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January 30, 2006 - ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Rockford RiverHawks will open their brand-new stadium with a mix of old and new personnel.
Today, the RiverHawks announced they had promoted Josh Olerud to general manager and added Marshall Mackinder to the sales staff. Olerud replaces Mike Holmes, who resigned to pursue other opportunities.
“Josh has proven to be an effective front-office asset and we’re certain he’ll be able to fill that general manager’s position with expertise and professionalism,” team president Dave Ciarrachi said.
Olerud, 27, is a Bloomington, Minn. native and a graduate of Minnesota State University – Mankato. He was hired two years ago by original RiverHawks GM Mike Babcock as an intern and was the team’s group-sales director during the 2004 season. Since September 2004, Olerud had been the team’s director of sales and added the title of assistant GM - sales to his portfolio last fall. Olerud directed in-game stadium operations at Marinelli Field last season.
“It’s a real exciting time for myself and the rest of the front-office staff,” Olerud said. “I’m very eager to meet the challenges ahead in opening this new ballpark. Mike Holmes did a great job in laying down the solid foundation for our organization to reach the goals which we set at the beginning of the offseason.
“I want to express my gratitude to ownership that it has had the faith in me to allow me to pursue my professional goals.”
Mackinder, 22, is a native of Oak Park, Mich. and a graduate of Niagara University. He had most recently been the director of group sales for the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League, a major-junior hockey league.
“I always wanted to pursue a career in professional baseball in the greater Chicago area,” Mackinder said.
Mackinder will join the RiverHawks following Super Bowl XL. He is in Detroit working directly for the National Football League as a media coordinator for Sunday’s game.
“We feel fortunate to have a guy like Marshall come onto our staff with the experience and success that he already has in the field,” Olerud said. “We expect him to excel not only as a great salesman, but on the baseball-operations side as well.”
Holmes was in his second tour of duty with a Rockford professional baseball team. He had been the general manager of the Rockford Royals/Cubbies of the Midwest League from December 1992 to June 1997. That franchise moved to Dayton following the 1999 season.
Holmes is the second member of the front office to leave this month. Sales executive P.J. Keene resigned to take a group-sales position with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“As an organization, we’re always excited when people leave for better opportunities,” Ciarrachi said. “Through the years, we’ve had a lot of people move on to other organizations – PJ to the Arizona Diamondbacks – and Mike is looking at several opportunities which he feels will enhance his professional future. This was on no way a negative departure and we wish him the best in the future.”
Opening Day at RiverHawks Stadium is 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, May 31, when the RiverHawks host the Evansville Otters. The RiverHawks are members of the Frontier League, a 10-team independent professional baseball league that will play its 14th season in 2006. Advertising, season-ticket and suite information is available by calling the box office at (815) 964-2255. Fans can also visit the RiverHawks online at www.rockfordriverhawks.com.
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