Rockies Q&A With Walker Monfort - 07-06

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi everybody, Jack Corgan, Welcome to another edition of Rockies
Q and A. And I'm very pleased to have as
my guests the Rockies Executive vice president Walker Montford, who
has been in a whirlwind. Well maybe I shouldn't say that, Walker,
I mean, the announcement came, but the process was starting
to get under way. But once that it's actually here,

(00:23):
I guess it's a semi whirlwind.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Yeah, Jack, we've you know, we've been talking about this
for you know, i'd say three or four weeks. Obviously
we made the announcement last week or the week prior.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
It's been moving quickly. But yeah, yeah, it's been a whirlwind.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
We had some big announcements last week with our Jersey
Patch partner that kept me busy. But since then now
I'm turning focus.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
And in terms of that focus, we'll get to that
a little bit later in our conversation. But you know,
I thought I would jump right in with the elephant
in the room, if you will, and every buddy talking about,
well it's the owner's son, and same old, same old,
and I started to think a little bit in my

(01:08):
own perspective. My father was a public figure, so when
I started working for the Indians, there were people who said,
whoa the owner, reason you got the job was because
of your dad, you know that kind of thing. And
I look at the four generations of Carrie's and my
business and Joe Buck following his dad. In a lot
of other businesses, nobody would raise an eyebrow about son

(01:31):
or daughter replacing a parent, but a little different for you, unfortunately.
And how are you taking that on?

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, I think in any family business, there's always going
to be critics, right, and there's always going to be
higher expectations. And so what I've done my entire career really,
since I started working part time here, I've tried to
work hard right, tried to show that I'm here to work,
here to learn and here to grow, here to build relateationships.
And I think I think I've done a good job

(02:02):
with that over the course of time. But you know,
as as with anything, I understand that there's going to
be pressure that comes along with it.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
But ultimately I do feel like I'm the right guy
for the job.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
You get going with the organization while you're still in school,
working at summers and and and I remember you working
in the visitors clubhouse and on the grounds crew and
everything else. Was that something that your dad said, Hey,
this will be a good way for you to get
the feel for what we're about. Or was that something

(02:36):
that you wanted to do and you came up with
the idea.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
You know, I mean when I was in college, right,
these were summers during college. I was going to Colorado State,
and it was really at that.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
Point in time just a summer.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Job, right, looked at various areas within the organization. Started
out in the visitors clubhouse, which which was a great experience,
and from there just kind of expanded the horizons based
on the different departments that offered those positions.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
And really, I guess we could say in hindsight, now,
while you describe it as a college summer job, some
of those experiences are now or should put you in
good stead as you take on more and more responsibility.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yeah, I mean, you know, as with anything, you look
at each of the areas that I worked over the
course of college and you learn something from them, right.
I think the most valuable thing is you realize the
amount of work that people put in to pull off
this entire operation, whether that's a.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
Part time or working in the clubhouse.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
Someone on the ground's crew are promotional folks that you know,
throw T shirts into the stands as we saw last night.

Speaker 3 (03:46):
You realize what has to happen for this all to work.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
And I think you know, over the course of time,
you also have the chance to build great relationships. And
a lot of the folks that I reported to over
the course of time, they're still here. A lot of
the folks that I worked with when I was doing
those jobs, they have grown, you know, their own careers
within the organization.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
And so you get people, whether it's a Mark rasm
the head of the grounds crew, or a Mike Ponarelli
in terms of the clubhouses, as you take on this role,
I would imagine those are people who not only give
you support because they've seen your work rate, your work ethic,

(04:27):
but also people you can lean on when you're trying
to get that perhaps extra piece of information.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
Yeah, I mean the relationships, as I mentioned, are the
key piece of you know why I think this is
a great next step in my career, in my story.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
I know people around the organization.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
I have authentic relationships with people around the organization, and ultimately,
I think if I haven't earned it already. My goal
is to ensure that I gain the trust of all
of those people as well. We talk about, you know,
the need for change and things that you know, we
as the Rockies have to do better. You know, I

(05:08):
value perspectives. I value perspectives of you know, different departments
within the organization. Like I said, whether that's the clubhouse,
the grounds crew, ticketing. You know, you have to understand
what challenges people go through or what ideas they have
in order to maximize our results.

