommy John surgery. But when Jake

744
00:41:56,880 --> 00:42:00,480
Speaker 2: Elder was at his name the Eater, Yes, yeah, he

745
00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:04,480
Speaker 2: was phenomenal. He was extremely dominant when he was on.

746
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:09,120
Speaker 2: So I was really impressed pressed with him. Matt Myer

747
00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:12,560
Speaker 2: is a tough competitor, and so of course you sometimes

748
00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:15,080
Speaker 2: looking him out there and you don't realize until you

749
00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:18,320
Speaker 2: look at the stat sheet what a good pitching he

750
00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:21,759
Speaker 2: he had. So I think those two were really impressive.

751
00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:24,920
Speaker 2: The young Verdick is that his name, Peon Burdick. Yet

752
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:27,560
Speaker 2: he's you know, he's a he's a gamer on. None

753
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:31,120
Speaker 2: of these guys that you know. Again, the you know,

754
00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:34,120
Speaker 2: the to get to the major leagues to collapse is

755
00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:38,759
Speaker 2: so tight, so tight. JJ you know, had a rough

756
00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:42,120
Speaker 2: year this year, but certainly that's what minor league baseball

757
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:44,279
Speaker 2: is all about. We had I compare her a lot

758
00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:47,600
Speaker 2: to Jesse Winkler. We had Jesse Winkler here, and Jesse

759
00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:50,439
Speaker 2: Winkler hit about one eighty for half a year here

760
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:54,960
Speaker 2: and then got hurt his wrist and came back. We

761
00:42:55,239 --> 00:42:57,600
Speaker 2: always joke, because the wind always comes in from right

762
00:42:57,640 --> 00:43:00,120
Speaker 2: field here that Jesse Winkler learned how to hit the

763
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:03,200
Speaker 2: left field in Pensacola, Florida, because it's really hard to

764
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:06,840
Speaker 2: hit something out here in right field. I think in Beloit,

765
00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:10,400
Speaker 2: the fellow who just grabbed you, I think is a

766
00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:14,160
Speaker 2: pitcher named Perez Yeh at the very end of the season. Yeah,

767
00:43:14,239 --> 00:43:17,919
Speaker 2: I mean, he was just lights out and the love

768
00:43:17,920 --> 00:43:21,000
Speaker 2: of the game that he showed. So you know there

769
00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:23,840
Speaker 2: were good ball players like I think Mitt Nurse. I

770
00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:27,239
Speaker 2: don't know some of the names. But because I really ironically,

771
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:29,759
Speaker 2: I couldn't even tell you our record, people look at me.

772
00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:34,080
Speaker 2: My focus is on our fan experience and our employees

773
00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:37,160
Speaker 2: happy and our fans happy. That's what I pay attention to.

774
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:39,200
Speaker 2: I can tell you what our net promoter score was,

775
00:43:39,239 --> 00:43:41,800
Speaker 2: I can tell you what our employee engagement scores are.

776
00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:45,200
Speaker 2: Much more than I can tell you about players. I

777
00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:48,080
Speaker 2: just don't. I just pay all my attention to the

778
00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:51,120
Speaker 2: fans because that's where I win or lose. I win

779
00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:54,960
Speaker 2: or lose off the field, and we've done studies. Our

780
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:58,000
Speaker 2: attendance in Pensacola is not dependent on whether the team's

781
00:43:58,040 --> 00:44:01,120
Speaker 2: winning or losing. Whatsoever has nothing to do with it.

782
00:44:01,160 --> 00:44:03,480
Speaker 2: And I think that's the beauty of minor league baseball.

783
00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:06,239
Speaker 2: I bet your major league baseball wishes they had that

784
00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:09,000
Speaker 2: minor league baseball brand where people came to the game

785
00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:12,000
Speaker 2: no matter how the team performed on the field, where

786
00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:15,600
Speaker 2: major league Baseball's almost got where you know your attendance

787
00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:18,240
Speaker 2: can vary based on how the team's winning or losing.

