June 20, 2025 • 28 mins
Huntington Park isn’t just a ballpark — it’s a summer staple, a community hub, and now, one of the top-ranked Minor League stadiums in the country. In this episode, Boxer and Sarah sit down with Tyler Parsons, the new President and General Manager of the Columbus Clippers, to talk about his journey to Columbus, the legacy of longtime leader Ken Schnacke, and what’s next for the team. From innovative fan experiences to deepening community connections, Tyler shares his vision for the future of Clippers baseball — and how he’s saying “yes” to Columbus.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yes Columbus, an Experienced Columbus podcast keeps you in the
know of what's happening in the Art city Columbus, home
of the three time MLS Cup champions, the number five
Beer city, a top ten culinary destination with the largest
concentration of fashion professionals in the US. Join iHeartMedia's Boxer,
(00:21):
Sarah Towns, Experience Columbus's Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, and
their guests for an inside look at a destination that
invites visitors and locals alike to explore. By the end
of each podcast, you'll be asking yourself, can all this
really exist in one city? Yes Columbus. Well, hello and
(00:42):
welcome back to Yes Columbus. This is the Experience one
and only Experienced Columbus podcast. I'm one of the co
hosts Boxer, along with the CMO of Experience Columbus and
a co host on this awesome podcast, Sarah Towns.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Hi Boxer.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
As you know, each episode, we talk with the people
behind one of the most buzzed about cities in the
country as they share what's new in Columbus and today's
guest he's bringing new leadership to one of the city's
most iconic teams, the Columbus Clippers.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
I'm super excited because I've already been to two games
this year. I love the Clippers, and my daughter, by
the way, loves one of the mascots, Luciale. Every time
we go. Now I have to buy a little plushy
of Lucille in some way so she sleeps. She's got
like five of them in our bed.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I'm like, I don't know if you need another one,
They're all the same. Before we head to the ballpark,
let's kick some things off with our headliner segment. This
is one of my favorites. This is where we highlight
a recent story about our city. It fits very well
this week with our guests because we're talking about Huntington Park,
home with the Columbus Clippers baseball team, which was recently
named one of USA Today's ten best Minor league ballparks
(01:56):
in the country. The list celebrates stadiums that offer outstanding
fan experiences, which I would definitely say that. You know,
the Clippers have had bar none top experience, strong community ties,
of course, and top notch amenities boxer.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
It is so well deserved.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
There's something truly special about a summer night at Huntington Park,
whether you're a baseball fan or just there for Diamond
Dog Night, my son's favorite, and fireworks.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
It's a total vibe.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
And today we're thrilled to welcome the man now leading
the Clippers into the next chapter, Tyler Parsons, the new
president and general manager of the Columbus Clippers.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
I'm pumped to be here, Sarah Boxer, thanks for having me.
This is awesome. I can relate to the plushies. I
have two young daughters, and hey, if you forget one
of those plushies when you're going to bedtime, like's it's
like CSI like, we're going on a man hunt here,
trying to find this thing. Go to bed, all right.
Our family is excited to be here. It's been an
unbelievable start to our journey here in Columbus. Yeah, I'm
(02:59):
excited with the future holds as well.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
So Tyler, we're so glad you're here. You've recently made
the move from Durham to Columbus. Tell us about that transition.
What made you say yes to this opportunity?
Speaker 4 (03:12):
You know, it's a great question. And when I've been
asked a lot, and I have preface this all the
time that I incredibly enjoyed my time in Durham, and
I wouldn't be here in Columbus without the time I
spent in Durham. A story franchise all in itself there
obviously helps when you have a Hollywood movie made after you.
But had some incredible leadership there, and a guy named
Mike Berlin was an incredible mentor and leader for me
(03:32):
and kind of just helping me develop and continue to
grow in my own And so you know, when this
Columbus job, you know opened up, obviously, you know it
was it was unique in the sense that right, hey,
like this isn't one that's been opened a lot, right Like, yeah,
it's been We've had a lot of you know, just
continuity here over the years, and you know, they reached
out and for me, really it was kind of the
culmination of multiple things. But it was, Hey, this is
(03:54):
an unbelievable market, right Like, Columbus is just you know,
just booming right now, largest city in Ohio, just so
much stuff to do. You're right here in the arena district.
We're sandwiched between an NHL arena and an MLS stadium.
Like there's so much going on here and so much
potential as Columbus continues to grow, and that that was
incredibly enticing to me. You know, I think it was
(04:15):
you know, the overall team and the structure we have
here and kind of being unique. We talk a lot
about our staff of being uncommon. We have these wristbands
that our staff has about just being uncommon. You know,
being owned by a governmunicipality is very uncommon in the
sports world, and that was that was very enticing to me.
It's just probly something unique and different and that this
is a true community asset. And then there's the family ties,
(04:36):
right like, I'm originally from Michigan. For everyone listening, I
am not a Michigan if that the Yeah, I preface
that all the time. I lead off with that, but
you know, we're originally from Michigan. I have two young daughters,
and I tell the story just to be just to
be real with people. Hey, you know, I accepted this
job down in North Carolina. You know, I came down
(04:56):
in January of that year. My wife was a teacher.
She came downlater on. She wanted to finish out the
school year. But the day before I left, we found
out we were pregnant with our second so ah, so
now your your life changes, your world changes. And you know,
as we were kind of sitting there, if there ever
was an opportunity that was closer to home, that that
made sense and checked every other box, you know, I
(05:17):
think we would consider it. But I'm honest and saying
to you, Columbus is the only place I would have
left Durham for. I love Durham that much, but I
believe in Columbus. You know that much more.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
You know, Tyler, You've built already quite the career in
you know, minor league baseball. Tell us a little bit
about that journey, maybe some of your favorite moments so far.
And also, could I just add one thing, how did
the Clippers sell it to you? Because we all know you.
You have taken over for a guy that has been
(05:46):
in that position for almost five decades, right Ken, So
I'm just curious how that all went down. And I mean,
he's a legend here.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Yeah, So I think, you know, touching down on the
first part with my journey. Actually, I was talking to
of our our coaching staff when we first got here,
and in a lot of ways, I my career mirrors
out of of some players, right. You know, I started
my career in summer collegiate baseball. I was in college
athletics before that at Central Michigan mom there, but started
in summer collegiate and baseball. I went to rookie ball,
I was in A ball, then up here to Triple A,
(06:17):
and the kind of worked my way up through the levels.
And you know, for me, I've just surrounded myself with
a lot of great people that have that have propped
me up and I times made me look better than
I think I really am. And that's part of of
the industry. It's part of any team that surrounding yourself
with with talented people that you all have the same
the same goals and initiatives and drive in mind.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
So was there a dream to ever be a baseball player?
Because I know you love the game, So yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
I actually I tell people I'm one of the few
outward like no's on that I think in that sense,
I was a horrible baseball player. I chewed sunflower seeds great.