Speaker 1 (05:25):
We're visiting with the Rockies Executive vice president, Walker Montfort.
Will take a quick break back with more after this
and the KOA Rockies Radio Network. Back here on Rockies
Q and A. As we visit with Walker Montfort, recently
named the Rockies executive vice president, I'm going to get
back to your baseball roots in a moment, but right

(05:47):
now in your role as Greg Fiesel, the chief operating officer,
Greg's going to continue it through the end of the
calendar year. So in the steps leading up to that,
much of it is observation and how much will you
get some hands on earlier if you will.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
I'm joining meetings with Greg that he would have typically
taken one on one or led the group on. I'm
taking those meetings with him. I'm trying to learn as
much as I can that he knows and kind of
expedite the process being as we only have, you know,
five six months left through the end of the year.
But the great thing about Greg is that I have

(06:30):
worked with Greg for the past, you know, twelve thirteen years,
and he's always been a great boss, a great mentor.
He's very smart, he knows the organization inside and out,
and really what he and I are trying to focus
on right now, along with some of our other department heads,
are just me getting a glimpse into some of these
areas that I haven't been as privy to over the

(06:53):
course of my career, So trying to learn as much
as I can, trying to learn quickly, but also just
trying to understand the things that he thinks are important
for me to know as he moves forward.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
Let's go back to the beginning a little bit if
we can, in terms of baseball, and obviously the family
of first with your uncle Charlie and then your dad
got more involved as time went on in those real
young days for yourself, was baseball something that really fueled

(07:28):
you or is it something that you came to appreciate
as part of the family business.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
I mean, I was always and have always been a
great baseball fan. Right Obviously, when I was really young,
the Rockies didn't exist. I got a little older, the
Rockies began to exist. My uncle Charlie was involved really
from the very beginning, and then over the course of time,
due to some shifting parts, my dad got involved really

(07:57):
on two separate occasions, I think, first in nineteen nine
and then kind of in a bigger way in two thousand.
But we've always been huge fans. We used to drive
up from Greeley, you know, it seemed like every night
to come watch the Rockies play. And my brother and
I played baseball growing up. My dad played baseball growing up.
So it's always been a core part of our life.

(08:18):
And I think just over the course of going from
childhood to adulthood, it's now you know, something that keeps
me busy in a different way.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
And you say you played baseball growing up, well, you
played at Eaton High School for Jim Danley. Well, one
of the greatest high school coaches of all time. Not
just here in Colorado with all the success that he
had with your alma mater. What did you learn in
that process as you and your brother Sterling were going

(08:48):
through and being a part of that run of success
that Eaton had.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
You know, Jim, it's it's funny, there's kind of a
direct comparison to what you know, our model is here
at the Rocks with what Eaton Baseball did, and that's
you know, starting from t ball through pee wee's up
and through middle school, high school, all that. It's kind
of a draft and develop atmosphere.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
Right.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
You have kids that are all in the same grade
and they play on the same t ball league, and
it's you know, kind of like the minor.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
Leagues of pee wee t ball all that stuff.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
And you know, I think that's kind of the glimpse
of what we got was was the team atmosphere.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Right.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
I had kids that I played with from t ball
all the way up through high school, and I think
I played on every single team with them along the way.
And so, you know, I think that's part of what
the Eaton high school success was was that you had
these kids that were team oriented. Obviously, you know a
lot of kids had talent, more talent than Stirling her eye.

(09:49):
But you know, long story short, it opened my eyes
to having a program right and following that program and
ultimately a achieving great results.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
And with that kind of base, you have an understanding
of what it takes in order to not just have
some success, but to try and sustain it. And obviously,
in Coach Danley's time, I mean you guys were doing
it almost every year.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah, Jim, Jim was great at what he did, and
we enjoyed playing with him, and really, you know, it
came down to, I think preaching the same way to
achieve success each and every year. You know, pitchers were disciplined,
hitters were you know, contact hitters, some guys had power,

(10:41):
but ultimately it was it was that team, that team
mentality and you know, kind of each individual playing their
part to achieve success that I think translated to his
overall success and the programs.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
And you mentioned your brother Sterling and learning the process
and now the director of Pro Scouting, but much like
you did, maybe even at a more intense level. I mean,
he went through the Scout school and all those things,
and you talk about someone who if you talk to

(11:16):
fellow scouts, they know he understands how to identify talent.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
Absolutely, he's been doing it for a long time on
the amateur side, initially and then obviously overseeing the pro
scouting operation now, I mean he's he's got a great
grasp for how to evaluate players, I know, a much
better one than me, because I've seen the reports that
I wrote, and I see the reports that he writes,
and I think he has a better grasp on it.

