As president and general manager of the State College Spikes, Scott Walker says his philosophy starts with “yes.”
“It’s always been one of our main objectives to just do the right thing,” he says.
Walker, who’s been with the Spikes since December 2008, said “yes” to Coaches vs. Cancer of Penn State, which he serves as director; a position on the board of Central PA 4th Fest; a nine-year tenure on the board of the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, during which he chaired the marketing committee; and a place on the committee of the Mount Nittany Health Foundation Golf Classic.
After the pandemic, the health foundation was looking for a place to host its charity ball outdoors and asked about having the event at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, where the Spikes play.
“They called me and said, ‘Will you talk to us about this?’” Walker says. “Of course. We were able to step in and fill a need. We start at ‘yes’ when somebody says something like hosting a charity ball. We start at ‘yes’ and figure it out.”
Walker worked for the Altoona Curve for two years before coming home to Happy Valley when Chuck Greenberg’s ownership group, which still owns the Spikes, sold the Curve.
A native of Pleasant Gap, Walker worked his way up the ladder on the sales side for the Spikes before becoming general manager in 2015 and adding the title of president in 2021, just after the Spikes switched to the MLB Draft League.
Walker discussed plans for “major, major upgrades” to the ballpark—which is owned by Penn State and operated by the Spikes—beginning this fall.
Plans include adding new LED field lights, replacing the existing natural grass field with a new one, renovating the clubhouses, and installing a “massive” high-definition video board, Walker said. He declined comment on the source of the funding.
Asked about the plans, Penn State said that at the conclusion of the 2023 Spikes season, the park will undergo field lighting upgrades and a turf replacement as part of a long-term maintenance program. These projects will be wrapped up before the Nittany Lion baseball team takes the field next spring.
“The current work happening at Medlar Field does not exceed the threshold needed for Board of Trustees approval and was approved by the appropriate internal parties,” according to a statement from Penn State.
Here’s more of the conversation with Walker:
You’re kind of Mr. Baseball in State College now. Did you grow up a big baseball fan?
Walker: It’s all I did growing up. I broke a lot of windows in my dad’s garages because from the moment I’d wake up, I’d go outside and just throw the ball off the wall, back to myself. Sometimes I’d miss. He’d have his classic cars in the garage that he’s in the middle of restoring or painting. And here I am busting a window out; glass is smashing on the 1959 Corvette. He wasn’t too happy about that, but he’s gotten over it since then.
Did you envision a career in baseball?
Walker: I knew I wanted to be around the game of baseball in whatever capacity I could. I pretty much knew I wasn’t going to be pitching in the Major Leagues. And when an opportunity presented itself to get an internship at the Altoona Curve out of [Lock Haven University], I just fell in love with it right away; did the right things, I guess, impressed the right people. They hired me full-time and I’ve been doing it ever since.
There’s a real tie here between the Spikes and the community. Did that bond get strengthened after 2020 when it looked like there was a possibility of the team going away?
Walker: Yeah, I’d say so. The timing was crazy because it was after the 2019 season, whenever the list [of 42 teams] came out that Major League Baseball was considering cutting … and we were on it. And everybody’s like, “What the heck? Why are the Spikes on here?” We put our heads together and came up with the Save Our Spikes [S.O.S.] campaign, which we launched in January of 2020. At that point, it was kind of like we were fighting for our lives. It was amazing seeing the community get behind us. I can remember being at [Bill Pickle’s Tap Room] for a CBICC after-hours event and the entire place was literally chanting “Save Our Spikes.” I still get goosebumps.
The community bond is something that’s been instilled from our ownership and management from the time I started working at the Curve.
How’s the MLB Draft League going?
Walker: The Draft League is great. We’ve actually had our two best years while I’ve been GM. Just running the business, bottom line. From the game attendance level to all the other events we’ve been hosting, it all adds up.
It’s a very similar level of baseball [to what was played previously with the New York-Penn League.] It’s very young, hungry kids looking to ultimately make it up to the Major Leagues, with many drafted and/or signed by MLB clubs already.
I can tell you a big thing on the horizon is a lot of facility upgrades are coming to the ballpark. A lot of what we’re doing is going to set us up to be a strong long-term partner of MLB for years to come. And those projects will start this fall.
The clubhouse level will be renovated to be state-of-the-art. There will be new LED field lights, a [new] video board. It’ll make a huge difference for the fan experience. It’s exciting.
One of the things everybody knows you guys for is creative promotions. How do you come up with them?
Walker: We’re fortunate that we have a really solid core group of employees that have been with us for a long time, that have been around minor league baseball enough to know what promotions work. So, sometimes we might grab a soda pop or two and huddle up and have some ideas, maybe even get a Sharpie out and write them down on napkins. We like to try to just keep in tune with what’s going on in our community and pop culture, and connect the dots.
What’s your favorite promotion?
Walker: Well, everybody would point to the Cowboy Monkey Rodeo. That’s been the most popular one, though the gentleman who did those is now retired.
The most unique one was Corey Feldman back in 2015. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen that. Just Google “Corey Feldman State College Spikes.” The circumstances surrounding that one were just wild and it blew up.
The Human Cannonball is great. We set a guy on fire back in 2010 and he ran around the bases, stuff like that. It’s what we do.
Fireworks are the number one promo in minor league baseball. We have twelve shows this season.
What do you see as the most challenging aspect of running a minor league franchise, and then what is the most satisfying?
Walker: The most satisfying would be the number of people that we get to meet and develop long-lasting relationships with. And also giving back in different ways to the community through hosting charity events or being on committees or boards.
The most challenging? It’s just the sheer number of different things that we deal with in this industry. It’s everything from running a business, from top-line revenues to cost of sales and expenses and meeting bottom-line numbers, to pulling the tarp off the field. Literally, one day I’ll be pulling the tarp and then talking to a major sponsor half an hour after I just got really dirty and sweaty. But that’s what we feed off of. T&G
Mark Brackenbury is a former editor of Town&Gown.
