The ultimate
career goal for many is being able to do something you love, get paid for it
and keep that job for many years. Carol Hamilton is the epitome of that
reality.
Hamilton is
the office manager for the Toledo Mud Hens and the Toledo Walleye. For 30
years, she has been a vital part of the Mud Hens organization. Her career in
Toledo baseball began when the team was still grinding out games at Ned Skeldon
Stadium in Maumee.
“I was just
basically hired as someone to assist filling out the Mud Hens season ticket
envelopes,” Hamilton said. “Then I just stuck around and started doing more and
more and more.”
Over the
years she has handled the team’s payroll, performed a lot of secretarial work and
answered many, many phone calls.
Hamilton, a
polite and quiet yet amiable woman of small frame with a welcoming smile, was
raised in Toledo and raised a Mud Hens fan, as well. She recalled her memories
of the Ned Skeldon years with fondness.
“It was a
ballpark that needed a Band-Aid, but it was homey, and it served its purpose
for a long time,” she said.
When the
team moved to its current home at Fifth Third Field in 2002, many Toledo
baseball fans rejoiced at the idea of a Mud Hens makeover. Hamilton was
thoughtfully cautious in her initial response.
“I was
skeptical, because [at first] I didn’t really care for the Downtown setting,
but once we arrived down here, it was an incredible fit,” she said.
Hamilton said
the most noticeable difference about her job between the Skeldon years and the
present is the number of people now on the office staff and working in the
ballpark.
“When I
started, it was just a handful of people, and now we have 58,” she said.
Hamilton
described her daily responsibilities as a hodgepodge of getting done whatever
needs done.
“I’m one of
the first people in here to get the machines ready for the day’s work, I answer
the phone, I do all of the ordering of office supplies,” she said.
Though the
players seldom visit the offices, which are usually pretty low-key and don’t
see much “craziness,” Hamilton does recall an occasion when
excitement levels rose and phone calls got a bit out of hand.
“When [professional
golfer] Phil Mickelson tried out for the Mud Hens — that was probably the
craziest time. People were calling as they got wind of it, and asked, ‘Is Phil
Mickelson really trying out for the team?’”
Aside from
the Mickelson incident, Hamilton said her career has been fairly tame. However,
in 2009, Hamilton had a front row seat for a major shift within the
organization as well as in Toledo sports.
In 2007,
Toledo Arena Sports, a subsidiary of the Mud Hens ball club, purchased the
rights to run hockey in Toledo, which was then the Toledo Storm. Two years
later, with a new Downtown arena and a new mascot, the everyday operations of
the Toledo Walleye fell in the laps of Hamilton and her Mud Hens coworkers.
“Before,
we’d be taking a deep breath after baseball season and rest up, and [then]
start focusing on the next season,” she said. “With the Walleye, it made
it more of a year-round event. We had down time with just baseball. Now when
baseball ends, hockey is getting ready to start, so it’s just a complete
circle.”
Hamilton’s
work space at Fifth Third Field recently received a makeover. The reception
area was reconstructed to resemble a hockey arena, complete with circles and
blue lines on the floor. Hamilton’s desk sits behind what hockey fans would
identify as “boards and glass,” just like the protective walls that enclose the
ice. Hamilton jokingly referred to it as “the penalty box.”
As coworkers
passed by, it was obvious they held her in high esteem — and that she is
probably the last person one would expect to find in a penalty box. That
fondness is reciprocated by Hamilton. She cites the people she works with as
the aspect of her work she loves most.
“They keep
me young. It’s a wonderful bunch, and it’s enjoyable to come to work and be
with them,” Hamilton said. “Everybody is supportive of each other. It’s
a great place.”
