Get Jacked
JACKRABBITS BASEBALL PROVIDES FUN FOR ALL Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing Photographer / Jason Graves
As a young boy, Michael Lieberman played Little League baseball. “I got one hit all season long and decided it was time to retire,” Lieberman says. He didn’t, however, move on from the sport altogether - quite the contrary. He calls himself one of the lucky ones who knew just what he wanted to study in college, and the career he wanted to pursue - to become a baseball general manager. He started in the industry in 1993 as an intern, and has been a general manager for a total of 15 years in 12 different states. Now the general manager of the Kokomo Jackrabbits, a team for college players, this marks his 13th season as a general manager in summer collegiate ball.
Some of the best players in the country come to Kokomo when their college seasons have ended, to play for the Jackrabbits in a professional environment. The Northwoods League plays the longest season in summer college baseball with a total of 72 games (36 at home and 36 on the road) stretched across 10.5 weeks, between the end of May and the middle of August. Then it’s the playoffs, before the players head back to campus.
the players, the sponsors and everyone come together as they wrap their arms around that experience,” he says.
“It’s very much like a professional environment, which helps prepare those players who are looking for a pro career to see what it’s really like to live the professional life,” says Lieberman, who says he relishes game days.
This is not to say that one must be riveted to every play of each game to work in the industry. In fact, Lieberman notes that he’s been in meetings with potential sponsors who almost apologetically whisper that they don’t even like baseball. His answer is, “Fantastic, then you won’t get distracted by what happens on the field.”
“I love that feeling after working for days, weeks and months towards an event, and getting to open the gates and see the fans,
He tells his interns every year, “If you open the gates, see the look on people’s faces, feel the energy, and watch everything that’s going on and that doesn’t do it for you, it might be time to reevaluate what you’re doing, because if you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.”
The game experience surpasses the mere bat
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