Northwestern alum making his mark in Minor League Baseball
By Kevin Lynch
December 21, 2009
638
Kurt Landes is making the most of his love of sports and his creativity.
Landes is the award-winning general manager of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the Triple A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The 1991 graduate of Northwestern High School and 1995 graduate of Bowling Green was named Minor League Baseballs Executive of the Year at this years winter meetings in Indianapolis.
Ive always felt pretty good about the job Ive done at the locations that Ive been. I think its harder to get recognized in the industry until you have a bigger stage, Landes said. Here at the AAA level and the attendance weve been able to generate, there are a lot of people who have taken notice of the promotions weve done and the success weve had.
Any time the reward comes from your peers, it feels fantastic, because those are the people who know what it takes to do the job and the hours it requires, he continued. It is definitely a fantastic honor.
A life in sports is something he always thought about, but wasnt sure would happen.
Coming out of high school, I considered three things: public relations, architecture and sports management, Landes said. In high school, I enjoyed sports, so I decided to take that path. I didnt really know what I wanted to do in sports, or what opportunities were available in sports.
I ended up doing a number of internships in college and one of them was with the Toledo Mudhens. From that, they hired me on full time and that set me on a path, Landes added. Once youre in the industry and know people, you start to have the ability to move up and learn more about the industry. I really enjoyed it and its taken me to where Im at today.
Landes graduated as the sole recipient of the distinguished Outstanding Senior Award from Bowling Green State University in 1995 and immediately started his baseball career with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens as their Community Relations Coordinator.
The next season Landes began working with the Akron Aeros baseball club helping them open a new, $31-million ballpark that served as the communitys revitalization focus. Overseeing the teams ticket sales, Landes directed the team to four consecutive Minor League Baseball Double-A attendance records drawing over a half-million fans each year.
In 2000, he became the general manager of the Daytona Cubs in Daytona Beach, Fla. During Landes single season in Daytona, the clubs average attendance rose over 60 percent and the club established new records in total and average attendance. In September of 2001, Landes was announced as the new general manager for the Hagerstown (Md.) Suns. During his five-year tenure, the Suns increased their average attendance each year and, overall, the Suns attendance rose over 50 percent.
While in Hagerstown, Landes also oversaw franchises in Erie, Pa. (2005-2006), and Staten Island, N.Y. (2006), while still retaining his general manager responsibilities in Hagerstown. He was named general manager of the new Lehigh Valley franchise in October, 2006, and has directed the Iron Pigs and Coca-Cola Park since their inception. During the teams inaugural 2008 season, the Iron Pigs finished sixth in all of Minor League Baseball in both total (602,033) and average (8,459) attendance.
There are many times when you wish you could spend more time with family and friends, like when youre working a game on the Fourth of July, and youre thinking youd rather spend time with them than go to the ballpark, Landes said. My job is fantastic. I love my job, probably too much; and you have to love it to work 80, 90 and 100 hours a week during the summer. You are able to create memories for people, and its a job that not a lot of people have; I get to come to the ballpark every day, and it makes it all worthwhile.
Kurt is married to his wife, Karen, and together they raise their daughter, Kadison, 6, and son, Kolby, 4.
Landes tries to make a trip to the ballpark something a family can enjoy and do more than once.
Minor League Baseball is much different than Major League Baseball, Landes said. In Major League Baseball, the focus is on wins and losses and players on the field.
We like to win and care about the players and hope to have a good product, but Minor League Baseball takes a similar amount of pride in the facility, the venue, and the entertainment, he continued. Our mantra is affordable family fun. For a $6 ticket or a $9 ticket, a family can come multiple times a summer, to a park that is clean and intimate; you are closer and feel as though you are part of the game. And, our players are generally more available for autographs and interaction with the families. We do everything we can to make it truly a family atmosphere.
I think we take the best of everywhere and try and incorporate what we have here, Landes said. In the Minor League industry, people enjoy stealing other peoples ideas. In fact, were encouraged to use other ideas. We do things that other teams have done, but we Iron Pig-ize it. Its fun to see grown adults walking around the ballpark with snouts on their faces. We encourage fans to put their snouts on to rally for runs.
We have giant bubble machines that greet fans as they walk through the gates at the ballpark, he continued. When you walk in and see these bubbles and kids chasing the bubbles, you sense a tone that you are walking into a fun place. All the kids get free balloons when they leave. When you get 9,000 to 10,000 people a night, thats a lot of balloons were giving out. It puts a nice bookend around the experience.
Aside from being recognized by his peers for doing an outstanding job, and winning numerous other civic awards, Landes says the greatest compliment he ever got was when someone told him, Usually, when they go to a ball game, they use the restroom between innings. Here, they use the restrooms during the game so they dont miss the between-innings entertainment, he said.
The game is who we are; were the Triple A affiliate of the Phillies, and the Phillies have had a lot of success, Landes said. Its very popular to be a Phillies fan. There are so many players here who have been part of the Phillies past three playoff runs. We offer something for everyone, not just for baseball fans and what they see on the field. People just love coming out to the ballpark here.
We look at the 18 times between innings, the 90 to 120 seconds we have between innings to entertain, he added. We look at it like a Broadway show. What can we do to entertain? Between the skits, videoboard promotions, the Great Pork Race where we have three pork products racing, (Ham Bone, Diggity Dog and Cris P Bacon), there is something for everyone.
