BEAVER TOWNSHIP – From 1983 to 2017, the Mahoning Valley was well-represented in Minor League Baseball.

Every area from players to coaches, scouts to broadcasters to umpires and front office personnel, a ‘Youngstown Connection’ could be found in Short Season Class A to the Rookie League to Class AAA.

Former Woodrow Wilson High and local baseball standout Rick Muntean, who began his Minor League administrative career in 1983 with San Jose of the Class A California League and would later serve as general manager of the both the Williamsport Bills (Class AA) and Class AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre teams, is an award-winning baseball administrator who shared his journey with the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s meeting at Avion Banquet Center.

“I played baseball for YSU for two years under their late, great coach Dom Rosselli, but transferred to Ohio University where I earned my BA in communications,” Muntean told the group. “My goal was to be the play-by-play broadcaster for my favorite team growing up, the Cleveland Indians.

“I visited my friend and fellow Youngstown-native Bill Terlecki, who at the time was general manager of the Class AAA Rochester Red Wings and absolutely loved the experience. I love baseball and with my playing days now behind me, what better way to remain in the game and also make a living at something I love than being an administrator in Minor League Baseball.”

A chance meeting with Warren nursing home magnate Peter ‘Woody’ Kern, and his friendship with Boardman native Harry Steve, kick-started his career in the Minor Leagues.

“Woody was a great businessman who wanted to start a new franchise in San Jose, so Harry and I drove cross country to start his new California League team,” Muntean said. “The work was challenging, but the Bees became reality in time for the 1983 season. We were both excited because it was a new franchise we helped start from the ground up, it was in a great league with a huge population base.

“It was my first professional position, Harry’s first general manager job and we loved it. Woody knew what to do, treated everyone like royalty and I have always cherished my time with him. In the minors, it isn’t easy getting someone to buy a ticket, you must earn their purchase. Every day matters and you need to be on your toes, pay attention to detail to make things work. It took us almost two full seasons to earn that trust.”

From San Jose, he moved over to the Walla Walla Bears as general manager, a Short Season Class A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, which prepared him for his next stop as GM of the Williamsport Bills, a Cleveland Indians affiliate in the Eastern League.

“Turning around a long term franchise that has been neglected is very difficult,” Muntean added. “You have to say the right things, but mean them. You must work tirelessly around the clock to get things done and your success still isn’t guaranteed. It was a team of misfits with the franchise the subject of a soon to be finished book containing stories not suitable for repeating at certain settings.

“I had a stopover in Kenosha, Wisconsin then Kansas City where I met my wife, got out of the business for two years where I learned to sell as a recruiter but returned to baseball with Williamsport, first as assistant GM then as general manager. Simply put, Williamsport is baseball gold with Little League Baseball born there and everyone around either playing or just knowledgeable about the game.

“We found champions in a small town to help us get the word out, were vigilant in game preparation and trained our game day employees thoroughly so as to get our positive message out to the market. Making good decisions and following through was the key to our success.”

Under Muntean’s direction, the team posted the second largest attendance in their professional history and after just two years at the helm, led to his selection as GM of the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Red Wings, the Class AAA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.

In 14 years at the Class AAA level, he oversaw innovative promotions, yearly ticket sales of over 400,000 and corporate sales that exceeded $1.5 million each year from the time of their start-up.

“I was never a Phillies fan but I became one very quickly,” he added. “Having meetings with Bill Giles, eating dinner with Dallas Greene and being best friends with Lee Elia was all special for me. With future Major Leaguers Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, among others my responsibility, it was absolutely fantastic. Having John Kruk, Curt Schilling, Darren Daulton and Lenny Dykstra in our clubhouse on a rehab assignment was also a treat.”

From 2003-08, Muntean was vice-president-general manager of the Kansas City T-Bones, an independent Northwest League entry, served as GM-owner of the Saint Joseph Mustangs of the college wood bat MINK League (2008-14) and in 2014, was GM of the Lake Erie Crushers of the Frontier League.

He finished his executive career in baseball as general manager of the Bristol Blues (2014-17), his second collegiate wooden bat franchise.

“I had my best years with the Kansas City T-Bones,” Muntean said. “Our motto was ‘Fun! Well Done.’ Winning our first league championship in 2008 and being named Executive of the Year was humbling because we were also named Kansas City’s Small Business of the Year.

“I was an owner in St Joseph and along with Dan Gerson, we started the team from scratch. Multiple teams failed in that town prior to us but we nailed it. We made money at every stop and had dozens go on to successful MLB careers. Being adaptable to your surroundings and having a creative staff that hustled daily to get our word out were the keys.”

In 35 years of baseball management at every level, Muntean spent 26 years as a GM, six seasons in a start-up role while earning third-place in Minor League Baseball’s 100th Anniversary Promotion category.

Next Monday, Madison Chapman, YSU social media director, will serve as guest speaker.