Remember how yesterday I told you there was weirdness afoot at the Canadians front office?
Well, here’s what I was talking about:
CANADIANS MAKE
PAIR OF FRONT OFFICE MOVESJake
Kerr, Managing Partner of the Vancouver Canadians, announced today, that Aileen
Mcmanamon and Bill Posthumus would be leaving the club."Aileen
has been a great help as we got ready for the best opening in the team’s
history. However, we have both agreed that the job of chief operating
officer is much more about baseball operations than it is about marketing,
where Aileen’s experience has been. We greatly appreciate all she has
done and have accepted her resignation."Bill
Posthumus was responsible for stadium operations and held various roles with
prior teams at Nat Bailey."As
the Canadians move forward with new approaches on a variety of fronts, it
was time for new management in the stadium operations area. We thank Bill
for his help in the transition", said Kerr.
Wow. One week into her first season as C’s boss, and with a blazing trail of success behind her and a seemingly bright future in front, Aileen McManamon steps aside? It just doesn’t compute.
Now, I’ve heard a range of opinions/theories/conspiracy talk from various parties about why this took place, but since I try not to deal in anything I can’t confirm as fact, the news above will have to suffice for now.
UPDATE: Well, I’m getting dribbles of confirmable information now, and here’s what I’ve pieced together. Seems the reasoning mentioned in the press release for McManamon’s parting of ways isn’t far off - the lineups and general chaos of opening day went down pretty hard among ownership, and they took the view that, though McManamon was getting the marketing right, if you don’t know how to keep the hot dogs moving when the fans are lured in, it’s all for nothing.
Bill Posthumus falls to the same set of elevated expectations, as he was aware early on that he was expected to step up to a higher standard in order to keep his job, and since there was now a shakeup taking place, the C’s decided to finally let the axe, that they’ve been holding over his head for months, fall.
The natives are restless - lot of employees and front office people wondering if they’re next, and wondering who the new guy is going to be.
Well here’s a clue as to one of them: his last name is Dunn. And his first name is not Delany.
UPDATE II: Word on the street from a few different people connected to the team says that it was actually the Veeck consulting group that insisted a large change to the baseball operations side of the team was necessary. I’m not going to state that as fact without a little more corroboration, but that’s what I’m being told, and it seems to gel with some other things I’m hearing. I’ll have more details on the new boss, and whether he’s interim or permanent, tomorrow.
6 users commented in " Vancouver Canadians boss resigns one week into her first season "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackCan’t say this comes as much of a surprise as most of the stories I’ve heard from people I have talked to haven’t been the best. To sum up what I’ve heard, she was colder than the food served at the Nat this season so far. Any idea on who the replacement will be? Hopefully they are a bit more ‘fan friendly’.
It’s pretty hard to keep the food moving when the stadium is as old as the hills, along with the wiring, plumbing and general infrastructure. You can dress it up, but unfortunately you can’t take it out - just yet. The demand of the fans for food was not the fault of MacManamon or any of her staff - in fact it was because of the changes that they made that people went to park. However, if you don’t have enough power in the building you can’t run the concessions. That is something that can’t be rectified, short of a major renovation, or a generator, or a miracle from the electricity fairy. Notice how the stadium lights kept going on and off as well?
It’s nice that the new ‘owners’ (has anything actually been signed yet?) have such high expectations. This is Single A folks, a nice night out to watch a decent ball game - it is not the ‘Major’ leagues.
As for fan experience, compared to the Major League parks I have visited I would say that it was better than most. I could see the play, here the umpire, park without taking out a loan, chat with the players before the game and generally enjoy the game with my kids without breaking the bank.
Will the next guy be any better, or when things start to go south because of the age of the stadium, will he just shake his head and walk away too after the owners are not happy because of their ‘expectations’?
I think you may have missed the point of my comment, it wasn’t about the food or the fan experience overall, what I was getting at was the fact that she was very to difficult to approach and talk to, unlike Dan Kilgras who I felt no matter how busy would atleast listen to what you had to say and in his own time get it done. I heard a number of stories from other housing families that tried to talk to her for information and all they would get from her is a ‘who are you and why should i care’ attitude. To act that way to people who helping out immensly (sp) I believe that’s definately the wrong attitude to take. Dan would never do that and as a matter of fact, neither would Jamie when he was here. In fact, I’ve found the whole attitude of the staff to be a little cold this season for whatever reason, but that’s not the issue at hand. Anyways, I hope you understand a little better what I was getting at, my original post was made in jest, it wasn’t a commentary on the food but rather the person.
I don’t think I did miss your point. I just think you were pointing the finger at the wrong person.
If things were so great in the past with Dan and Jamie, perhaps it is the new ownership and consulting staff they have in place that is creating such a “cold” atmosphere. After all, they ultimately made the decision to let Dan and Jamie leave and replace them.
I think we are lucky to have been able to talk to Ms. MacManamon while at the park. When was the last time you were at a game (name any professional sport) and saw the president of the club walking around talking to the crowd and not ensconced in some ‘box’ somewhere?
Let’s see how things change during the next homestand and see if the ‘new’ team is any better at handling the expectation of all concerned.
Other than being at the Nat I’ve never seen it done before I’ll give you that. But Dan had been doing it for years now, but it also may have been that I had a strong relationship with that management group at the time.
Here’s hoping the new group to come in can handle the pressure - there is a fireworks night on sunday and they always draw large crowds, talk about baptism by fire eh?
What is going on out there? The previous ownership had flaws, but always displayed a sense of urgency for the fans, and were consistently focused on affordable entertainment for eveyone interested in supporting Canadians baseball. Dan Kilgras, as both a GM & President, offered the whole package ie. sales, marketing, media relations, operations etc. What happened, and why was he not lured into staying on with the club?
The initial transistion from ‘AAA’ to ‘Single A Short Season’ was tough enough back in 2000; the new ownership needs to understand what is at stake. Fan support during this transition didn’t come easy with the new Canadians, don’t blow it! If Dan Kilgras won’t return, find experienced baseball people with solid managerial & operations backgrounds to bring the club back on course! Our game and our stadium and the fans deserve the best! Dan Roberge, Saskatoon, SK
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