I made my high school team mostly because of like, hey,
they like this guy like the time I was a
decent athlete and they're like, hey, we will have him
here but I skipped. I played t ball in the
(07:00):
high school senior from baseball, so I was I was
a football player, wrestler, and those were kind of the
sports that I was was passionate about. And when I
worked in college athletics, I tell people all the time,
it's it's hard to be a fan and also work
in the sports sometimes like that. So you really, what
gravitated me toward towards minor league baseball and kind of
that overall journey was I believe the perfect blend between
(07:21):
entertainment and sports. Right it's you know, we still have
a product on the field. There's still a winner and
a loser, there's still that competition, but we get to
gravitate more towards the entertainment and like bringing in this
family atmosphere and really you know, making that kind of
a focal point because we don't control the on field outcome.
That's all handled by our major league affiliate. So that's
my that's my polite way of saying, if we get
(07:41):
beat fifteen to nothing, no one's calling me, No one's
being like, yeah, what are we doing out here? All
that stuff, like, you know, that's that's in the background.
And I tell that we're never going to apologize for winning.
We've won a lot. Winning is fun, but we we
don't control the strings on that where we kind of
control the overall fan experience.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Yeah, when such a great experience it is. But as
Boxer said, you're stepping into a role that Ken Schnacky
held for more than four decades. His leadership shaped the
Clippers into one of the most respected franchises in the minors.
What does it mean to carry on that legacy.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
It's it's an incredible opportunity and something that I don't
take for granted. You know, Ken is a name that
is synonymous with minor league baseball, and to be selected
to kind of carry on his legacy here, he's been
he's been so grateful, he's been so open, he's been
sharing information. There's just there's just things there. As I
come in here, Hey, you've got almost fifty years of
(08:33):
this institutional h right, just how you do things, and
it's it's fascinating for me walking around the ballpark with
the guy that helped design the ballpark. Right, It's like
if anyone knows where all these doors and alleys and
you know, nooks and crannies are in that sense that
it's Ken, right, but he's been incredible with you and
just sharing his knowledge and trust in me to you know,
tongue in cheek and pun intended here to carry on
(08:55):
the ship right here, like hey, like keep this thing going,
and obviously to come in here modern that put my
own touch on it. But I always love to echo
this with people that Hey, coming here to Columbus, this
was not a rebuilding project, right like this, This is
a strong operation. This is a strong team. It's just
now kind of fine tuning. And I've been someone else
put their their fingerprints on it and make it their own,
(09:16):
because Ken's an unbelievable job of having the Clippers at
the top of our our industry.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Let's talk vision for a sec. What is your outlook
for the Clippers in the coming years, both on and
off the field and in the stands.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Yeah, so I think again, it's another great questions. As
we've gone through twenty four games right now in this
season and I'm getting kind of acclimated to our operation
and our fan feedback and just the the general Columbus
Clippers experience. It's kind of helped me align. Hey, what
do we want to do here in the future and
what does this look like? And I think you know
the reality is for us right now. Yeah, a lot
(09:49):
of it's just it's modernizing the overall fan experience. What
are some things that we can continue to do to
drive home the things that we control during the game?
Right that's from start to finish with the overall fan journey. Hey,
when someone buys a ticket and they get that first
email that says, hey, you're coming to the Columbus Clippers game,
So they drive to the ballpark, they park, they walk
in our front gates right there to the time they're
(10:10):
here at the game, they're buying food and beverage, retail merchandise,
experiencing the game in game promotions till they're leaving. How
do how do we really cultivate those touch points throughout
the entire game and the entire fan journey to make
sure we are we're operating in an exceptional way. So
the major focus for me right now really is kind
of modernizing our fan experience, and it's just changing some
of the ways we do things. It's changing how some
(10:32):
of our promotions fron and when we're playing this music
and that music, how our video board looks a lot
of this stuff is being molded and crafted with our
fan feedback. We're we're very intentional and right now about
surveying our fans, probably almost too much, I think, but
they're providing some unbelievable feedback that we're able to take
in real time and go, hey, these are some things
that not just one fans that we're hearing us from
(10:53):
from ten right, like, so these are some things that
we take to our staff. Hey, let's start making some changes.
And that's what I love about sports is able to
you know, take feedback in real time and make a
change almost immediately. Right. We don't have to lay out
this elaborate plan or get buy in or get someone
to sign off on this. We can we can go,
oh that's great, Yeah, to make these tweaks and changes.
And you know, I bring an example up, you know,
(11:14):
first homestand we had some feedback on our video boarded
it looked too cluttered, right, we were putting too much
stuff on there. That next homestand we worked with our staff.
We reworked it completely so it was cleaner, it was
easier to look at, and it was you know, more
modernized for fans to kind of take that viewing experience in. So, yeah,
that piece right there is the most important. But again
it's just it's shoring up, putting some of my my
(11:35):
touches on our overall operation, continuing to put our people
in the most successful position they can to to grow
and develop and be the best versions of their selves.
So again, a lot of things we have we have
working right now. Obviously we're we're mid season. I'm continuing
to learn, you know, both about our community, our team,
our operation, and our people. But we have a bright
future right now. We have a lot of really incredibly
(11:55):
talented people that are that are doing some great Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Side note, Star Wars night was amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I was there about Yeah, you had some nice Instagram
content around that. So Minor league baseball has become known
for its creativity and innovation. As we were just discussing,
so from quirky promotions to community first programming. Love that
you're soliciting that fan feedback. But teams like the Savannah
Bananas that we hosted here in Columbus last year, even
(12:21):
redefining that game experience. As you shape the next era
for the Clippers, obviously informed with fan insights, what are
the trends and ideas that.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Are most exciting to you.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Do you have a couple of things that you really
want to dig into right away?
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Absolutely? And I think that's it's a it's a fun segue.
You mentioned the Savannah Bananas, and I always tell people
going back through my career, my first two years in
baseball actually was working with Jesse Cole, who now is
the owner of Savannah Pola Cool. Wow. You know Jesse,
his wife Emily, Jared or and their team president. I remember,
you know, when I was in Forest City, North Carolina
and Martinsville, Virginia working with with them and their teams
(12:57):
and you know, kind of trying out some of the
stuff that you see now. But you know, I think
one of the big takeaways we've had from the Bananas
opostige and is the fan experience. Right, Like they are
so intentional about generating this this incredible fan engagement and
making this a fun place to be. Part of that
is that they control everything from start to finish, all
the players or their employees, all the coaches of their employees.
(13:19):
You know, we don't have some of those those benefits
in that sense where we have to kind of toe
that line a little bit with our players being Cleveland
Guardians players and employees like that. So you know, we're
not going to get an eight Guardians players probably out there,
you know, dancing and twirling and lighting bats on fire
and stuff like that. But the things that we the
things that we can control opsly and taking advantage of that.