(11:42):
But you know, in general, I mean it's a challenge,
right to try to identify every aspect of a person
that could potentially play in our organization or on the Rockies.
And you know, I think it's it's really about, you know,
having that comfort level, being able to identify the strengths
and weaknesses what we seek as an organization, and ultimately

(12:06):
finding guys that work for our success.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
Yeah, and then that scouting group and cooperation with the
Bill Schmidt and Danny Montgomery and Zach Rosenthal. I mean,
I think Walker, you look at Tyler Freeman and Jimmy
Hrget and Mickey Moniac and Tyro Estrada, I mean, guys
that are who are making what has been a challenge

(12:31):
this year at least hopeful for where things are going
because of their success and that's coming out of that department.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
Yeah, I mean it's been it's been great to see
these guys, you know, establish themselves as they have over
the past couple of months. And I think that's the
one thing that can come from a season that you know,
you're not as competitive as you'd like to be. Other
guys that maybe wouldn't have had as big an opportunity
are going to get a bigger one over the course

(13:01):
of the year. And each of those guys you mentioned
has been exceptional, right, And I think we're all excited
about what they're bringing to the plate each day and
each night or to the pitcher's mount.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
Walker Montfort's our guest. We'll take a break a few
more minutes. We'll talk about what's to come right after
this on the KOA Rockies Radio Network. Back Around Rockies
Q and A, we visit with the Rockies executive vice
president Walker Montfort. And while the Rockies are going through
a challenging year, I thought one of the things that
immediately jumped out at me, Walker, when you were talking

(13:35):
to members of the media after the announcement was made
a couple of weeks ago, you referenced other markets like
Milwaukee and Cleveland and even Arizona to a degree, and
you said, we need to evaluate them and see what
they're doing that were not. Can you elaborate without getting

(13:56):
too specific on what you're talking about in net regard?

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Yeah, I mean, I think you always got to look
at where clubs rank in their payroll.

Speaker 3 (14:05):
Right.

Speaker 2 (14:05):
There's some that are really high, there's some that are
pretty low. And you know, we're really usually right around
the middle.

Speaker 1 (14:12):
Right.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
It can fluctuate from time to time, but we're usually
right around the middle.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
So, you know, in every aspect.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
Of our business, whether it be the baseball team or
our business operations, we try to compare ourselves to similar
markets that have Major League Baseball teams. And those teams
that I referenced are examples of teams that in recent
years have had success while we've you know, not achieved
the same success. And so you look at their resources

(14:38):
being probably similar to ours. And when I say resources,
it's you know, it's it's people that they have as
far as number of people, it's dollars that they spend
on their payroll, on their operation. There's not a huge
drastic difference, right, And so you've got to look at,
you know, some things that those folks have done and
see if we can take some of those things and

(15:00):
put them into action to achieve better success. And you know,
each one of them is not probably a prime example.
But I think one thing that we do, and we
do we do it a lot on the business side,
is you know, benchmarking, right. We like to see where
other teams compare to the Colorado Rockies as it relates
to their business. And so I think, you know, as

(15:21):
we talk about the baseball field in the team that
we put together, you know, what is it about those
different markets and how have they achieved recent success based
on you know, having about the same amount of resources.

Speaker 1 (15:36):
And while some of the critics don't like to talk
about that, having experienced it for twenty three years now,
I mean, playing at altitude and then maybe more importantly,
traveling to and from altitude is a unique challenge. And
while people have ideas on how to make this team

(15:56):
a consistent winner, that's always going to be hanging there
as something you have to deal with.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
Yeah, the altitude thing is an interesting one for me
because you know, I always want to say that, hey,
we play half of our games on the road, right,
we also play half of our games at home, and
the other team also has to play at altitude when
they play us here, and so, you know, I think
it's another variable that you have to take into consideration.

Speaker 3 (16:21):
But I think it is something that.

Speaker 2 (16:23):
We could actually, you know, use to our advantage, probably
more than we historically have. What that means, I don't know, right,
but you look at the Nuggets, the Broncos, the Avalanche,
even from just a marketing standpoint, right in in stadium experience,
they use that to their advantage. I think, you know,
when you look at kind of the you know, the
players that are you know, pitchers are always part of

(16:45):
the conversation. Do they want to come pitch here? Because
they the ball flies further and you know, their era
goes up. Who knows, right, But you know, ultimately I
look at cores Field and I think it's it's a
great place to play. It's obviously something that you know,
I think offensively we've got to figure out a way

(17:06):
to take more advantage of. But in the end, I mean,
it's where we're at and it's where we're going to be,
So you know the goal is to just try to
figure out how to win here more consistently and you know,
carry that on the road.

Speaker 1 (17:20):
Well, it is going to be a challenge. It's going
to be fun to watch you operate as you move forward.
I'm sure for your lovely wife and your two kids.
I mean, dad's got even more going now than he's had.
But congratulations on taking that step that I know you
were anxious to take. And as I said, we're all

(17:40):
looking forward Walker to see how it unfolds. Go get them.

Speaker 3 (17:44):
Thanks, Jackie.

Speaker 2 (17:44):
I appreciate the time today, and you know, I think
one thing to leave with is that, you know, we
all believe in this organization that we can turn this around,
and I think it's our job as we move forward,
in a big focus of mind to figure out how
to do it.

Speaker 1 (17:59):
That's Walker Montfort. We got baseball coming up next on
the KOA Rockies Radio Network.