Theo Fightmaster of Sonoma Stompers wins Forty Under 40 award

Theo Fightmaster of Sonoma Stompers Professional Baseball Club wins Forty Under 40 award wins an 11th annual Forty Under 40 award from North Bay Business Journal.|

Theo Fightmaster

AGE: 36

President and general manager

Sonoma Stompers Professional Baseball Club

234 W Napa St, Sonoma 95476

707.938.7277

www.stompersbaseball.com

Theo Fightmaster of Sonoma Stompers Professional Baseball Club wins Forty Under 40 award wins an 11th annual Forty Under 40 award from North Bay Business Journal.

Responsibilities with your company: Theo runs business operations for the Stompers, including corporate partnerships, marketing, media/public relations, and front office management. He also mans personnel acquisition, development, and scouting. Theo negotiated the deal that made the Stompers the subject of the book “The Only Rule Is It Has To Work,” signed Jose Canseco to a two-day contract, and signed the first openly gay player in the history of professional baseball.

Last year, in association with Francis Ford Coppola and his Virginia Dare Winery, Theo and the Stompers fielded the first co-ed roster since the Negro Leagues of the 1950s. The Stompers were champions of the Pacific Association in 2016.”

In 25 words or less, how do you exemplify the spirit of being a top Forty under 40 professional?: I try to focus on fielding a winning baseball team, and creating a forward thinking organization without allowing budgetary or cultural limitations from dictating our way forward.

Years with company: 4

Length of time in current position: 4 years

Number of employees who report to you: 50

Greatest professional accomplishment: Our team has been recognized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in two consecutive years for our inclusive roster building.

Greatest professional challenge: Putting on a professional show -- baseball game and fan experience, and attracting professional players -- without access to a professional stadium and facilities.

Best advice received: “When you try to do everything, you end up doing nothing.”

Single most important event in your professional life in the last 12 months: Winning the Pacific Association Championship, while fielding a roster with multiple female players.

What steps is your company taking to sustain your organization and morale in the current economy?: We see ourselves as stewards of the game of baseball at large, of our home ballpark – Arnold Field in Sonoma – and partners in our community. Without a winning team, passionate and satisfied fans, and our desire to be true members of our community, an organization like ours doesn't exist. This is a relationship business, and relationships, like the economy, can be cyclical, but less volatile if you invest in them.

Next professional goal: Grow this league. We're the last independent professional league on this side of the country. And that's while independent pro baseball is experiencing a bit of a renaissance. We want this league to grow, to provide more opportunity for young player, and give family more affordable, fun and wholesome entertainment options.

Education: Bachelor of arts, Arizona State University

Hometown: Windsor

Mentor/admired businessperson: Dusty Baker (Washington Nationals Manager, former Manager of Cubs, Red and Giants). He gave me my first job in baseball when I was a counselor at his baseball camp in Sacramento. I grew up spending my summers there, and eventually helped him run the program. He is one of the most sincere, generous person I've come across in any walk of life.

Typical day at the office: On any given day during our season, I'm likely to meet with sponsors or potential advertisers, meet with our manager, talk with players and baseball operations team, brainstorm ideas for promotions for an upcoming home stand, discuss way of increasing fan experience, handle league matters, quell investor concerns, complain about an umpire, talk to fans and host families, make a joke on social media, ship a hat or a t-shirt to an out-of-state fan, shake hands with our mascot, Rawhide, change a keg of beer, get a fresh hot dog for a kid who dropped theirs before the first bite, close down the stadium, shut off the lights before the neighbors call the police, rinse and repeat.

Best place to work outside of your office: On the couch in my study with my dog, Henry.

Hobbies: Writing, road-tripping/traveling, debating and joking.

What you wanted to be when you grew up: Will Clark, first baseman for the San Francisco Giants

#1 thing you want to accomplish by the time you turn 40: Have a Stompers player in the major leagues

First job: Truck washer at Cam's Trucking on Bellevue Ave in Santa Rosa.

Favorite book: Usually the last one I read. In this case, “Disgrace,” by J.M. Coetzee. But I'm partial to “The Only Rule Is It Has To Work,” the story of the 2015 Sonoma Stompers.

Favorite movie: Major League

Favorite after-work drink: Just about anything Lagunitas, but if I'm celebrating something it's a Manhattan on the rocks.

Last vacation: Two days in Carmel.

What does your mom or dad brag most about you?: My wit

Theo Fightmaster

AGE: 36

President and general manager

Sonoma Stompers Professional Baseball Club

234 W Napa St, Sonoma 95476

707.938.7277

www.stompersbaseball.com

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