And I think what they have done really really well,
(13:40):
and I would say even exceptionally better than than most
professional teams across the world, has been able to capture
that stuff, right, that capture that content. So that's something
we're doing very intentional right now. And we've we've added
to our content team really trying to build our social
and digital team to to share and capture some of
these inside experiences we have to out the to the
public here now. But also what does it look like
(14:01):
to be a fan here? What is whatever the things
that are unique to the Columbus Clippers in Huntington Park
here right? How can we showcase that digitally with content
to get more fans interested in you go, hey, this
is why you should be coming to Huntington parking experience
in the Columbus Clippers and that inside sneak peek and
view right now is what so many fans want. I mean,
you can't put on Netflix or Amazon or anything now
(14:23):
and not see some sort of inside you know, inside
the team type of podcaster or content they have going on.
So you know, really we only need to build our
content and share our experience so more people. Hey, they
get that fomo right, let's bring it here. What are
you missing out by not being here? That's what we
want to showcase.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yeah, Tyler, I probably don't have to tell you. Columbus
is a place where local pride runs very deep. How
are you and the Columbus Clippers embedding yourselves in the community.
What kind of things are you doing getting involved in?
Speaker 4 (14:53):
You know, this is one I think the Clippers have
done an incredible job over over their history here of
being involved with that's you know, the lit Ibray program
we have right now in our reading program where where
kids can get free tickets, and you know, there's so
much we have that is community tied because of our
overall mission and because of our structure that we have
here as the Clippers, So you know, tying into the community,
I think it's going to be incredibly important for us.
(15:14):
It's it's something that I've always believed throughout my career,
if you invest in the community and in their people,
they're going to invest back in you. Right, They're gonna
come here, They're gonna come out here and support you
and your team, and really really drive that home that
this is a there's a symbiotic relationship in that sense
that hey, we are about more than than just getting
people here inside the stadium and you know, driving some
dollars in revenue, like this wants to be an experience,
(15:35):
but we want to be able to tie our community
together and you know things whether that's you know, in
game promotions or or having the booth set ups or
visibility here, but also from a special event standpoint. I
think that's one thing that you know we try to
hammer home with people all the time is that, hey,
we have seventy five Clippers home games, but throughout the
entire year, we're doing events. We're bringing people together inside
(15:56):
this ballpark. That's hey, this is a this is a
place to bring people together into bring our community together
for good, for events, for whatever it is. So we
want to be a community asset three hundred and sixty
five days during the year.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Love that.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Yeah, So Tyler, before we talk more about Columbus because
we want to want to get some of your first
impressions and sort of some places that you love to
go in the city. Let's zoom out for just a second.
As a leader in sports, what's the biggest lesson you've
learned about building teams not just on the field, but
could be behind the scenes as well.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
Yeah, you know, and this is one that you kind
of learn with experience throughout your career. And again, I've
started at some smaller level teams where our front offices
were a little bit smaller, and you know, builds up
to we have a fairly large front office here. But
I've I've always believed about building your team based on
the pieces you have. Right, Hey, let's let's build our
operation around their strengths. And what I mean by that
(16:49):
is how we structure positions and titles and what people
do as far as their responsibilities should match what we
identify as their strengths and what they're passionate about. So
how our staff is structured right now will will probably
be different than it will be in ten years, right
because we have people there that are strong in certain
areas and they're passionate about that stuff and want to
grow and develop, and in ten years that might be different, right.
(17:10):
So you know, I've always been that sense of, hey,
you're not always just trying to put you know, a
square peg in a round hole. Like, hey, if we've
got square pegs, let's find that square peg hole and
put them there and kind of build our team off
of their strengths that they have overall. And you know, again,
as we learn more about our staff and what our
priorities are and what our goals are and where people fit,
you know, I think that's that's how I've always kind
(17:31):
of felt that we're Hey, you know, we're not trying
to replace specific positions. We're trying to replace what people
do specifically. And then if someone moves on, like we
had one of our employees is moving on to become
the voice of the Savanna Party animals, right like, we're
not going to probably replace his direct position, so random
(17:51):
big builder, but we're not going to replace his direct position.
We're going to replace pieces of what he did and
kind of build it in with with our strengths of
the rest of our staff. So you know, again, I've
always been a propone. Again, you hire good people and
you figure out the rest later. If we get people
that are bought into our vision, our culture, and we
believe in here and they believe in us, we can
kind of figure out the jobs and duties and all
(18:13):
that stuff outside of that.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
But yeah, you know, as the legendary Woody once said,
or he said it often, you win with people.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Okay, Tyler, it's time for our rapid Fire Questions Columbus Edition.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Let's do this all right. First one must try ballpark food,
no pressure.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
Hair, Country fried steak with gravy. Nothing. Nothing's more Midwest
than that, right Like it seems.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
A little heavy form, all right?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Are we adding that?
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Good question?
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Are we adding that?
Speaker 4 (18:52):
It's on the menu you get you can come get that.
If you were there for Star Wars, you could have
had Where can I get that? We're in a country
fried steak?
Speaker 3 (18:58):
You know?
Speaker 1 (18:59):
You mean the main of course is that where you
get that?
Speaker 4 (19:01):
Or I had that one stand? It's on our first
base stand right there. Okay, you can get a country
fried steak with gravy and we'll we'll roll right out
there for you. You know.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Well, that's some good social content.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Okay, this is something I've always want to know. Since
we're on food, So do you eat there before the
game starts? Like, do you I'm gonna get some fried
chicken and gravy before the game. I will.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
I will eat there more than more than I probably
want to, just because I love I love our food.
But at some point in time, you're like, hey, you've
had everything we got. We got to have some healthy
things sometimes too, and make it up a little bit
like it's so it's so hard, like we have healthy
options at the ballpark, but like you're walking around, you're
all the smells and it's like, I don't want to
go get.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Like you want a country feak.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
I'm smelling the country fried steak or fried baloney or cheeseburger.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Right, It's like, so, what's your personal best for Diamond
Dog night? Have you tried that yet? Have you?
Speaker 4 (19:55):
I went on record before the season and saying I
thought I could put down ten.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Okay not.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
I have not rolled the dice on this. Yeah. My
staff has been like, hey, you you put that out
there in the world, right, you have to do this
so at some point in time, you know this year
that that's going to catch up to me. I think
I've put down two right now is where I'm at two? Yeah,
I'm building up here right like, Yeah, there's some prep here.
(20:20):
But dim a dog is is we talk about uncommon?
Is unbelievable. The stories I have heard, You're legendary. Here's
a great question. Do you guys know what the all
time record dim a dog number is? If you had
to guess the record for the number of hot dogs
sold at a Clippers game?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Oh, hot dog sold?
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Okay, dog sold for a dim a Dog game, which
would be would be the most any game obs But
if you had a.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Guess, go ahead, Sarah you first, Okay, I was gonna
say I'm going to be a little more conservative and say,
seventy five hundred guys.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Are going to be blown away. It's over forty thousand,
what thousands back at the coop? Back at the coop?
