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Seth Poteat is the new general manager for the Lexington Legends.photo by: Robbie Clark.
Lexington, KY - Seth Poteat was a bit stunned when he heard Alan Stein was retiring from his role as Lexington Legends president and chief executive officer. Stunned, but not shocked.
Sure, he had heard the talk for years, with Stein growing weary of the road warrior status that came with also being president of another Minor League Baseball team –– the Omaha Storm Chasers –– compounded by the strain on the time his regular job placed on his continued dedication to community service. But Poteat, who had worked for Stein off and on for nearly a decade, figured that day was still at least a year, if not two, down the road.
Instead, more than five months since Stein announced he was leaving and just a couple of weeks away from the Legends’ April 12 home opener, Poteat now readies himself for his first season without Stein being a cornerstone of the front office. He’s also preparing for his initial season as the team’s new general manager.
Poteat, 34, was named general manager shortly after Stein stepped down. He takes over for Andy Shea, who had served as the general manager for four seasons and will now assume Stein’s duties as president as well as chief operating officer.
A native of Owensboro, Poteat first worked for the Legends as an intern in 2002. He returned to the team in October 2004 as a corporate sales representative and was named director of marketing two years later, a role he has had since.
“It was time for him,” Shea said. “He’s been with the Legends for more than eight years now. He’s seen and done a lot of things. He’s seen what other successful and unsuccessful minor league baseball clubs do. He’s done a little bit of everything here between corporate sales, marketing, worked in the parking lot, all sorts of customer service activities and projects, and seen the non-Legends side of things in terms of community events and communications. This was a natural fit and he’s hit it completely in stride. We haven’t skipped a beat.”
That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a learning curve for Poteat, a board member for the YMCA of Central Kentucky who graduated from the University of Kentucky and now lives near Boston Road.
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There is some familiarity involved, as he’ll continue to handle the team’s marketing initiatives and personally manage a handful of existing accounts while he and Shea continue to polish staff duties throughout the organization. He and Shea even maintained the same offices they’ve occupied for years instead of opting to move to larger accommodations elsewhere in Whitaker Bank Ballpark, with Stein’s former space in the stadium concourse possibly becoming an area for a fan-friendly attraction or made available to a corporate partner.
Poteat has been around the organization long enough to know when to be ready to cover the field with a tarp (“Lord knows I’ve pulled that thing enough times,” he said) and what to expect on Education Day games, as well as how to ensure the person delivering the first pitch is on the mound in time.
The other things, however, he’s essentially learning on the fly –– such as group, season and individual tickets sales, stadium operations, staffing decisions and working with the parent club, Houston Astros, to coordinate player housing and other issues.
“I kind of knew what to expect, but at the same time it happened so fast that kind of made it a little overwhelming at first,” Poteat said. “But it’s going well now. It’s an ongoing process. Andy and I are still working through what roles he’s going to maintain, what he’s going to transition to me and things of that nature. … Working here so long, just the institutional knowledge I have made a lot of people come to me anyhow. But once you’re the general manager, you’re the go-to person for everybody. I have to manage my time more wisely and focus more on bigger-picture things.”