We have personnel news to report from the Lake Elsinore Storm (High A; California League), and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Low A; Midwest League) and Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (summer collegiate; Northwoods League).
In Lake Elsinore, the Storm has named Ken Fogel its new General Manager.
Prior to joining the Storm this past February as Vice President, Fogel, a 20-year veteran of Minor League Baseball, had spent the previous five years in Charleston, W.V. with the now West Virginia Power (Low A; Sally League) as the Executive Vice President. Before arriving in West Virginia, Fogel served five years as the Assistant General Manager for the Akron Aeros, now known as the RubberDucks (Class AA; Eastern League).
“Ken’s diverse skill set and experience he accumulated over his career were invaluable when he was thrust into the interim GM role during the 2019 season,” said Storm Owner Gary Jacobs. “As the Storm begin the offseason, planning for 2020 and beyond we are pleased to remove the interim tag. Len Simon and I look forward to Ken’s leadership taking the organization to the next level.”
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Fogel, along with his wife, Kim, son, Craig, and cat, Paka, is excited to stay in southern California and embrace the opportunity to further develop the Lake Elsinore Storm organization.
“I feel incredibly grateful and honored by Gary and Len’s faith in me,” said Fogel. “After spending this past season with the Storm, I couldn’t be more excited about the future of the organization. There is so much opportunity to grow our operation, both on the baseball side and the non-baseball events side, that I think the community will be pleased with what is available to them. Our intent is to make this not only an outstanding place to bring family and friends for an evening of baseball and fun, but a great place to attend some different types of activities or a nice place to host a reception or banquet of some kind in our Diamond Club. Lake Elsinore is lucky to have The Diamond and I am looking forward to continuing the great tradition of Storm Baseball!”
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Appleton Professional Baseball Club has announced personnel moves for both the Timber Rattlers and Dock Spiders.
Ryan Moede has been promoted from Fond du Lac Dock Spiders General Manager to Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Vice President – Tickets and Vice President of the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders. In his new role, Moede will continue to play an integral role in the continued success of the Dock Spiders, but will now also oversee all ticket operations for both teams. Previous to being named General Manager of the Dock Spiders, Moede served as the Director of Tickets for the Timber Rattlers from 2010 to 2017.
“Ryan did an incredible job for the Timber Rattlers when he first came aboard in the ticket department and now has done an amazing job leading the Dock Spiders in their first three seasons, including being named Northwoods League Executive of the Year in 2018,” said Timber Rattlers and Dock Spiders president, Rob Zerjav. “From an organizational standpoint, Ryan has earned this opportunity and we are excited to place him in this new leadership role.”
Moede will continue to oversee the Dock Spiders, just not on a day-to-day basis.
In a corresponding move, Chris Ward has been named new General Manager for the Dock Spiders. Ward was originally hired as the Director of Tickets for the inaugural season of the Northwoods League team and most recently had been Assistant GM – Director of Tickets.
“Chris has continued to grow in our organization, and he has really found a home in Fond du Lac,” said Moede. “He has done a great job for the Dock Spiders, and we look forward to working together to continue to provide the city of Fond du Lac with great family entertainment and great baseball for years to come.”
“Fond du Lac has been a great place to call home for the past several years,” said Ward. “I look forward to the new opportunities and growing within such a great organization, as well as the Fond du Lac Community.”
In other front office moves for the organization, Marcus Wiegert has been promoted to Assistant General Manager for the Dock Spiders and Kyle Fargen has been promoted to the position of Senior Manager – Ticket Sales and Service for the Timber Rattlers.