But yeah, it was over forty thousand. Yeah, Well, on average,
we'll go between on a on a you know, really
big diamond dog between fifteen and twenty thousand.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Wow, that's amazing lot of hot dogs, a lot of
hot dogs, and you can stand the fact that you
still sell them at that price? How do you do that?
Speaker 4 (21:25):
It ties to our overall initiative. Right, Yeah, that's amazing,
this diamond Dog thing. It's trust me, We're not We're
not rolling in the money on diamond Dog, right this,
But this is important to us. It's a tradition we
have here. Yes, it's a family affordable piece of our operation,
and it's it's synonymous with being the Columbus Clippers.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Right, agreed, agreed.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Actually we own the trademark Diamond Dog like this. Why
didn't realize that it's that important? And that's that you know,
strong part of our overall culture and in our overall atmosphere.
So yeah, diamond Dog. What an experience. My first game
was a diamond Dog.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Well that's a great way to kick the wow.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Throw them right in the fire, right, that's right.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Well, and if you do try to go for your
goal of ten, you need to call us and we'll
come over.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
And I want to win.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
Social I'm like, I'll go for it one day out.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Okay, Yeah, you just call our team over because we'd
love to we'd love to see that and capture it.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
So your favorite minor league promotion you've ever been part of.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
So my favorite promotion was when I was I was
a GM in Lancing Michigan with the Lancing log Nuts.
We were sitting around one day just you know, spitball
on ideas and someone can't put the idea of Backyard
Baseball Night. And it was a theme night tied around
the old computer game Backyard Baseball, and he has this
massive following to it, and like, you know, all these
(22:44):
characters and that nostalgia that really tied to it. So
we we theme the entire night around it. We did
a Pablo Sanchez bobblehead, which was like a famous character
from this game. Let fans vote on what they want
to name the team. So part of Backyard Baseball is, hey,
there's you know, the melon head heads and all this stuff. Like,
so we became the Lancing Mighty Wombats and themeed the
jerseys and just everything kind of fell in place for
(23:06):
that one. It went viral. It was all over the place,
and you know, it was a sellout night and Lansing
won a Golden bobblehead for best Bonding a baseball promotion.
But again, it was just it was everything that minor
league baseball is about, right, Like it was, yeah, you're
taking something like this, being able to run with it
quickly building on it, getting the idea is how you
present it and just making it an overall special night.
(23:28):
And you know that was one too. Like the players.
I've never seen players more excited about a promotion, like
we gave all the players a bobblehead like they were.
They were chomping at the bit because they remembered as
kids playing that and that was a part of their upbringing.
So it was just a buy in all crossed levels.
It was an incredible night, so fun that is.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Oh that's awesome. By the way, now that you're in Columbus,
you you've gotten some time to get adjusted a little bit.
What's a perfect summer weekend of Columbus for you? What's
on your itinerary?
Speaker 4 (23:56):
So obviously I have a dad, I have young kids.
Shout out Columbus Zoo. Uh believable, And I've met with
their team over there, like I feel like we've been
there twice now and I still haven't. There's parts of
the zoo I have never even seen. I don't even
know it exists because we haven't had enough time to
get everything yet. But you know, my kids love the zoo.
You know, I think the food scene we have here
(24:17):
in Columbus is incredibly underrated. That was one of the
biggest surprises I had coming here was just what amazing
food selections we have and where you can go. So,
you know, I think getting some time outside exploring some
of our our local food establishments. You know, the North Market.
What a cool spot to go to down here where
you can walk inside and like, if there's a food
(24:37):
you want to try from the world, it's probably in
the North Market.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Yeah, absolutely, you.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
Know you want to you want to get a prog
and have a side of donuts sold there, you are, right,
So so I think exactly. I think that you know,
the river and walking past we have here, like you know,
I try to get out and and you know, walk
throughout the day and that kind of stuff just to
kind of get my mind going. And sport and there's
just so many cool things, not only around obviously the
(25:02):
stadium we have here, but our sports scene that we
have here is unbelievable. And you know, shout out to
our friends down the road here at the Blue Jackets too.
I had a chance to go to one of their
games when I first came here. I joke with them.
No one warned me about the cannon.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Oh, I know that the first time.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
I got my popcorn, you know, I got my beverage
and they blow this cannon through it, and I'm just
like if someone had a canon around me, it was
just like, whoa we got this guy?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Oh hi did you jump?
Speaker 4 (25:28):
I just drop everything I had. Yeah, it was. It
was incredible. But you know we are. We are so blessed.
And then that's a little spoiled too about just an
incredible sports scene we have here too. So I always
encourage people love the clippers that we have here. But
you know, there's a lot of cool things going on,
you know, not only here in Columbus, but outside of
our suburbs too.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
So we're moving on to our Columbus classic segment. This
podcast is all about spotlighting the new and the next,
but we also love the tried and true. What's a
classic Columbus experience you're already loving that you haven't already
mentioned or you're looking forward to trying.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
I would say this, it's it's probably this is probably
a cop out answer, I think on this one. I've
never been to an Ohio State sporting event. As I said,
I've never been to a football game. Everyone's told me
that obviously, it's just it's a different experience and you
know the tailgating and just decomplete takeover that Ohio State
football does when they're home here. So I'm really looking
forward to kind of kind of checking out one of
(26:25):
those football games to fall here and you know, soaking
in that that Columbus experience with with the Scarlett and Greg.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
So, yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Nothing quite like it, No, that's for sure. Tyler. To
close things out, one final question, and it goes along
with the theme of this podcast every week, what are
you saying yes to in Columbus this season?
Speaker 4 (26:45):
So I'm saying yes, I'm gonna I'm gonna do a
double answer on this one. I'm saying yes to trying
all this food that we have out here, which also
means I'm saying yes to upgrade in my workout regime
because we have so many great places to eat out.
I've mentioned a few of them, but again, every time
I've gone out somewhere and tried some feel like this
is one of the best meals I've ever had in
my life. So along with that, yeah, I need to
(27:07):
start working out more because there's so many gifts you
I'm just eating nonstock. But also I think you know,
for us, we're saying yes obviously to buying a house.
We want to put down some roots here in this
community and Columbus and be here for a long time.
I've told Ken his fifty years streak with the Clippers
is definitely safe. But you know, we're looking forward to
being here for a long time and to raise, you know,
our family here in the Columbus area, and you know,
(27:30):
to again put down some roots. So if anyone can
change the housing mark right.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Now that I know it's challenge, we'll.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
Put down some roos and we'll find that that home
and we're excited about that.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
That's so exciting.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Tyler, Thank you so much for joining us today. We're
excited to watch the Columbus Clippers continue to grow under
your leadership, and we'll definitely be seeing you at the
ballpark this summer.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
By the way, to learn more about the Columbus Clippers,
just go to Clippers Baseball dot com. And for more
great ways to experience Columbus, just follow Experience Columbus on
social media or head to experience Columbus dot com, or
just do both. Thanks for listening to Yes Columbus and
we'll see you next time. Thanks Tyler, thank you, thank you.