788
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:22,160
Speaker 2: We have not had that in minor league baseball. We

789
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:25,080
Speaker 2: draw pretty much the same whether they win or lose.

790
00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:28,760
Speaker 2: We actually had the University of Chicago economics department study

791
00:44:29,239 --> 00:44:32,760
Speaker 2: our stuff because I know John List there. We're pretty

792
00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:35,600
Speaker 2: much draw the same whether you win lose, and I

793
00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:38,200
Speaker 2: so I like about minor league baseball. It's about creating

794
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:39,320
Speaker 2: that family experience.

795
00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:43,799
Speaker 1: The Marlins do wish that they envy that atmosphere for sure,

796
00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:46,359
Speaker 1: because I wanted to finish on this. They're coming off

797
00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:48,640
Speaker 1: the season at the major league level, where you're probably

798
00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:51,480
Speaker 1: aware that they struggled. They lost ninety five games, but

799
00:44:51,640 --> 00:44:54,040
Speaker 1: they are determined this off season to be one of

800
00:44:54,080 --> 00:44:57,319
Speaker 1: the most aggressive teams to improve. And they're traditionally two

801
00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:01,439
Speaker 1: ways to utilize your resources, either signing players in free

802
00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:05,040
Speaker 1: agency or trading some of those highly regarded prospects that

803
00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:09,680
Speaker 1: you mentioned in exchange for proven veterans. You just mentioned

804
00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:13,520
Speaker 1: that how where your focus is and it's not necessarily

805
00:45:13,560 --> 00:45:15,760
Speaker 1: on the field. So I guess you trust the Marlins

806
00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:18,239
Speaker 1: either direction that they want to go, or would it

807
00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:21,279
Speaker 1: in your mind it's not your money, would you be

808
00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:25,040
Speaker 1: all right if they put more of their focus in

809
00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:28,600
Speaker 1: free agency in order to, you know, retain all those

810
00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:31,240
Speaker 1: talented prospects they've showed this past season.

811
00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:33,960
Speaker 2: Well, the team I look at it's in our league,

812
00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:37,040
Speaker 2: is called the Braves. And if you look at the Braves,

813
00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:41,560
Speaker 2: the Mississippi Braves, it's just amazing every year them and

814
00:45:41,640 --> 00:45:44,839
Speaker 2: the Montgomery Biscuits, which are Tampa Bay. These are two

815
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:48,160
Speaker 2: minor league systems that are in our league and both

816
00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:53,080
Speaker 2: of them win, and they win through consistency and standardization

817
00:45:53,200 --> 00:45:56,160
Speaker 2: at the minor league level. And I think, no matter

818
00:45:56,200 --> 00:45:58,160
Speaker 2: what you do, you've got to develop your minor league

819
00:45:58,160 --> 00:46:01,319
Speaker 2: players even so they have the trade value you have.

820
00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:04,839
Speaker 2: But you know, I just if you look at the

821
00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:07,920
Speaker 2: Braves and we've seen all their players come through here,

822
00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:11,680
Speaker 2: they've really figured out how to develop these minor league players.

823
00:46:11,760 --> 00:46:15,000
Speaker 2: And same with Tampa and maximize them. And I think

824
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:18,759
Speaker 2: with Jeff and Gary Dembo you know, I think they're

825
00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:22,759
Speaker 2: really committed to standardization and quality at the minor league level.

826
00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:26,239
Speaker 2: But forget Jeff, this was his first year really managing

827
00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:30,840
Speaker 2: the minor league operations and they've done some great things.

828
00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:34,200
Speaker 2: And you know Bubba last year, Bubba spoke to all

829
00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:38,040
Speaker 2: the captain's camp, Bubba Watson, and so that worked out

830
00:46:38,120 --> 00:46:40,640
Speaker 2: quite well too. So you know, I don't know that's up.

