Touring The Bases With…Lisa Fegley

Lisa Fegley is Ticket Sales & Promotions Director for the Jupiter Hammerheads, an affiliate of the Florida Marlins.  She also works for the Palm Beach Cardinals – which is an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.  They play in Roger Dean Stadium, the only Stadium in the country with two minor league teams sharing a home stadium.  She works for both.  They are located in Jupiter, Florida in the Florida State League.

SEAMHEADS.COM: Where did you grow up?

LISA FEGLEY: I was born and raised in Oley Valley, a real small town outside of Reading, Pennsylvania.

SEAMHEADS: What influence did your parents have on you concerning baseball?

LISA:  My parents encouraged my passion for baseball and would drive my brother and I around to different minor league stadiums up and down the east coast.  Through high school and college we began taking our family vacation to Spring Training in Florida over spring break.  They were absolutely wonderful.

SEAMHEADS: What woman do you admire the most?

LISA: My Mom… she is a wonderful person, who leads by example and always has a positive attitude.   Her encouragement and support has helped me get where I am today. My mom (and my dad) have traveled with me all across the country to follow my dream and gave me the push I needed sometimes to take that extra step.  She is just an all around good person whom I have always looked up to.

SEAMHEADS: Which woman in baseball do you admire the most?  If you could ask her one question, what would it be?

LISA: Ashley Peterson – the Assistant General Manager of the Reading Phillies.  Ashley started working in baseball as a Diamond Girl with the Reading Phillies (same as I did) and has worked her way up to the Assistant General Manager position.  I have always admired Ashley even before I began my career in baseball.

SEAMHEADS: What got you into baseball?

LISA: I became a die hard Yankees fan in when I was thirteen.  I remember sitting in front of the television during the 1996 World Series and rooting against the Braves just because they were my younger brother’s favorite team.  I became a fan from that day forward. I grew up idolizing players like Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and Tino Martinez.  I even snuck out from my high school homecoming dance because the Yankees were playing Oakland in the playoffs and the Series was tied 2-2. There was no way I was missing that game whether they advanced or went home.  I had to see it!  I loved baseball so much that I just wanted to be a part of the game.  I had no idea what I wanted to do yet, but I knew I wanted to be the one standing on the other side of the fence.

SEAMHEADS: When did you decide on baseball as a career?

LISA: After going to as many minor league baseball games as I could, I eventually ended up working for the Reading Phillies as a Diamond Girl, handing out giveaways, assisting with on field promotions and even filling in as a mascot when they were short handed.  It was there that I began to understand the business side of sports.

I learned about the people who make that affordable family fun atmosphere happen.  I have to say there wasn’t a better “baseball town” that I could have grown up in.  The Reading Phillies know how to put on a show and have the most loyal fans I’ve ever met.  It was a great place to grow up and allowed me to spend my first four years throughout college getting hands on experience with one of the best minor league organizations in baseball.

SEAMHEADS:  Did you study Sport Management in College?

LISA: Yes. I graduated from York College of Pennsylvania located in York, Pa in the spring of 2006 receiving my bachelor’s degree in Sport Management with a Minor in Marketing.  I tried to get involved as much as I could with the sport program.  We had a mandatory internship that we were expected to complete before we could graduate, so I applied to several minor league teams within a few hours of my home.

My professor Dr. Newman gave me the kick in the butt I needed and suggested I get out of my comfort zone and apply to Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, FL.  I applied for the minor league internship position having no intention of accepting the position but the General Manager Brian Barnes made it sound amazing and a month later I packed up my bags and moved to Florida, not knowing anyone within a thousand miles.

SEAMHEADS: What do you love most about your job?

LISA: I love the interaction with fans, they’re like my family here.

SEAMHEADS:  What is the most difficult part of your job?

LISA:  Generating a unique experience for over 170 home games. Creating that sense of urgency for fans to come out the ballpark – with two minor league teams in our facility, the fans don’t have a chance to miss us.  When one team is on the road the other team is always home.  And lastly the South Florida weather – we pull tarp more than you can imagine … it always seems to rain right at game time and often scares away the crowds because they know there is always going to be a game here tomorrow.

SEAMHEADS: What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome to work in baseball?

LISA: Trying to balance a social life with baseball season… for about eight months during our baseball season you’re working nights, weekends, holidays and don’t have very many days off.