That's a wrap on this week's episode of Yes Columbus
(28:15):
and Experience Columbus podcast. Tune in next week as we
take you on a tour of what's new, what's hot,
and what makes Columbus a city on the rise.
Yes Columbus, an Experienced Columbus podcast keeps you in the
know of what's happening in the Art city Columbus, home
of the three time MLS Cup champions, the number five
Beer city, a top ten culinary destination with the largest
concentration of fashion professionals in the US. Join iHeartMedia's Boxer,
(00:21):
Sarah Towns, Experience Columbus's Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, and
their guests for an inside look at a destination that
invites visitors and locals alike to explore. By the end
of each podcast, you'll be asking yourself, can all this
really exist in one city? Yes Columbus. Well, hello and
(00:42):
welcome back to Yes Columbus. This is the Experience one
and only Experienced Columbus podcast. I'm one of the co
hosts Boxer, along with the CMO of Experience Columbus and
a co host on this awesome podcast, Sarah Towns.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Hi Boxer.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
As you know, each episode, we talk with the people
behind one of the most buzzed about cities in the
country as they share what's new in Columbus and today's
guest he's bringing new leadership to one of the city's
most iconic teams, the Columbus Clippers.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
I'm super excited because I've already been to two games
this year. I love the Clippers, and my daughter, by
the way, loves one of the mascots, Luciale. Every time
we go. Now I have to buy a little plushy
of Lucille in some way so she sleeps. She's got
like five of them in our bed.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Now.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I'm like, I don't know if you need another one,
They're all the same. Before we head to the ballpark,
let's kick some things off with our headliner segment. This
is one of my favorites. This is where we highlight
a recent story about our city. It fits very well
this week with our guests because we're talking about Huntington Park,
home with the Columbus Clippers baseball team, which was recently
named one of USA Today's ten best Minor league ballparks
(01:56):
in the country. The list celebrates stadiums that offer outstanding
fan experiences, which I would definitely say that. You know,
the Clippers have had bar none top experience, strong community ties,
of course, and top notch amenities boxer.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
It is so well deserved.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
There's something truly special about a summer night at Huntington Park,
whether you're a baseball fan or just there for Diamond
Dog Night, my son's favorite, and fireworks.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
It's a total vibe.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
And today we're thrilled to welcome the man now leading
the Clippers into the next chapter, Tyler Parsons, the new
president and general manager of the Columbus Clippers.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
I'm pumped to be here, Sarah Boxer, thanks for having me.
This is awesome. I can relate to the plushies. I
have two young daughters, and hey, if you forget one
of those plushies when you're going to bedtime, like's it's
like CSI like, we're going on a man hunt here,
trying to find this thing. Go to bed, all right.
Our family is excited to be here. It's been an
unbelievable start to our journey here in Columbus. Yeah, I'm
(02:59):
excited with the future holds as well.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
So Tyler, we're so glad you're here. You've recently made
the move from Durham to Columbus. Tell us about that transition.
What made you say yes to this opportunity?
Speaker 4 (03:12):
You know, it's a great question. And when I've been
asked a lot, and I have preface this all the
time that I incredibly enjoyed my time in Durham, and
I wouldn't be here in Columbus without the time I
spent in Durham. A story franchise all in itself there
obviously helps when you have a Hollywood movie made after you.
But had some incredible leadership there, and a guy named
Mike Berlin was an incredible mentor and leader for me
(03:32):
and kind of just helping me develop and continue to
grow in my own And so you know, when this
Columbus job, you know opened up, obviously, you know it
was it was unique in the sense that right, hey,
like this isn't one that's been opened a lot, right Like, yeah,
it's been We've had a lot of you know, just
continuity here over the years, and you know, they reached
out and for me, really it was kind of the
culmination of multiple things. But it was, Hey, this is
(03:54):
an unbelievable market, right Like, Columbus is just you know,
just booming right now, largest city in Ohio, just so
much stuff to do. You're right here in the arena district.
We're sandwiched between an NHL arena and an MLS stadium.
Like there's so much going on here and so much
potential as Columbus continues to grow, and that that was
incredibly enticing to me. You know, I think it was
(04:15):
you know, the overall team and the structure we have
here and kind of being unique. We talk a lot
about our staff of being uncommon. We have these wristbands
that our staff has about just being uncommon. You know,
being owned by a governmunicipality is very uncommon in the
sports world, and that was that was very enticing to me.
It's just probly something unique and different and that this
is a true community asset. And then there's the family ties,
(04:36):
right like, I'm originally from Michigan. For everyone listening, I
am not a Michigan if that the Yeah, I preface
that all the time. I lead off with that, but
you know, we're originally from Michigan. I have two young daughters,
and I tell the story just to be just to
be real with people. Hey, you know, I accepted this
job down in North Carolina. You know, I came down
(04:56):
in January of that year. My wife was a teacher.
She came downlater on. She wanted to finish out the
school year. But the day before I left, we found
out we were pregnant with our second so ah, so
now your your life changes, your world changes. And you know,
as we were kind of sitting there, if there ever
was an opportunity that was closer to home, that that
made sense and checked every other box, you know, I
(05:17):
think we would consider it. But I'm honest and saying
to you, Columbus is the only place I would have
left Durham for. I love Durham that much, but I
believe in Columbus. You know that much more.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
You know, Tyler, You've built already quite the career in
you know, minor league baseball. Tell us a little bit
about that journey, maybe some of your favorite moments so far.
And also, could I just add one thing, how did
the Clippers sell it to you? Because we all know you.
You have taken over for a guy that has been
(05:46):
in that position for almost five decades, right Ken, So
I'm just curious how that all went down. And I mean,
he's a legend here.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Yeah, So I think, you know, touching down on the
first part with my journey. Actually, I was talking to
of our our coaching staff when we first got here,
and in a lot of ways, I my career mirrors
out of of some players, right. You know, I started
my career in summer collegiate baseball. I was in college
athletics before that at Central Michigan mom there, but started
in summer collegiate and baseball. I went to rookie ball,
I was in A ball, then up here to Triple A,
(06:17):
and the kind of worked my way up through the levels.
And you know, for me, I've just surrounded myself with
a lot of great people that have that have propped
me up and I times made me look better than
I think I really am. And that's part of of
the industry. It's part of any team that surrounding yourself
with with talented people that you all have the same
the same goals and initiatives and drive in mind.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
So was there a dream to ever be a baseball player?
Because I know you love the game, So yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
I actually I tell people I'm one of the few
outward like no's on that I think in that sense,
I was a horrible baseball player. I chewed sunflower seeds great.
