On a spring morning washed in warm sunshine, Larry Hawkins steps onto McCormick Field. Beyond first base, a man cuts grass on a rider mower. Close to third base, another man hoses down a patch of seeded ground. Hawkins watches for a moment, gazes at the surrounding hills, then looks down at the bright green grass beneath his feet.

Larry Hawkins, general manager for the Asheville Tourists Baseball Club, stands in front of the score board at McCormick Field. (click photo to enlarge)

"This is winter rye," he says. "Fescue will be up soon, right in time for our first game of the season."

Hawkins is general manager for the Asheville Tourists Baseball Club and is in charge of everything from making sure the field is prepared to making sure the players show up for game time. It's a position he enjoys tremendously, in spite of the fact that he once aspired to be a player rather than manage the business end of baseball.

"When I was in high school at Blue Ridge School, I did it all," the Cashiers native recalled. "I played baseball, basketball and volleyball. I played non-stop all year."

But an injury and other considerations put an end to his plans to play in college.

"I had conversations with some small schools but I had shoulder problems and I was really too slow for baseball," he said. "And I was too small for basketball.

"Once I realized I couldn't play sports in college, I took a landscaping job with my brother-in-law in Cashiers for a year. I didn't know what I wanted to do."

A year later, still undecided about his future, Hawkins talked to Cheryl Contino-Conner, who was then the transfer advisor at Southwestern Community College and is now director of Student Support Services.

"At the time, all I knew was that I loved sports. And all I knew about sports was from the player's side," he said. "But Cheryl pointed out careers in which I could stay in sports in other ways. I knew I didn't want to be a trainer or a P.E. teacher, but I liked the idea of sports management that she told me about.

"I realized I could get my core courses at Southwestern and transfer them to Western Carolina University where I could earn a degree in sports management. It just made sense to start at SCC. The transfer program was good and going to a community college is economical. So I enrolled at Southwestern."

Hawkins completed his first year at SCC and went on to WCU. As part of the sports management program there, in 1996 he interned at McCormick Field with owner and general manager Ron McKee. Hawkins did well and enjoyed working with McKee. After graduation he accepted a full time position as stadium operations manager with a club in Clearwater, Florida. Then in 1998, he got a phone call from his mentor.

"Ron called and asked if I wanted to come home," Hawkins said. "I loved McCormick Field and with my family in Cashiers just an hour from Asheville, it was an easy decision."
Hawkins moved back to Asheville and married his fiancé, Kim. In his first job with the Tourists Baseball Club, he was in charge of stadium operations and sales, a position he held for two years. In 2000 he became assistant general manager, working primarily in sales; then he was named general manager in 2005.

"I oversee all the day-to-day operations of the club, from sales to game day operations, to being the go-to person for the players," he said. "And contrary to what most people think, it's a year round job. During the six months we're not in season, we're getting ready for the next season."
According to Hawkins, life at the ballpark is varied, interesting, and sometimes time consuming.
"On our home game dates, we'll work from 8 a.m. to as late as 1 a.m. the next day," he said. "Interns come to us from all over the country - and from area colleges. It gives them a chance to decide if it's a lifestyle they want to pursue. I certainly did.

"It's an interesting job, fun and exciting. I meet a lot of people that others would give their right arm to meet. I once got to spend several hours with Ted Williams and had dinner right next to Tom LaSorda. Then Bill Davidson, our owner, is pretty famous; he was responsible for developing the NBA and bringing back several other sports areas. He's also the primary owner of Palace Sports and Entertainment which owns the NBA team, the Detroit Pistons, and the NHL team, the Tampa Bay Lightening. It's great to meet all these people, and now they are just that - people like everyone else."

Then there are the people challenges.

"We're the farm club for the Colorado Rockies," he said. "They handle the recruiting of the players they send to us. They're mostly 18, 19, 20-year-olds, many of whom are Latino or Taiwanese. A lot of them don't speak English and it's a challenge to help them function in a culture that's foreign to them. I work with all the players on day-to-day issues and help them with any problems they may have. I also try to help them understand that they are living in a small town with expectations about their behavior."

Speaking of challenges, Hawkins recalled when Tourists team manager Joe Mikulik made national television last summer season.

"He was ejected from a game for arguing a call," he said. "I had to field phone calls and emails from all over the country from people who wanted to give their opinion about it. I still get emails because it's on UTube and people Google it even today."

In such an ever-changing environment, what does Hawkins most look forward to each year? "The beginning and the end of the season," he says with a laugh. "I always look forward to the anticipation of a new season and the crowds coming out to McCormick. Then the season wears you down physically and you're ready for it to be over for another year."

Looking back, Hawkins sees two turning points in his life that were most instrumental in his career. "Southwestern gave me direction in what I wanted to do professionally and Ron gave me the opportunity to get where I am today. He gave me my first job here and then promoted me to general manager as his successor," he said.

"I love my job; the fun and hard work go hand in hand. And how many people can say they go to a ballpark to work every day? Besides being a player, it doesn't get much better than this."
For more information about the Asheville Tourists Baseball Club, visit www.theashevilletourists.com. For more information on Southwestern Community College, visit www.southwesterncc.edu.

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