Trenton, New Jersey - Pat O'Conner's love for his job is clear from the moment he starts talking. The President of Minor League Baseball paid a visit to Waterfront Ballpark for Game Three of the EL Championship (the game was later postponed to Friday) between the home team Trenton Thunder and the Altoona Curve, and spoke about his hope for MILB, what has impressed him, and the power of diversity.
Change Is Good:
"I want to see more diversity, both with race and gender in MILB. Because baseball should reflect the world at large. I want to see more players of color and to embrace our diversity. And with the new initiative we've started this year, we've begun to do that. As the world changes, baseball does as well."
Getting Used To The Girls:
"There's no question it's important for them to be around women in the media at this level, absolutely. I'm a traditionalist in the sense that I believe in a cooling off period," he said. "I'm still enough of an old school [man] that I don't think men should be in the women's locker room and women shouldn't be in a man's locker room when they're showering. But they need to have access to them. Right after the game there always needs to be a cooling off period for all media. From time to time you see boys being boys, or men being boys, and they shouldn't be that way. I remember the players were brought to a room so the women could talk to players. It should be the way it is now, a freer flow, while also respecting everyone's privacy and also respecting everybody's got a job to do."
Financial Statement:
"Well, as a result of the economy we've taken a hit, just like everyone else. But our characterization is that we are not recession-proof, but we are very recession resistant. We are a collection of small businesses. And when you compare other small businesses to us, we've taken far less of a hit. Our attendance this year will be down less than one percent. In this economy we're extremely proud of that. From our position - stability, viability, financially - we're fine. We're not seeing layoffs or cut backs."
Testing, Testing:
"We wholeheartedly support what the commissioner [of MLB, Bud Selig] is doing in regards to smokeless tobacco, drug testing prior to this...we've had drug testing for over ten years. My hope is that it will clean up a game to the extent that there isn't a problem, but it will send a message to the young people coming into this game, emulating the players that you can't do that. That there are options, there will be options and it's an unacceptable option. And I think what you're going to see is that as these players learn to feel ground balls a certain way, to hit pitches a certain way, to throw a certain way, as they work their way to the Minor Leagues, they're going to learn that life in this game is drug free and that you are responsible for what goes into your body, and there are going to be ramifications and consequences if you do something you shouldn't be doing. My hope is that it will send the intended message that baseball wants to be drug free, and it wants to keep a level playing field on natural skills. I hope that's the result of what the commissioner is putting in place here.
The Unforgiven:
"The policies depend on what the infraction is, what the violation is. There are counseling measures that go along with [getting caught]. It's not just you're suspended for fifty games, come back in a month and half. It's incumbent upon the player to help make sure that he doesn't fall through the cracks. Organizations have about 250 players under contract, does one get lost? I think that's naive to say that's not a possibility. But baseball has a great opportunity to help a young man, one, straighten out his life, and two, what is the introduction? How is it getting in the game? The science in this whole performance enhancing drug business is so advanced. For every scientist trying to identify the drug for MLB, there's a guy out there trying to develop the next one. It's a very difficult paradigm to try and work in. It's incumbent upon us to do the very best we can. It's not going to be fool-proof. But I believe any testing that will be done will be vetted and it will be the fairest."
The Passion Of The President:
"I think being in ballparks [is favorite thing about the job]. I don't have a team, I have 160. But when I come to a ballpark and I get a chance to talk to the media, I find it very engaging. The questions are genuine, sincere, and informed. It makes me feel that we have that kind of interest. When I go out and look out here and see fans cheering because the tarp is coming off, what it does is it validates everything we do back home in St. Pete. Tonight you see generational family. That validates what we're trying to do. I travel about 180 to 190 days a year, so getting there is an exaggeration because of travel, but being there is still the same gas it was three years ago. So being with the fans, watching the game, seeing the athleticism [is my favorite]. I've been to a lot of games this summer and I think the play has been better this year, than I can recall. I've been to more playoff games this year than I have in the last few, and I've been so impressed with the energy level of the fans, the awareness of the fans, they're staying through the whole game. I was at a game Friday night, 6,700 people, fireworks after the game, and I thought that's why they were staying so late- but there was a mass exodus after the last out. They weren't there for fireworks. They were there for the ballgame. That kind of stuff is still fun."