I made my high school team mostly because of like, hey,
they like this guy like the time I was a
decent athlete and they're like, hey, we will have him
here but I skipped. I played t ball in the
(07:00):
high school senior from baseball, so I was I was
a football player, wrestler, and those were kind of the
sports that I was was passionate about. And when I
worked in college athletics, I tell people all the time,
it's it's hard to be a fan and also work
in the sports sometimes like that. So you really, what
gravitated me toward towards minor league baseball and kind of
that overall journey was I believe the perfect blend between
(07:21):
entertainment and sports. Right it's you know, we still have
a product on the field. There's still a winner and
a loser, there's still that competition, but we get to
gravitate more towards the entertainment and like bringing in this
family atmosphere and really you know, making that kind of
a focal point because we don't control the on field outcome.
That's all handled by our major league affiliate. So that's
my that's my polite way of saying, if we get
(07:41):
beat fifteen to nothing, no one's calling me, No one's
being like, yeah, what are we doing out here? All
that stuff, like, you know, that's that's in the background.
And I tell that we're never going to apologize for winning.
We've won a lot. Winning is fun, but we we
don't control the strings on that where we kind of
control the overall fan experience.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Yeah, when such a great experience it is. But as
Boxer said, you're stepping into a role that Ken Schnacky
held for more than four decades. His leadership shaped the
Clippers into one of the most respected franchises in the minors.
What does it mean to carry on that legacy.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
It's it's an incredible opportunity and something that I don't
take for granted. You know, Ken is a name that
is synonymous with minor league baseball, and to be selected
to kind of carry on his legacy here, he's been
he's been so grateful, he's been so open, he's been
sharing information. There's just there's just things there. As I
come in here, Hey, you've got almost fifty years of
(08:33):
this institutional h right, just how you do things, and
it's it's fascinating for me walking around the ballpark with
the guy that helped design the ballpark. Right, It's like
if anyone knows where all these doors and alleys and
you know, nooks and crannies are in that sense that
it's Ken, right, but he's been incredible with you and
just sharing his knowledge and trust in me to you know,
tongue in cheek and pun intended here to carry on
(08:55):
the ship right here, like hey, like keep this thing going,
and obviously to come in here modern that put my
own touch on it. But I always love to echo
this with people that Hey, coming here to Columbus, this
was not a rebuilding project, right like this, This is
a strong operation. This is a strong team. It's just
now kind of fine tuning. And I've been someone else
put their their fingerprints on it and make it their own,
(09:16):
because Ken's an unbelievable job of having the Clippers at
the top of our our industry.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Let's talk vision for a sec. What is your outlook
for the Clippers in the coming years, both on and
off the field and in the stands.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Yeah, so I think again, it's another great questions. As
we've gone through twenty four games right now in this
season and I'm getting kind of acclimated to our operation
and our fan feedback and just the the general Columbus
Clippers experience. It's kind of helped me align. Hey, what
do we want to do here in the future and
what does this look like? And I think you know
the reality is for us right now. Yeah, a lot
(09:49):
of it's just it's modernizing the overall fan experience. What
are some things that we can continue to do to
drive home the things that we control during the game?
Right that's from start to finish with the overall fan journey. Hey,
when someone buys a ticket and they get that first
email that says, hey, you're coming to the Columbus Clippers game,
So they drive to the ballpark, they park, they walk
in our front gates right there to the time they're
(10:10):
here at the game, they're buying food and beverage, retail merchandise,
experiencing the game in game promotions till they're leaving. How
do how do we really cultivate those touch points throughout
the entire game and the entire fan journey to make
sure we are we're operating in an exceptional way. So
the major focus for me right now really is kind
of modernizing our fan experience, and it's just changing some
of the ways we do things. It's changing how some
(10:32):
of our promotions fron and when we're playing this music
and that music, how our video board looks a lot
of this stuff is being molded and crafted with our
fan feedback. We're we're very intentional and right now about
surveying our fans, probably almost too much, I think, but
they're providing some unbelievable feedback that we're able to take
in real time and go, hey, these are some things
that not just one fans that we're hearing us from
(10:53):
from ten right, like, so these are some things that
we take to our staff. Hey, let's start making some changes.
And that's what I love about sports is able to
you know, take feedback in real time and make a
change almost immediately. Right. We don't have to lay out
this elaborate plan or get buy in or get someone
to sign off on this. We can we can go,
oh that's great, Yeah, to make these tweaks and changes.
And you know, I bring an example up, you know,
(11:14):
first homestand we had some feedback on our video boarded
it looked too cluttered, right, we were putting too much
stuff on there. That next homestand we worked with our staff.
We reworked it completely so it was cleaner, it was
easier to look at, and it was you know, more
modernized for fans to kind of take that viewing experience in. So, yeah,
that piece right there is the most important. But again
it's just it's shoring up, putting some of my my
(11:35):
touches on our overall operation, continuing to put our people
in the most successful position they can to to grow
and develop and be the best versions of their selves.
So again, a lot of things we have we have
working right now. Obviously we're we're mid season. I'm continuing
to learn, you know, both about our community, our team,
our operation, and our people. But we have a bright
future right now. We have a lot of really incredibly
(11:55):
talented people that are that are doing some great Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Side note, Star Wars night was amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I was there about Yeah, you had some nice Instagram
content around that. So Minor league baseball has become known
for its creativity and innovation. As we were just discussing,
so from quirky promotions to community first programming. Love that
you're soliciting that fan feedback. But teams like the Savannah
Bananas that we hosted here in Columbus last year, even
(12:21):
redefining that game experience. As you shape the next era
for the Clippers, obviously informed with fan insights, what are
the trends and ideas that.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Are most exciting to you.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Do you have a couple of things that you really
want to dig into right away?
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Absolutely? And I think that's it's a it's a fun segue.
You mentioned the Savannah Bananas, and I always tell people
going back through my career, my first two years in
baseball actually was working with Jesse Cole, who now is
the owner of Savannah Pola Cool. Wow. You know Jesse,
his wife Emily, Jared or and their team president. I remember,
you know, when I was in Forest City, North Carolina
and Martinsville, Virginia working with with them and their teams
(12:57):
and you know, kind of trying out some of the
stuff that you see now. But you know, I think
one of the big takeaways we've had from the Bananas
opostige and is the fan experience. Right, Like they are
so intentional about generating this this incredible fan engagement and
making this a fun place to be. Part of that
is that they control everything from start to finish, all
the players or their employees, all the coaches of their employees.
(13:19):
You know, we don't have some of those those benefits
in that sense where we have to kind of toe
that line a little bit with our players being Cleveland
Guardians players and employees like that. So you know, we're
not going to get an eight Guardians players probably out there,
you know, dancing and twirling and lighting bats on fire
and stuff like that. But the things that we the
things that we can control opsly and taking advantage of that.
And I think what they have done really really well,
(13:40):
and I would say even exceptionally better than than most
professional teams across the world, has been able to capture
that stuff, right, that capture that content. So that's something
we're doing very intentional right now. And we've we've added
to our content team really trying to build our social
and digital team to to share and capture some of
these inside experiences we have to out the to the
public here now. But also what does it look like
(14:01):
to be a fan here? What is whatever the things
that are unique to the Columbus Clippers in Huntington Park
here right? How can we showcase that digitally with content
to get more fans interested in you go, hey, this
is why you should be coming to Huntington parking experience
in the Columbus Clippers and that inside sneak peek and
view right now is what so many fans want. I mean,
you can't put on Netflix or Amazon or anything now
(14:23):
and not see some sort of inside you know, inside
the team type of podcaster or content they have going on.