831
00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:42,319
Speaker 2: I think you have to. You know, if you look

832
00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:45,160
Speaker 2: at teams, the teams that win with free agents get

833
00:46:45,160 --> 00:46:47,439
Speaker 2: a lot of publicity, but there's a lot of free

834
00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:49,520
Speaker 2: agents that don't work out. You know, we were a

835
00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:54,040
Speaker 2: Twins affiliation. I was really excited when they signed Josh Donalds,

836
00:46:54,040 --> 00:46:55,799
Speaker 2: and I'm not sure it's going to prove to be

837
00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:59,399
Speaker 2: as valuable as they thought, So who knows. That's why

838
00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:02,160
Speaker 2: baseball is so hard, because you're dealing with human beings.

839
00:47:02,520 --> 00:47:06,800
Speaker 2: These aren't commodities, these aren't products. These are human beings.

840
00:47:07,680 --> 00:47:10,080
Speaker 2: So you got to get lightning in the bottle sometimes.

841
00:47:10,120 --> 00:47:12,200
Speaker 2: And I hope the fans come out because you know,

842
00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:14,319
Speaker 2: it's always that we got to win, then we'll come out. Well,

843
00:47:14,360 --> 00:47:16,040
Speaker 2: if you come out, then you give the team more

844
00:47:16,120 --> 00:47:18,319
Speaker 2: revenue to go out and win. So I would just

845
00:47:18,440 --> 00:47:20,640
Speaker 2: encourage people to go to a lot of Marlin games.

846
00:47:21,840 --> 00:47:25,719
Speaker 1: We'll finish it right there. For anybody listening to this podcast,

847
00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:29,160
Speaker 1: wherever you are, you could subscribe to Quints and the

848
00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:32,160
Speaker 1: Busy Leaders podcast. I'm sure it's bailable on any of

849
00:47:32,160 --> 00:47:35,920
Speaker 1: those platforms talking about more substantial things than just baseball.

850
00:47:36,280 --> 00:47:39,880
Speaker 1: And you can follow Quints on Twitter at Quint's Underscore stood.

851
00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:42,680
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for doing this go kart.

852
00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:46,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited. I really think it's going

853
00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:48,719
Speaker 2: to fit well. And we've got a great brand. And

854
00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:51,520
Speaker 2: you know, for those that love Snappy, he'll still be

855
00:47:51,560 --> 00:47:54,839
Speaker 2: hanging out and we talk about Snapper Sundays for those

856
00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:57,360
Speaker 2: that do it, and this is we you know, like

857
00:47:57,400 --> 00:47:58,840
Speaker 2: I said, I'm in healthcare and you know, I know

858
00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:02,319
Speaker 2: names are important. Let's put life into perspective here, you know,

859
00:48:02,680 --> 00:48:05,120
Speaker 2: let's put life into perspective and let's have some fun.

860
00:48:05,320 --> 00:48:07,040
Speaker 2: And I always tell people if you come to see

861
00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:09,719
Speaker 2: me at the ballpark, I say two things, high fun,

862
00:48:09,840 --> 00:48:12,680
Speaker 2: high energy. So let's let's have Let's have some fun

863
00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:15,279
Speaker 2: and wait till you see the mascot that's the next

864
00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:17,400
Speaker 2: big enount and that's going to be really fun and

865
00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:20,239
Speaker 2: it's noaw me is so excited about having somebody to

866
00:48:20,280 --> 00:48:20,839
Speaker 2: hang out with.

867
00:48:22,440 --> 00:48:25,719
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm looking forward to that too. Still a few

868
00:48:25,719 --> 00:48:28,839
Speaker 1: months to get that finalized, but by the time people

869
00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:31,520
Speaker 1: are listening to this, the big reveal will already be

870
00:48:31,560 --> 00:48:33,440
Speaker 1: out there, and we'll be sure to have full coverage

871
00:48:33,480 --> 00:48:37,359
Speaker 1: on Fishtrips so that people can see all the alternates,

872
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:39,880
Speaker 1: not just the uniforms and hats and the logos and

873
00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:42,920
Speaker 1: but also the story behind it, because you guys feebly

874
00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:44,400
Speaker 1: to put a lot of effort into that. Thank you

875
00:48:44,440 --> 00:48:45,160
Speaker 1: so much, Quinn.

876
00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:55,080
Speaker 2: Thank you