The new owners of the Nashville Sounds made their most dramatic move of their short ownership tenure, bringing in George King from the PCL office as the new GM.The PCL’s George King is the new general manager of the Nashville Sounds (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League), replacing Glenn Yaeger.
King, who was formally introduced by Ward at a press conference last Thursday, comes to Music City after spending 12 years working in the Pacific Coast League office, the past four as the league’s Vice President of Business & Operations.
“Today is an exciting day for the Sounds,” said new Sounds co-owner Frank Ward said. “We have spent the past few months reviewing a list of well-qualified individuals to become our new general manager. George is very respected throughout the industry, and we look forward to his leadership of professional baseball in Nashville.”
“A city of Nashville’s standing deserves a club and ballpark it can be proud of,” King said. “We look forward to being Nashville’s very own stimulus package of fun against today’s headlines and my family is tickled to death to now call Music City home.”
In his role with the PCL, King supervised all on-field baseball operations for the league -– including MLB PDC-affiliate relations, player roster and procurement compliance, MLB Rules and Policy adherence, on-field discipline, umpire deployment and management, and facility matters -– as well as team travel procedures and League rules, administration, and finance. He was also involved in marketing and communications, including League-wide promotions and sponsorships, and was an ad hoc member on several league committees.
King will need some of that facility expertise in Nashville, where Greer Stadium is at the functional end of its life. The new owners of the Sounds will need to decide in the next year or so whether to pursure a new facility or work for a dramatic renovation of Greer. They’ve already spent millions on bringing up the facilities to a very low baseline, but it will take a lot more for the ballpark to meet approval from MiLB authorities.
“In addition to the professional expertise that he brings to Nashville, George possesses a contagious spirit which will result in Sounds fans realizing the high level of fun a trip to the ballpark entails,” said PCL President Branch Rickey. “He brings a perspective of familiarity with all of the other PCL franchises as well as a sharp sense of many of the successful endeavors that the other clubs have accomplished around the league.”