A look at a central role that fans rarely see
The story starts with a twenty year old intern who only took the job for college credit, with no intention of working in baseball. Eight years later, she’s still working in baseball, and has been part of a group that built a franchise from the ground up, won two championships and many more accolades.
Sierra McMillan grew up in San Diego, and remains a fan of her hometown Padres. She planned to work in football and had no plans to live in Amarillo. But a job with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox led to a change. After completing her internship and graduating from the University of Colorado–Colorado Springs, she was interested in learning more about the business of baseball, and kept working with the team.
2017 saw the announcement of a three-way move involving the Sky Sox, San Antonio Missions, and Helena Brewers, all of whom were, at the time, owned by the Elmore Group, who owns the Sod Poodles. In March of 2018, Sierra moved to Amarillo, becoming the first employee of what was then a nameless minor league baseball team that wouldn’t play their first game for over a year. She “couldn’t pass up the opportunity to build a brand new stadium, brand new brand” and she spent two months as the sole employee of the franchise in Amarillo. She had a hand in everything: the name, the branding, the mascot. And she still does. Her title is Senior Director of Business Development. Central to the role is finding sponsors and partners throughout the community, but, as is normal throughout the minor leagues, she might work in any number of roles depending on the day.
“Every single day is a different day and has different challenges,” McMillan says. On a typical game day, “we get here at 9 or 10 in the morning, we have what’s called out game day meeting, and we talk about the day, what to expect…We talk about who the sponsors are, what needs they have, if we need to discuss anything with a group.” Giveaways, fireworks, or other special events are also part of the preparations. “My team is working on the script and getting [it] finalized, making sure all the right clients are in there, and getting it sent up to the booth. Putting up banners for sponsors. We have a big inflatable Ruckus that says ‘Game Tonight’” that is around 20 feet tall. After all of the responsibilities in her area are completed, “it’s helping other departments” and can range from putting things in suites to cleaning seating areas. All this needs to be completed before the game day staff arrives, because then come the meetings with game day staff, followed by the game. Game time doesn’t mean the work is done, as there is always something to do. “In minor league baseball, you have to be willing to help where you can. There’s no time to sit around at your desk.”
Sierra recommends that people who might be interested in working in baseball take an internship. “I only did it to fulfill credit hours, but I grew a love and a passion for it…and when you are in that internship, work hard and ask other departments. You might get an internship in ticketing, but have an interest in marketing. You can always ask, ‘hey, is there any way I can learn?’…You have to be willing to learn all the different things.” She’s learned a lot of different things as she begins her ninth year working in baseball. She found an unexpected home, and established many connections throughout the community. Her stability is somewhat unique in the world of minor league baseball, and she identifies the constant turnover as one of the biggest challenges. Most people who work in minor league baseball are young and looking to move up the rungs to an eventual major league job, so finding the right people and keeping them is a challenge. Living and working in Amarillo might be the perfect fit for Sierra McMillan, but it isn’t the perfect fit for everyone.
Amarillo had a long history with minor league baseball, but there hadn’t been an affiliated team in Amarillo since 1982, when the final iteration of the Amarillo Gold Sox moved to Beaumont, Texas. Independent league teams followed, but in 2016, the Amarillo Air Hogs moved away, citing poor field conditions in the old stadium, which had opened in 1949 and was surrounded by stockyards and refineries. Construction began on Hodgetown in February of 2018, just a month before Sierra was in town, beginning to build connections with community leaders.
Of course, the team had to have a name. How did they arrive at the Sod Poodles name, which last year won an Athletic readers’ poll as the best team name in the minor leagues? McMillan recalls “there was a team of six or seven of us” working with a branding company and “we came up with five names to put out for community input.” Rather than a vote of the entire community, they took the names to elementary schools and had the kids vote, and also draw up potential mascots. Ruckus, the mascot of the Sod Poodles, was created from these drawings. “It was really cool to be part of that initial process…and then building that to be the full brand that it is now,” she says. Of course, as with many minor league teams, Amarillo also has an alternate identity, the Calf Fries, which is also a popular name, and won the award for best alternate identity at the inaugural MiLB Awards (and presumably educated a lot of people as to what “calf fries” are.)