So you know, really we only need to build our
content and share our experience so more people. Hey, they
get that fomo right, let's bring it here. What are
you missing out by not being here? That's what we
want to showcase.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Yeah, Tyler, I probably don't have to tell you. Columbus
is a place where local pride runs very deep. How
are you and the Columbus Clippers embedding yourselves in the community.
What kind of things are you doing getting involved in?
Speaker 4 (14:53):
You know, this is one I think the Clippers have
done an incredible job over over their history here of
being involved with that's you know, the lit Ibray program
we have right now in our reading program where where
kids can get free tickets, and you know, there's so
much we have that is community tied because of our
overall mission and because of our structure that we have
here as the Clippers, So you know, tying into the community,
I think it's going to be incredibly important for us.
(15:14):
It's it's something that I've always believed throughout my career,
if you invest in the community and in their people,
they're going to invest back in you. Right, They're gonna
come here, They're gonna come out here and support you
and your team, and really really drive that home that
this is a there's a symbiotic relationship in that sense
that hey, we are about more than than just getting
people here inside the stadium and you know, driving some
dollars in revenue, like this wants to be an experience,
(15:35):
but we want to be able to tie our community
together and you know things whether that's you know, in
game promotions or or having the booth set ups or
visibility here, but also from a special event standpoint. I
think that's one thing that you know we try to
hammer home with people all the time is that, hey,
we have seventy five Clippers home games, but throughout the
entire year, we're doing events. We're bringing people together inside
(15:56):
this ballpark. That's hey, this is a this is a
place to bring people together into bring our community together
for good, for events, for whatever it is. So we
want to be a community asset three hundred and sixty
five days during the year.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Love that.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Yeah, So Tyler, before we talk more about Columbus because
we want to want to get some of your first
impressions and sort of some places that you love to
go in the city. Let's zoom out for just a second.
As a leader in sports, what's the biggest lesson you've
learned about building teams not just on the field, but
could be behind the scenes as well.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
Yeah, you know, and this is one that you kind
of learn with experience throughout your career. And again, I've
started at some smaller level teams where our front offices
were a little bit smaller, and you know, builds up
to we have a fairly large front office here. But
I've I've always believed about building your team based on
the pieces you have. Right, Hey, let's let's build our
operation around their strengths. And what I mean by that
(16:49):
is how we structure positions and titles and what people
do as far as their responsibilities should match what we
identify as their strengths and what they're passionate about. So
how our staff is structured right now will will probably
be different than it will be in ten years, right
because we have people there that are strong in certain
areas and they're passionate about that stuff and want to
grow and develop, and in ten years that might be different, right.
(17:10):
So you know, I've always been that sense of, hey,
you're not always just trying to put you know, a
square peg in a round hole. Like, hey, if we've
got square pegs, let's find that square peg hole and
put them there and kind of build our team off
of their strengths that they have overall. And you know, again,
as we learn more about our staff and what our
priorities are and what our goals are and where people fit,
you know, I think that's that's how I've always kind
(17:31):
of felt that we're Hey, you know, we're not trying
to replace specific positions. We're trying to replace what people
do specifically. And then if someone moves on, like we
had one of our employees is moving on to become
the voice of the Savanna Party animals, right like, we're
not going to probably replace his direct position, so random
(17:51):
big builder, but we're not going to replace his direct position.
We're going to replace pieces of what he did and
kind of build it in with with our strengths of
the rest of our staff. So you know, again, I've
always been a propone. Again, you hire good people and
you figure out the rest later. If we get people
that are bought into our vision, our culture, and we
believe in here and they believe in us, we can
kind of figure out the jobs and duties and all
(18:13):
that stuff outside of that.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
But yeah, you know, as the legendary Woody once said,
or he said it often, you win with people.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Okay, Tyler, it's time for our rapid Fire Questions Columbus Edition.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Let's do this all right. First one must try ballpark food,
no pressure.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
Hair, Country fried steak with gravy. Nothing. Nothing's more Midwest
than that, right Like it seems.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
A little heavy form, all right?
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Are we adding that?
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Good question?
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Are we adding that?
Speaker 4 (18:52):
It's on the menu you get you can come get that.
If you were there for Star Wars, you could have
had Where can I get that? We're in a country
fried steak?
Speaker 3 (18:58):
You know?
Speaker 1 (18:59):
You mean the main of course is that where you
get that?
Speaker 4 (19:01):
Or I had that one stand? It's on our first
base stand right there. Okay, you can get a country
fried steak with gravy and we'll we'll roll right out
there for you. You know.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Well, that's some good social content.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Okay, this is something I've always want to know. Since
we're on food, So do you eat there before the
game starts? Like, do you I'm gonna get some fried
chicken and gravy before the game. I will.
Speaker 4 (19:25):
I will eat there more than more than I probably
want to, just because I love I love our food.
But at some point in time, you're like, hey, you've
had everything we got. We got to have some healthy
things sometimes too, and make it up a little bit
like it's so it's so hard, like we have healthy
options at the ballpark, but like you're walking around, you're
all the smells and it's like, I don't want to
go get.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Like you want a country feak.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
I'm smelling the country fried steak or fried baloney or cheeseburger.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Right, It's like, so, what's your personal best for Diamond
Dog night? Have you tried that yet? Have you?
Speaker 4 (19:55):
I went on record before the season and saying I
thought I could put down ten.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Okay not.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
I have not rolled the dice on this. Yeah. My
staff has been like, hey, you you put that out
there in the world, right, you have to do this
so at some point in time, you know this year
that that's going to catch up to me. I think
I've put down two right now is where I'm at two? Yeah,
I'm building up here right like, Yeah, there's some prep here.
(20:20):
But dim a dog is is we talk about uncommon?
Is unbelievable. The stories I have heard, You're legendary. Here's
a great question. Do you guys know what the all
time record dim a dog number is? If you had
to guess the record for the number of hot dogs
sold at a Clippers game?
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Oh, hot dog sold?
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Okay, dog sold for a dim a Dog game, which
would be would be the most any game obs But
if you had a.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Guess, go ahead, Sarah you first, Okay, I was gonna
say I'm going to be a little more conservative and say,
seventy five hundred guys.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Are going to be blown away. It's over forty thousand,
what thousands back at the coop? Back at the coop?
But yeah, it was over forty thousand. Yeah, Well, on average,
we'll go between on a on a you know, really
big diamond dog between fifteen and twenty thousand.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Wow, that's amazing lot of hot dogs, a lot of
hot dogs, and you can stand the fact that you
still sell them at that price? How do you do that?
