Photograph By Shane Van Boxtel/Image Studios
When it comes to the business of baseball, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are among the country’s most decorated success stories, having racked up multiple awards for excellence in marketing, human resources and management since Rob Zerjav took over leadership in 2002. Last December Zerjav, who holds the title of president, CEO and managing partner, was named the 2023 Baseball America Minor League Executive of the Year. He sat down with Insight to share why the club isn’t rattled by the changing landscape of America’s pastime.
Insight: You have spent your entire 27-year career with the Timber Rattlers, starting as an unpaid intern. This kind of longevity is really rare, especially in sports. How did you get here?
Zerjav: You figure an internship with the Timber Rattlers is just going to be a stepping stone … to Major League Baseball, but I absolutely fell in love with Minor League Baseball and what we mean to the community. The GM at the time [of my internship] was only 24 years old, so I thought, “He’s not much older than me; I’d love to run a club someday and maybe it will happen sooner than later if I just immerse myself in everything.” And you figure God has a plan; every time I was ready to leave something, you know, something else opened up and I was able to achieve my goal at 27. So I was like, “This must be my plan.” And that’s kind of what I’m rolling with: that this is where I’m supposed to be.
The year 2020 was a real tipping point for Minor League Baseball, with the collision of a global pandemic affecting operations and Major League Baseball taking over governance of and restructuring MiLB. How did you navigate it?
When COVID hit, it was a giant mess with Major League Baseball contracting the number of [MiLB] teams [from 160 to 120]. So we weren’t sure if we were going to stay in Minor League Baseball, remain a [Milwaukee] Brewers affiliate, or even stay in business because we didn’t have any games. We weren’t certain, but we felt good about being one of the 120 teams that was going to be brought back in and [it became about] convincing our board of directors it’s time to sell the club. And then the only way for it to work was to [buy] the stadium as well — it had to be a combo team and stadium for us to make this happen.
Third Base Ventures now owns the stadium and the team, and you wasted no time renovating the stadium to position the T-Rats for the future. What have those renovations meant to the club?
Major League Baseball taking over meant we were going to have to improve the stadium, and it [was] going to be a lot of the non-sexy things that fans aren’t really going to notice. So you’re putting in a lot of money where you’re not going to recoup that by having new spaces. So we knew it was going to take some money, but at the same time, we knew if we’re going to do this renovation we wanted to [also] make it fresh and exciting for the fans. We wanted to have this 360-degree concourse for our last renovation, which was 12 years ago, but it was cut — so we knew we needed to get that in there [this time around]. This time we added the slide in the outfield, and that was the one that was always on the table if we needed to cut. But I am really glad we were able to get it in there because it’s a showpiece from the highway [I-41] and ties us more to the Brewers. Everything with the renovation turned out absolutely fantastic, and the Brewers couldn’t be happier. It was great to see the community support, too, with attendance up over 10%. I thought we would win “Renovation of the Year” from Ballpark Digest, but we were named “Ballpark of the Year,” which is just incredible. That award usually goes to new ballparks — you know, $80 million ballparks, $100 million ballparks. And here’s little Neuroscience Group Field built in 1995 with two beautiful renovations. It’s pretty special.
Now that the renovations are complete, where do you see the Timber Rattlers fitting into the professional baseball landscape going forward?
I think we’re positioning ourselves to be the best affiliate the Brewers have. I mean proximity helps for player development, so that’s a strategic advantage. Now our facility [meets] the Triple A standard — the lights and everything are approved for Triple A baseball, so I think it’s just a matter of being prepared. Our agreement with Major League Baseball was for 10 years and at that point, you know, they could make additional changes and the big worry is that they cut teams again. We want to make the experience the best possible for the Brewers and for visiting clubs when they come here, so if and when they would say “Hey, we’re going to contract again” we would be one of those teams they want to keep in there because I think we have a really special thing going here in the Fox Valley.
You’re not the only long-tenured staffer at the Timber Rattlers. What makes the organization such a great place to work?
We have a full-time staff of 30, a very talented group that makes me look good. Especially in Minor League Baseball, you’ll see people jump around and not stay in one place for very long, but we have over roughly half our staff that’s been with us for 10-plus years. I think the Timber Rattlers have been on the forefront of changing the culture to where [sports] is a career where you can have a family and there are more important things than work. We have really tried to make sure it’s a career you can grow with, and it’s why we have been able to achieve so much.
How else is the organization setting a national standard?
We’re extremely well thought of, and it’s neat to hear other teams are looking to us for inspiration. When we put our minds to something, it’s fun to see what our group comes up with. A handful of years ago, a lot of Minor League teams started one-game rebrands. There was a team in New York City that became the Pizza Rats. We became the Udder Tuggers for a game and sold out merchandise in three hours. Now we have Udder Tuggers’ weekend every June to celebrate Dairy Month and we’re selling merchandise globally.
Your 2024 season starts next month. What can fans look forward to?
April [2023] was beautiful, and we got very lucky and know we’re not always going to get that. What we’re looking to do is put infrared heaters on the concourse, so you can come out to the ballpark and it’s climate controlled. And again we’re excited about the promotions we have going on. And the food is always something our chefs are working on. We have plenty of hamburgers and hot dogs, but we have so many options for foodies who want to come out and try something new.
