Baseball Nuts Get Into Swing of Minor League

The first baseball game is still months away, but the downtown office of the Pacific Suns is humming with activity.

About a dozen employees and college interns work the phones, pitching both season ticket deals for the minor league team and advertising space on outfield fences.

Without a doubt, this is a collection of baseball nuts.

Pictures of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and other baseball legends compete for wall space at team headquarters. The biggest wall decoration is a poster-size photo of team owner Don DiCarlo and former Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey.

Running a business without any revenues coming in has not been easy. DiCarlo said he operated at a $200,000 loss this year. That brings the total amount of money he has lost on the club, which he bought in 1995, to about $1 million.

The tight financial situation perhaps explains the can-do attitude in the front office, where an eclectic bunch of baseball lovers has signed on with DiCarlo’s team since his move from Palm Springs a year ago.

Leana Bowman, a 34-year-old Oxnard mother of four young girls, is the team’s director of promotions. She impressed DiCarlo and his wife, Karen, director of community relations, with plans for a family-focused slate of game night themes such as “Country and Western Night.”

Bowman doubles as the team’s mascot, Sunny the penguin. She pulls on the outfit before going to local elementary schools to promote the Suns.

“Wearing that suit is a real pain,” Bowman said. “It’s hot, hot, hot. But at the same time, the kids hug you.”

Across the room, Paul Regina, a 41-year-old former Hollywood actor, tallies ticket sales. Regina, of Thousand Oaks, says he sought a job with the Suns after wearying of Hollywood.

“If you’re not a leading man, you’re not a leading man,” said a wistful Regina, who has invested a substantial amount of his own money in the team. He says that although he never dreamed of being a ticket salesman, working for the Suns has been more fun than he could ever have imagined.

Intern Chris Corral, a 24-year-old UC Berkeley graduate, says the Suns have given him a strong sense of direction. The Santa Paula native was not sure what he wanted to do for a living when he graduated from college last spring.

Then Corral heard about the Suns.

He works hard pitching ticket packages to local businesses. He hopes to work in the front office of a big-time sports team--maybe the Lakers--some day soon. “The Suns are giving me a lot of experience behind the scenes,” he said.

Michael Begley, a journeyman minor-league executive who most recently worked in Mississippi, brings a dose of reality to a front office filled with big dreams. Begley, the assistant general manager, knows all about minor league baseball budgets.

He spent a recent morning asking local recycling center officials to donate some cast-off kiosks to the team. The Suns will use the kiosks to hawk caps and shirts at the ballpark.

“This is the minor leagues,” Begley says. “We use what we have.”

Begley gives a pragmatic explanation for why the team does not call itself the Oxnard Suns. By switching the name from the Palm Springs Suns to the Pacific Suns, the team was able to keep its “PS” logo--and avoid buying expensive new uniforms.

“Every time a player cracks a bat, it costs me $16.25,” the budget-conscious Begley said.

But in the end, this is not about money, Begley says. Such players as Frank Valdez--the team’s third baseman and a talk show host--will make $600 to $700 a week, motivated by little more than a love of the game.

And the hope, however slim, that the big leagues will call.