Ball State alumnus becomes GM of Minor League Baseball team

A Ball State alumnus recently became the general manager of a Minor League Baseball team.

Scott Trible, who graduated in 2006 with a bachelor of science in sports administration, took over for the Montgomery Biscuits on May 14. The team is the Tampa Bay Rays’ AA affiliate.

He has been with the team since 2008. Trible joined as the corporate account executive, then he was promoted to director of sales in 2010 and assistant general manager in 2013.

Trible credits the majority of his success to the guidance he received during his time at Ball State and said he chose the university because of its renowned sports administration program.

“[The faculty] made sure to get people active at sporting events,” Trible said. “You got to understand that there’s a business side to sports. It’s not just watching people perform athletically. ... The people in charge of the [sports administration] program really helped me.”

Taking heed of his teachers’ advice, Trible obtained his first internship as a sophomore with the Evansville Otters, an independent baseball team close to his hometown of Mount Vernon, Ind. There he served as the promotions coordinator, setting up on-field entertainment for fans.

Prior to working for the Otters, Trible hadn’t experienced a minor league game, but he vividly remembers his first time.

“Just getting to see the joy on people’s faces that first summer sold me on [baseball],” he said. “I realized then it wasn’t just a sport, it was more entertainment then anything. ... Throughout the summer, [the Biscuits] will entertain over 250,000 people. That’s why I do what I do.”

After interning his senior year with the Colorado Rockies’ Class A affiliate, the Modesto Nuts in California, Trible returned to work for the Otters and was promoted to assistant general manager.

However, when the Biscuits came calling, the chance to work for the team was too much for Trible to pass up.

“[The Biscuits] are one of those teams that you can be in Washington, Texas or Maine, and people know who they are,” Trible said. “They are just one of those teams that defines minor league baseball, so when the opportunity arose to join them, I jumped on it.”

Six seasons later, Trible is the Biscuits’ general manager, and his responsibilities range from serving as a liaison to the Rays, helping maintain the club’s relationship with the community and even making sure the mascots stay trained.

It may not possess what major league general managers typically face from big signings and deadline trades, but it is a job Trible said he views as important.

“Prior to 2004, before the Biscuits came, downtown Montgomery was a ghost town after 5 p.m.,” Trible said. “Once the stadium got put [downtown], all of a sudden now there was a need for a hotel. ... Now, there’s people downtown, there’s restaurants downtown, there is a nightlife scene with bars. ... If you ask the owners of any of those businesses, they all attribute them being there to the Biscuits.”

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