Captains have new owners with fresh ideas to entertain fans nightly

The Lake County Captains have energetic new owners with new ideas, and one of them is bound to make fans very happy.

“You should never, ever, wait for a beer,” co-owner Alan Miller said.

Miller and his business partner Jon Ryan, a former punter for the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks, officially took over controlling interest of the Captains’ organization from Peter and Rita Carfagna on Jan. 17 during a afternoon news conference at Classic Park. Carfagna will maintain a minority interest in the team.

“Today is a celebration of 20 years of hard work that Rita and I and our staff have put in,” Peter Caragna said. “It’s a perfect time to transition.

“When you think of everything we’ve done – the high school games, the celebrity softball. The thing we’re proudest of is The Miracle League (a baseball field specifically for physically and mentally challenged athletes). We partnered with the city on that. It’s transformative. It’s like heaven on earth for those kids.”

Ryan and Miller got into the business of owning sports teams when they purchased the Portland Pickles. The Pickles are a wood-bat collegiate baseball team in Portland, Oregon. Miller said approximately 200 major-league players, including several Captains players, at one time played in the West Coast League, where the Pickles play.

“Alan and I got involved with the baseball side of things about seven or eight years ago,” Ryan said during an interview Jan. 13 at Classic Park. “We purchased our first team in Portland. We took a struggling team and turned them around pretty quickly.”

The enthusiasm Ryan and Miller have for the new venture is impossible to miss when they get going.

“What we did in Portland, and what we want to bring here, is make every night a different experience,” Ryan continued. “You’re never going to see the same game twice. We constantly push the envelope with new things. It’s going to bring fun back to baseball.”

The city of Eastlake owns Classic Park, where the Captains have played since 2003 after relocating from Columbus, Georgia where they were formerly the Columbus RedStixx. The Captains are the High A affiliate of the Guardians. The Guardians pay the players on the Captains along with the personnel that run the team, including Captains general manager Jen Yorko.

So what, exactly, do the new owners own?

“We don’t control the players or anything that’s on the field,” Miller said. “We control everything that’s outside the actual playing lines. We control ticket sales, promotions, food and beverage programs, merchandise, group areas, special events and everything in between.”

Miller, 50, and Ryan, 41, live in Los Angeles when they are home, but they joked about rarely being home because they have ownership in several teams around the country. Along with the Pickles, they own a professional rugby team known as the Dallas Jackals.

Running the entertainment side of their operations has allowed them to be creative. The Captains, though, are the first team they purchased that is directly affiliated with a major-league team in any sport.

“We wanted to work with an affiliated team for a very long time,” Miller said. “We kept looking at different opportunities. This one seemed to really fit what our strengths are. Part of the fit for us is we have so much admiration for the Guardians and (team owner) Paul Dolan and what they’ve been able to do building their system, and especially the success they’ve had in Lake County.

“We think we can bring a lot of new ideas and new energy to this team and this community. We’re really excited to be partnering with the Guardians and building this out here in Lake County.”

Ryan and Miller emphasized that, though they call Los Angeles home, they will not be absentee owners.

“You’ll definitely see one of us or both of us at almost every game this season,” Ryan said.

Some of the ideas Miller and Ryan have to make attending a Captains game a fun experience revolve around concessions. Fans can expect to see a different variety of food on the menu in 2023 and beyond, Miller said.

“We’re rebuilding all the food and beverage menus right now,” Miller said. “There will be considerably more additional bars and menus. We’re building a nine-hole, mini-golf course in a zone beyond left field.

“Our goal is to create a lot of different areas and experiences. Watching baseball is great, but you have to have more things happening all the time.”

Miller and Ryan have plans for fans with with dogs.

“Every Thursday will be ‘Bring your human day,’ ” Miller said. “All dogs are free on Thursdays if they bring their human. We’ll be giving dogs opportunities to roam the area and do all kinds of fun things.

“Since this is the 20th season, we’ll be wearing throwback jerseys throughout the season. Every Tuesday we’ll be playing as the alternate identity as the Picantes.”

Even when the crowds have been small in the past, some fans have complained about standing in long concession lines. Miller says that will change. He said cash will no longer be accepted, which he says will speed the process as will more points of sale.

“You should never, ever wait for a beer,” Miller said. “That is something we feel very strongly about. We have failed if you have to wait for a beer.”

With all the changes Miller and Ryan plan, they have no thought of changing the team name from Captains to something different. “Never wait for a beer!” might be a great business slogan, but Miller and Ryan have something else in mind.

“Our motto for the season is ‘O Captains! My Captains!’ based on the Walt Witman poem O Captain! My Captain!’” Miller said.

The poem, written by Whitman in 1965, is about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

The Captains home opener is 6:35 p.m. April 6, a Thursday, vs. the Dayton Dragons.