Want to See Diversity’s Power at the Gate? Come see the Jumbo Shrimp!
Can we just find the best person please?” Harold Craw, General Manager (GM) of the AA Southern League (S.L.) Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, asks this question when preparing to interview candidates for the myriad of positions he and his staff fill each season. This simple directive, paired with a commitment to diversity, from Craw and team owner, Ken Babby, has transformed the club. How much? It’s no stretch to say that the Jumbo Shrimp have lived up to their name.
Jacksonville is Florida’s largest city in land miles. It’s anticipated to have a population of 1.7 million by 2020. In 2016, 264,401 fans watched the then-Suns at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. Craw and his staff knew that the club needed to improve. Thanks to a name change, building positive relationships with local families, exceptional customer service and wildly successful promotions, (like a shrimp shaped neck pillow) the Marlins affiliate experienced phenomenal success. In 2017, 325,743 fans from the First Coast joined “Crustacean Nation.” The 23% rise in attendance was the largest one year attendance increase for a AA franchise in Minor League Baseball ( MiLB).
Last fall, not only was Craw named the first African-American S.L. executive of the year, but the club won both the S.L.’s Organization and Promotion of the Year trophies! These accolades helped the club become one of five finalists nominated by the Sports Business Journal, for their Sports Breakthrough of the Year award. The winner will be announced later this month at the Sports Business Awards. I spoke with Craw a few months ago and it was clear that diversity was at the center of the club’s success. Given Craw’s experiences with adversity, his stance is unsurprising.
Craw grew up in Chattanooga, TN, loving baseball and excelling at it. His parents set high expectations. Success in the classroom came before success on the field. Following this example, he became a standout student athlete. At 13, he was no longer challenged in the predominately African-American amateur league he played in. He and his father knew that he belonged in the East Brainerd Little League, which was predominantly comprised of upper-middle-class Caucasians. From the get go, Craw’s talent was evident to all who saw him play. However, he was not selected for the league’s all-star game. Soon thereafter, Craw’s father and coach had a heated conversation and Craw was batting third in the all-star game. Craw recalled how the experience and his father’s response “taught [him] a lot about fighting through to the end.”
In high school, Craw played on a travel team similar to East Brainerd. These experiences gave him invaluable experiences and exposure to America’s diversity. Most importantly, he saw how crucial college was for success beyond the diamond. Not that he had much time away from a baseball field to begin with.
Mornings found Caw loading oil trucks for Rick Hunter, owner of Chattanooga- based Hunter Oil, the major sponsor for Craw’s travel team. In the afternoon, he mowed the East Brainerd athletic fields. His work ethic and determination helped him develop a positive relationship with Hunter, who knew Rich Mozingo, then the GM of Craw’s hometown AA (Southern) Chattanooga Lookouts.
Passionate about coaching and mentoring young people, in 1999, he received his BA in Physical Education and Coaching from Virginia’s Emory and Henry College. Over time, though, he felt drawn to baseball and was determined to become a GM.
In 2000, he was accepted at East Tennessee State’s MA program in Sports and Fitness Administration. One day, Craw read an article in which Mike Veeck of the Goldklang Group, emphasized how “anyone can challenge the standard.” The statement resonated with him and helped him do so.
In 2002, Craw completed the required internship for his MA degree, serving as the Director of Stadium Operations for the Johnson City, TN A( Appalachian) Cardinals. Grateful for the experience, but desiring a new challenge, in October 2002 he applied for a Promotions Assistant position with a Goldklang Group franchise, the Charleston River Dogs A (South Atlantic). Charleston’s then-GM Derek Shererer felt Craw was overqualified but urged him to stay in touch. He did. Craw had the opportunity to meet Mike Veeck in person at the 2002 Winter Meetings in Nashville. Soon after, Craw was hired for an entry-level sales position. He quickly realized there was much more to Veeck than “unbelievable baseball stories.”
Veeck’s father, Hall of Famer, Bill, owned the Indians, the St. Louis Browns and on two separate stints, the Chicago White Sox. Committed to equality and diversity, in 1947, Veeck signed future Hall of Famer, Larry Doby and broke the color barrier in the American League. Veeck was a promotional genius decades ahead of his time, who gained notoriety for groundbreaking promotional stunts. Mike shared his father’s worldview, quickly seeing potential in Craw. “I was an entry-level sales guy, who am I from everyone else? We’d walk around the stadium and chat about life. He once told me ‘we don’t hire to fit a job. We hire good people and find a job for them.’” This statement sums up Craw’s experience brilliantly.
Craw remained in Charleston through the 2012 season. Along the way, he was twice honored as the South Atlantic League Sales Executive of the year and for his work in community relations. Following a stint with the A (Midwest) Quad City River Bandits, he became the Assistant GM with his hometown Lookouts in 2014. His candidacy was no doubt helped by a glowing recommendation from Rick Hunter, his former boss, to then-GM Mozingo. In 2015, he was hired by the Jumbo Shrimp. Having achieved one goal, he is equally committed to another one, increasing the number of minorities in MiLB front offices and beyond.
Craw is one of only four GM’s of color in MiLB. Further, according to an article by Steve Rushin, in the April 5-20th edition of Baseball America, the average age of a Major League Baseball fan is 57. It goes without saying that Professional Baseball must attract a younger and more diverse workforce and fan base. While Craw admits that “it’s rough and there are some of us.” He firmly believes MiLB is making progress. He praised the efforts of MiLB President Pat O’Connor and MiLB’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Vince Pierson, to ensure that minorities have a bright future in MiLB.
In Craw’s view, “MiLB has put their money with their mouth is by hiring Vince. Vince was the catalyst. It’s always been in the back of Pat’s mind. It’s gonna happen for us. We are moving that needle forward.” Craw, went further, explaining how Pierson has spent significant time hosting recruiting events at Historically Black Colleges across the country. He also highlighted the Fostering Inclusion through Education and Leadership Development (FIELD) program. Craw described how FIELD has helped more women and young adults of color, gain hands-on experience working for a club and building positive relationships with decision-makers. Most crucially, FIELD Participants take their newfound skills and experience to the Winter Meetings, the event for finding employment in baseball. Closer to home, Craw is equally committed to ensuring that people with disabilities (PWD) are an integral part of the club.
Thanks to the spike in attendance and the club’s appearance on an episode of the Travel Channel’s Food Paradise, demand for food at the ballpark has exploded. This has necessitated the planned construction of an additional kitchen and additional kitchen staff to prep foods. Craw was excited by the possibility of a partnership between the Shrimp and the Jacksonville Arc, a local disability service agency, to find and hire PWD for the positions. Craw’s head of concessions is equally enthusiastic. Both he and Craw know that hiring PWD is good business.
Additionally, Craw spoke glowingly about an employee with intellectual disabilities that is part of his game-day staff. No token hire, the individual hands out programs, throws t-shirts into the stands and is a valued member of his staff. Jacksonville is far from the only MiLB club to embrace diversity. Finally, according to Craw, every year at the Winter Meetings, the diversity workshop is held in a larger space.
In Craw’s words, “the pool is getting larger and the water is getting larger we just need to find a way to connect those two and pair it with success.” Thanks to Craw and his staff, that connection is growing stronger every day!
Steve McEvoy is a NYC based Disability Employment Specialist. He firmly believes that consumers and employees with disabilities have tremendous potential to help professional sports franchises thrive.