The first season of the Sod Poodles was in 2019, when they were the affiliate of the San Diego Padres. There could not have been a better start. They won the Texas League and were named Baseball America’s Minor League Team of the Year, and drew over 6,000 fans per game. Trevor Hoffman came to a game, which Sierra considers one of the highlights of her career, so far. Unfortunately, rather than being able to build on that success in 2020, COVID-19 shut down the baseball season, a season in which Amarillo was to host the Texas League All Star Game. When baseball returned in 2021, it was with a new parent club, as the Diamondbacks signed a ten year agreement prior to the 2021 season. Still, an overflow crowd of almost 8,000 showed up on opening day, and an average of over 5,200 showed up to watch a team that included, at various points of the season, Geraldo Perdomo, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt, and Tommy Henry. Attendance actually increased in 2022, and while it dropped in 2023, it was still over 5,300 per game and ranked 27th out of all minor league teams, fifth in AA, and first in the Texas League. This is doubly impressive when considering that Amarillo is the smallest market in the Texas League, and has one of the smallest stadiums. By comparison, Frisco has a population about 35,000 higher than Amarillo, and is part of a metro area of over 7 million, has a stadium that seats over 10,000, and averaged about 200 fewer fans per game.
Much of the sustained success in terms of attendance comes from the sense of community that the franchise attempts to build. While many people in her position would jump at the opportunity to move up levels and eventually work in the major leagues, that is not Sierra’s goal. “I know so many of our season ticket holders, I know almost every single one of our partners, I know all the suite holders…you build these connections on a more local level, and being able to go out into the community and volunteer in all these different places, [find out] how the Sod Poodles can help.” The Amarillo area has been hard hit by natural disasters in the last few years. Last year there was flooding and a tornado, and this year the area was devastated by wildfires that were the largest in the history of the state of Texas. “I love this community, I love this town, and I love what minor league baseball stands for,” Sierra says, “I wouldn’t change it for the world.” Over the 2023 season, the Sod Poodles raised over $250,000 for various charitable ventures, according to Minor League Baseball.
The 2023 season has to go down in history as one of the most successful year any team has ever had, at any level. Not only did the Sod Poodles win the Texas League championship for the second time in five years, they also won the Minor League Organization of the Year Award, the AA Bob Freitas Award, and the aforementioned award for the best alternate identity. But they are not content to rest on their laurels. This offseason has seen $4.5 million worth of enhancements and renovations to Hodgetown, including a digital ribbon board and a new party deck on the first base side, twice the size of the deck on the third base side. Most other changes are more functional. They are adding a women’s locker room, enlarging the players’ dining room, and adding a weight room for the opposing team. Some of these changes are required by Major League Baseball, while the deck will be able to host larger groups and provide more space for hospitality, which McMillan says is 95-98% sold out every year.
The Sod Poodles will also have a number of interesting giveaways on the calendar this year. One is a Jordan Lawlar card bobblehead, which is a sort of three dimensional baseball card that comes complete with stats on the back. There will be a “Called to the Show” T-shirt featuring players that have played in Amarillo and made the major leagues (including, obviously, Corbin Carroll), and a Rookie of the Year Carroll bobblehead that is a joint venture with the Diamondbacks. “We want to do more of that now that we have this ten year partnership with the Diamondbacks, we want to do joint giveaways or do Diamondbacks with the Sod Poodles giveaway so that our fans can really create that kind of connection and build that brand loyalty from Amarillo to Arizona.”
If you happen to be passing through Amarillo in the summer, keep an eye out for the giant Ruckus. If he’s up, stop at Hodgetown for a game and see the future of the Diamondbacks in action. Or plan a trip out there for one of the big giveaways. (Some fans came from Arizona for the Corbin Carroll bobblehead last year, Sierra notes, and more are always welcome.)
If you want to help with wildfire relief, the Amarillo Area Foundation is the place to donate. Make sure to follow the Sod Poodles on the platform formerly known as Twitter @sodpoodles, and on Instagram as sodpoodles.