Baseball: A Way of Life for Marc Amicone
Sometimes you have to go searching for a dream. Other times you realize it’s right in front of you. Salt Lake Bees (Triple-A baseball affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) Vice President and General Manager Marc Amicone has been around baseball all his life. In 2009, he earned the Pacific Coast League’s Executive of the Year award.
Sam's Dream Blog: How long have you been in baseball, and how has your dream evolved?
Marc Amicone: I’ve been in baseball, if you want to put it 'being around’ baseball, since I was 7 or 8 years old. So it’s been almost 45 years or so, since I was a kid, to playing in high school, to playing in college and now through my professional career in the front office. I worked at the University of Utah for 16 years and here with the Bees for eight years. It has evolved from being a player to an administrator. As a player, all you think about is that you want to play professionally and play forever, but as you get older that changes. I was still able to be in baseball and realize my dream despite not being good enough as a player.
SDB: Some people have dreams that occupy a small portion of their lives. Baseball and softball have become your family’s life. How did you realize the game was supposed to be more than an occupation for you, and how do you maintain your passion for the game?
Marc Amicone: It’s one of those things that just happened. It’s about all I’ve ever known and done. I grew up around a dad and brother who played. I got involved with softball, which is how I met my wife. It was there that we were introduced by someone who coached both of us. When you have so many games in a short amount of time, you get a tiny bit tired at the end of the season, but you have that break and you get geared up again. When I worked in college I had multiple sports to deal with, so that kept things fresh. Part of it is I love it and I don’t know what else to do, so it’s easy to stay passionate in that case.
SDB: What steps did you take on the way from playing ball to ultimately becoming Vice President/General Manager?
Marc Amicone: That was a progression. I knew I wanted to be in the business of sports but didn’t know where that would lead me. I knew I didn’t want to coach. I especially didn’t want to be a high school teacher and coach, which was a route a lot of guys took. My degree in college was geared around sports management and recreation management. A lot of people that graduated in my degree worked at amusement parks or ski resorts or health spas, so that made sense to me. Through playing ball, I got a job with the minor league hockey team in Salt Lake, because I played ball with the people who ran it. It wasn’t baseball but it was sports.
SDB: What opportunities has your position allowed you to enjoy that would not have been possible as a fan?
Marc Amicone: Being very close to the game. You are much more close to the game, you get to be more personally involved with players and coaches, and you get to know the staffs. As a fan you don’t get to travel with the team or be that close.
SDB: What’s a big lesson you have learned in pursuing goals and dreams?
Marc Amicone: The biggest thing is keep doing what you want to do. I’ve had opportunities to do other jobs in other fields in business, but that wasn’t ever what I wanted to do. There were opportunities to get out and make more, and that sounds good when you are young, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do. You keep doing what you are doing and stay with it.
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