Speaker 4 (21:25):
It ties to our overall initiative. Right, Yeah, that's amazing,
this diamond Dog thing. It's trust me, We're not We're
not rolling in the money on diamond Dog, right this,
But this is important to us. It's a tradition we
have here. Yes, it's a family affordable piece of our operation,
and it's it's synonymous with being the Columbus Clippers.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Right, agreed, agreed.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Actually we own the trademark Diamond Dog like this. Why
didn't realize that it's that important? And that's that you know,
strong part of our overall culture and in our overall atmosphere.
So yeah, diamond Dog. What an experience. My first game
was a diamond Dog.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Well that's a great way to kick the wow.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Throw them right in the fire, right, that's right.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Well, and if you do try to go for your
goal of ten, you need to call us and we'll
come over.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
And I want to win.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
Social I'm like, I'll go for it one day out.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Okay, Yeah, you just call our team over because we'd
love to we'd love to see that and capture it.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
So your favorite minor league promotion you've ever been part of.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
So my favorite promotion was when I was I was
a GM in Lancing Michigan with the Lancing log Nuts.
We were sitting around one day just you know, spitball
on ideas and someone can't put the idea of Backyard
Baseball Night. And it was a theme night tied around
the old computer game Backyard Baseball, and he has this
massive following to it, and like, you know, all these
(22:44):
characters and that nostalgia that really tied to it. So
we we theme the entire night around it. We did
a Pablo Sanchez bobblehead, which was like a famous character
from this game. Let fans vote on what they want
to name the team. So part of Backyard Baseball is, hey,
there's you know, the melon head heads and all this stuff. Like,
so we became the Lancing Mighty Wombats and themeed the
jerseys and just everything kind of fell in place for
(23:06):
that one. It went viral. It was all over the place,
and you know, it was a sellout night and Lansing
won a Golden bobblehead for best Bonding a baseball promotion.
But again, it was just it was everything that minor
league baseball is about, right, Like it was, yeah, you're
taking something like this, being able to run with it
quickly building on it, getting the idea is how you
present it and just making it an overall special night.
(23:28):
And you know that was one too. Like the players.
I've never seen players more excited about a promotion, like
we gave all the players a bobblehead like they were.
They were chomping at the bit because they remembered as
kids playing that and that was a part of their upbringing.
So it was just a buy in all crossed levels.
It was an incredible night, so fun that is.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Oh that's awesome. By the way, now that you're in Columbus,
you you've gotten some time to get adjusted a little bit.
What's a perfect summer weekend of Columbus for you? What's
on your itinerary?
Speaker 4 (23:56):
So obviously I have a dad, I have young kids.
Shout out Columbus Zoo. Uh believable, And I've met with
their team over there, like I feel like we've been
there twice now and I still haven't. There's parts of
the zoo I have never even seen. I don't even
know it exists because we haven't had enough time to
get everything yet. But you know, my kids love the zoo.
You know, I think the food scene we have here
(24:17):
in Columbus is incredibly underrated. That was one of the
biggest surprises I had coming here was just what amazing
food selections we have and where you can go. So,
you know, I think getting some time outside exploring some
of our our local food establishments. You know, the North Market.
What a cool spot to go to down here where
you can walk inside and like, if there's a food
(24:37):
you want to try from the world, it's probably in
the North Market.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Yeah, absolutely, you.
Speaker 4 (24:41):
Know you want to you want to get a prog
and have a side of donuts sold there, you are, right,
So so I think exactly. I think that you know,
the river and walking past we have here, like you know,
I try to get out and and you know, walk
throughout the day and that kind of stuff just to
kind of get my mind going. And sport and there's
just so many cool things, not only around obviously the
(25:02):
stadium we have here, but our sports scene that we
have here is unbelievable. And you know, shout out to
our friends down the road here at the Blue Jackets too.
I had a chance to go to one of their
games when I first came here. I joke with them.
No one warned me about the cannon.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Oh, I know that the first time.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
I got my popcorn, you know, I got my beverage
and they blow this cannon through it, and I'm just
like if someone had a canon around me, it was
just like, whoa we got this guy?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Oh hi did you jump?
Speaker 4 (25:28):
I just drop everything I had. Yeah, it was. It
was incredible. But you know we are. We are so blessed.
And then that's a little spoiled too about just an
incredible sports scene we have here too. So I always
encourage people love the clippers that we have here. But
you know, there's a lot of cool things going on,
you know, not only here in Columbus, but outside of
our suburbs too.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
So we're moving on to our Columbus classic segment. This
podcast is all about spotlighting the new and the next,
but we also love the tried and true. What's a
classic Columbus experience you're already loving that you haven't already
mentioned or you're looking forward to trying.
Speaker 4 (26:04):
I would say this, it's it's probably this is probably
a cop out answer, I think on this one. I've
never been to an Ohio State sporting event. As I said,
I've never been to a football game. Everyone's told me
that obviously, it's just it's a different experience and you
know the tailgating and just decomplete takeover that Ohio State
football does when they're home here. So I'm really looking
forward to kind of kind of checking out one of
(26:25):
those football games to fall here and you know, soaking
in that that Columbus experience with with the Scarlett and Greg.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
So, yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Nothing quite like it, No, that's for sure. Tyler. To
close things out, one final question, and it goes along
with the theme of this podcast every week, what are
you saying yes to in Columbus this season?
Speaker 4 (26:45):
So I'm saying yes, I'm gonna I'm gonna do a
double answer on this one. I'm saying yes to trying
all this food that we have out here, which also
means I'm saying yes to upgrade in my workout regime
because we have so many great places to eat out.
I've mentioned a few of them, but again, every time
I've gone out somewhere and tried some feel like this
is one of the best meals I've ever had in
my life. So along with that, yeah, I need to
(27:07):
start working out more because there's so many gifts you
I'm just eating nonstock. But also I think you know,
for us, we're saying yes obviously to buying a house.
We want to put down some roots here in this
community and Columbus and be here for a long time.
I've told Ken his fifty years streak with the Clippers
is definitely safe. But you know, we're looking forward to
being here for a long time and to raise, you know,
our family here in the Columbus area, and you know,
(27:30):
to again put down some roots. So if anyone can
change the housing mark right.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Now that I know it's challenge, we'll.
Speaker 4 (27:38):
Put down some roos and we'll find that that home
and we're excited about that.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
That's so exciting.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Tyler, Thank you so much for joining us today. We're
excited to watch the Columbus Clippers continue to grow under
your leadership, and we'll definitely be seeing you at the
ballpark this summer.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
By the way, to learn more about the Columbus Clippers,
just go to Clippers Baseball dot com. And for more
great ways to experience Columbus, just follow Experience Columbus on
social media or head to experience Columbus dot com, or
just do both. Thanks for listening to Yes Columbus and
we'll see you next time. Thanks Tyler, thank you, thank you.
That's a wrap on this week's episode of Yes Columbus
(28:15):
and Experience Columbus podcast. Tune in next week as we
take you on a tour of what's new, what's hot,
and what makes Columbus a city on the rise.
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