SABR 52: Listen to highlights from St. Paul Saints Panel with Derek Sharrer, Tom Whaley, Sierra Bailey, Liz Fedor
On Friday, August 9, 2024, the SABR 52 St. Paul Saints Panel was held at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis. Hosted by SABR’s Minor Leagues Committee, panelists include Derek Sharrer, the Saints’ Executive Vice President/GM; Tom Whaley, Executive Vice President; and Sierra Bailey, Vice President/Assistant GM. The moderator was Liz Fedor of Twin Cities Business magazine. Mascot Mudonna and “Coach” also made a surprise guest appearance at the beginning of the panel.
Sharrer is Executive Vice President and General Manager of the St. Paul Saints. He has been with the organization since 2004. He received Executive of the Year honors in the American Association for three consecutive seasons from 2015 to 2017. He oversaw the opening of CHS Field in 2015. He previously worked for the Charleston RiverDogs and Fort Myers Miracle, and his teams have set attendance records and drawn national attention for their creative promotions throughout his career.
Whaley is Executive Vice President of the St. Paul Saints, a position he has held since 2002. He is responsible for the team’s business development and he was one of the instrumental people in making CHS Field a reality. He previously worked for the Tampa Bay Rays and the Brockton Rox, and also spent six seasons with the Saints from 1993 to 1998 as Director of Operations and Assistant General Manager.
Bailey is Vice President and Assistant General Manager of the St. Paul Saints. She began her baseball career as a Saints game-day intern in 2009 while attending the University of Minnesota, where she earned her degree in Sport Management. From there, she went on to work for the Minnesota Twins, Timberwolves, and Lynx before making her way back to the Saints in 2013.
Fedor is Senior Editor for Twin Cities Business magazine. She oversees the magazine’s Trending sections, which provide business leaders with the latest information on specific industries. She spent 11 years at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reporting on the airline industry, housing market, agriculture, and consumer issues. She previously worked as the editorial page editor, reporter, and columnist at the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota.
- AUDIO: Listen to highlights from the SABR 52 St. Paul Saints Panel (55:17; MP3)
Here are some highlights:
ON WORKING WITH FORMER CO-OWNER MIKE VEECK
- Whaley: “Mike’s fingerprints … are baked into what we do. And hopefully long after the three of us are gone and the team’s still here, we’ve baked that in to those coming after us. So it’s about never letting up from a promotional angle, never losing your edginess, never losing your sense of humor. … You do that by being unrelenting when it comes to those values that were instilled in us. Every day, you get up and you’re trying to think of the next great idea.”
ON PLAYING AT OLD MIDWAY STADIUM
- Sharrer: “They would bring players in and the coaches would say, ‘Just wait until the game starts.’ They’d bring them into this high school locker room … two shower heads, no lounge area that players have now, and they’d say, ‘Just wait for the game. Just wait until you walk out onto the field.’ And then they’re chanting, they’re singing a song about you, they’ve picked their favorites, they’re doing the choo-choo when the train goes by. Honestly, that was the answer: it was the crowd, it was the people.”
ON THE ATMOSPHERE AT CHS FIELD
- Bailey: “I think once we became affiliated (with the Minnesota Twins), we did get more of the baseball crowd. But we still definitely cater ourselves toward the families who want to have an affordable night outside and to enjoy themselves. But I think we can cater to all people. … In center field, we have a play zone area for kids who can’t sit in their seat for nine innings. … We have a craft beer bullpen in the left field corner with 40 different local breweries on tap; people love to go have beers all night long and don’t even watch a single play of the game. … It’s always been in our nature to market the entertainment side. It’s just a nice place to go, to have everyone be together from all different walks of life.”
ON BECOMING A TRIPLE-A AFFILIATE OF THE MINNESOTA TWINS
- Sharrer: “I don’t think we’ve changed much at all. The baseball has always been very important to us. As an independent team, we had an opportunity to build a team that was made up of our guys who were playing to win a championship. Externally, we knew the market wasn’t made up of all baseball fans and if we wanted to survive, we needed to make sure it was fun for everybody. … The transition from independent to affiliated did give us an opportunity to focus a little more attention to what’s happening between the white lines, as it relates to individual players. Last night, Zebby Matthews pitched and a lot of the Twins player development staff took the Green Line over to watch the game. … It’s a wonderful opportunity to highlight what’s happening, especially on social media.”
For more coverage of SABR 52, visit SABR.org/convention.
Originally published: August 20, 2024. Last Updated: August 20, 2024.