SEAMHEADS: What do you do for relaxation?

LISA: With two major league teams and two minor league teams playing at our stadium, I don’t get much time off but when I do, you will find me at the beach or playing rock band with friends.

SEAMHEADS: Did you play sports in high school or college?

LISA: I played basketball and was on the bowling team in high school

SEAMHEADS: What is the most outstanding memory you have with the Hammerheads/Palm Beach Cardinals?

LISA: It was the 2008 Playoffs with Palm Beach Cardinals. Unfortunately our team lost but the players and coaches were great that year. Our staff took a road trip up to Daytona for both away games.  I still wish we would have won, but it was fun to be a fan and enjoy the playoff atmosphere.

SEAMHEADS:  Who was your mentor in baseball?

LISA: Brian Barnes – he was the former, Assistant General Manager at Roger Dean Stadium.  I can’t even convey how much he has taught me over the years.  He hired me as an intern and helped me advance into the position I hold today.

SEAMHEADS: What makes you successful at your job?

LISA: What makes me most successful is that I am still a fan and I think like a fan.  I know many people in the sport industry don’t want to hear that (and they are right to an extent). You are there to work, not watch the game; but I think in minor league baseball you need that fan mentality.

SEAMHEADS:  How many different jobs have you held?

LISA:  My job changes every day, which is what I love most about it.  There are always opportunities to take on new responsibilities as we host different events.   After my internship I was hired full time as a Ticket Sales Representative and quickly moved up the ranks to Corporate Sponsorship and Assistant Group Events Manager. I never in a million years saw myself in a sales position but realized how easy it was to sell something you loved and believe in.

I am now the Director of Ticket Sales & Promotions.  I develop ticket packages while overseeing the sales of season tickets, group packages, and luxury suites.  I was also given full rein of creating and executing game day scripts; public address announcements; pregame activities; theme nights and creating between inning contests.  In game entertainment is my favorite part of the job.  I also have served as the on field host for the last five years.

SEAMHEADS: What is your favorite baseball quote?

LISA: The following quote by Rogers Hornsby pretty much sums up how baseball impacts my life … “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball.  I’ll tell you what I do.  I stare out the window and wait for spring.”  That quote couldn’t describe me better. I grew up watching baseball and doing everything I could to get closer to the game.

I dread the off season so I decided to work for Roger Dean Stadium, home to the St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins Spring Training and Single A minor league teams.  I now work in the busiest little ballpark in the country.  It’s the only stadium in the country to host two spring training teams and two minor league teams.  We had over one-hundred seventy-eight home games total last year and I was able to play a roll in every single one of them.

SEAMHEADS: What is your favorite baseball movie?  Baseball book?

LISA: I love all baseball movies – that’s what gets me through the off-season.  I would have to say my two favorites would have to be Major League and Little Big League .  My favorite baseball book is The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty by Buster Olney.

SEAMHEADS: What is it about baseball that you feel most passionate about?

LISA:  If I have been more passionate about anything in my life – it is baseball.  I go to a ballpark for work every day. My office overlooks home plate – no matter how bad my day gets, I just look out that window, see the field and realize how lucky I am.  The stadium is ten minutes away from the beach, its sunny and at least seventy degrees even in the winter … this is my heaven.

SEAMHEADS:  Do you ever sit in the stands during a game, just relax and be a fan?

LISA:  Not at our stadium – it  is impossible.  But I love to kick back and be a fan, I travel as much as I can to see what other minor league teams do differently. With two minor league teams, it is difficult to get away during the season but last off -season I traveled to St. Louis for the first time as well as checked out the Arizona Fall League.

SEAMHEADS: Do you use the new social programs, Facebook, Myspace or Twitter, etc?

LISA: The Palm Beach Cardinals, Jupiter Hammerheads, and our mascots have accounts on all three and use them heavily to promote what’s happening from day to day.

SEAMHEADS: What advice would you give a young woman considering a career in baseball?

LISA:  Get as much experience as you can, even an unpaid internship or part-time work in the sport industry can help you get your foot in the door.  And just remember you only get out of it what you put into it.

SEAMHEADS: Now that this season is about over, what are your plans for the coming off season?

LISA:  This off season I plan to travel and go home to visit my family.  But for the most part we are getting ready for the 2011 season already.  Our Spring Training schedule is announced in November and we have lots of work to do before then.

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