Greg Coleman stands with Steven Moya, 2014 Eastern League MVP and Lance Parrish, SeaWolves manager and eight-time MLB All-Star. (Photo by R. Frank Photography.)
His baseball journey started in Hamilton and landed him 440 miles away, but Erie SeaWolves president Greg Coleman’s path to the Detroit Tigers’ Double-A affiliate was anything but a straight line.
He has worked with teams in Florida, California and Kentucky, and he even had a local stint as the Trenton Thunder’s assistant general manager before making his way to the SeaWolves in 2011.
Now, four years into his current position, the Hamilton native has helped reshape the SeaWolves into an organization that is more dedicated to fan experience and community involvement.
Coleman kicked off his efforts with a successful logo and color scheme change in 2012, which has resulted in annual merchandise sales nearly doubling. A new mascot and in-park features like modern ticketing technology, more varied concessions and an updated stadium look were all hits with fans, while appearances from Tigers favorites like former manager Jim Leyland have also been popular.
“It’s important when you’re creating a ballpark experience to have something for everyone,” he said. “In minor league baseball, there’s a focus on being zany, fun and new, but you also have to promote baseball. I think we do a good job of striking that balance between kids who are just learning the game and fans who have been supporting it their whole lives.”
Coleman started his minor league baseball career in 1998, and he has been using the experience gained over a nearly 20-year career to build the SeaWolves up to what they are today—an organization that places an equal focus on baseball, the fans and making a difference in Erie. As a result, the Erie Times-News, a local paper, named the SeaWolves as one of three finalists for its Commitment to Erie Awards in the community service category. Fans come out in droves to enjoy new features like a kids’ Fun Zone with inflatables and life-size cutouts of current and former players.
On a typical day during the season, he can be found putting the final touches on entertainment plans, mingling with fans and solving problems.
“There is always something in your day that you have to plan for,” he said. “There are so many moving parts around the ballpark that something will go wrong most days. You realize that there are things that happen that are either in your control or out of it. I’ve gotten more patient dealing with things that are out of my control.”
And though he has retired Crazy Pizza Guy, a character he was known for in Trenton, Coleman still partakes in the occasional ballpark stunt in Erie. Last year, he participated in the “Two Knuckle Challenge,” during which he got a prostate exam in the press box during a game while singing “Take Me out to the Ballgame.” It was broadcast live on the stadium’s video screen—the shot was a close-up, with only his face visible.
“It was funny because I taped the words to the counter in front of me just in case I got distracted,” he said. “And I did need them. It was entertaining, and the fans had a good time. If it encourages even just one person to get an exam, it was worth it.”
Coleman said he is able to catch up with his former Thunder co-workers a few times during the year, like at baseball’s Winter Meetings and the Eastern League All-Star Game. While he misses them and his loved ones back in Hamilton—and tomato pie, and pork roll—making a difference in Erie, he said, is where he, his wife, Shanda, and children Kevin and Maggie belong.
“I get asked, ‘Would you like to work for an MLB team?’” he said. “I feel like I can impact my community more [in minor league baseball]. If the opportunity comes up to help someone in Erie, I can make a decision to do that. We are in the process of starting a community fund. We raise money for little league renovations, equipment grants, scholarships. The impact will be tremendous. It’s something we can do here that if we did the same amount of work in a major league city, it might just be a blip on the radar.”
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