Bobby Baksa has the perfect job, one that includes his two
greatest passions.
Sitting behind the visitor’s dugout inside an empty AT&T Park, Gilroy native Bobby Baksa goes over the itinerary for the rest of his work day.
“Every time the Giants win four games in a row we have an “On a Roll” party and that is at 1,” Baksa said, with the stadium basically serving as a massive, awe-inspiring break room. “Then I have a meeting at 3.”
Relatively speaking, it’s a calm week. With the Giants playing the final game of a three-game stint in Colorado last Wednesday, Baksa’s schedule lightened up a bit before an inevitably busy upcoming seven-game homestand.
“It’s time to kind of take a breather and get organized,” he said.
Baksa, 27, never really ceases to work, though. As player and community relations assistant for the San Francisco Giants, Baksa realizes he has one of the best gigs around. Not just because he is surrounded by professional athletes, but because he has found a career that merged his two greatest passions: sports and community outreach.
A 2001 graduate of Gilroy High School and son of former city manager Jay, Baksa grew up a Giants fan and spent most of his summers involved with various city recreational programs.
“I grew up with rec programs, and I worked with the rec department (through) my sophomore year in college as a leader in youth sports, summer programs, coach and playgrounds,” Baksa said.
Gayle Glines, a recreational supervisor, saw first hand Baksa’s eagerness to get involved and credits a close-knit group of friends, which included her son and others as the reason why.
“Bobby is the type of kid that was going to get what he wants. He is very hard driven,” Glines said. “There was a really strong core of kids that grew up together and were really good role models for each other. They all volunteered, community-service minded and were all athletes. I think that set the tone.”
With his foundation in community service already established, Baksa began to sort out and decipher which direction to go after high school.
“I think I wanted to be part of an industry where you worked with people,” Baksa said. “I never saw myself here working with the Giants. I still can’t believe it to this day,” he said with the grounds crew bustling about on the field and a few tourists snapping pictures inside the beautiful stadium on the San Francisco Bay.
Baksa graduated from San Diego State, where he served as the women’s basketball team manager for two seasons, with a degree in recreational management. He went on to earn a master’s in sports management from the University of San Francisco.
“The rec industry was a great way to go,” Baksa said. “Then I got introduced to sports at the collegiate level and the professional level, and that was a whole new perspective on community outreach and giving back.”
Baksa’s perspective is indeed unique, having access to a different side of professional sports and the impact the players and team have on a community.
“We work a lot with the players,” he said. “We get to know each guy, what they want to do and where their desires are; if they want to get involved with the community, what people do they want to try to help and who they want to give back to.
“It is a good group of guys. It’s good to see a celebrity status type of person make a difference while they are here. Most of the veterans know they can make a difference.”
The gap between professional athletes and the community is not as wide as it may appear, and Baksa makes sure there is always a clear bridge connecting the two.
“One huge aspect of my job is responding to the special requests that we get from individuals who are going through unfortunate times,” Baksa said. “We see how people turn to the things that they love when they are in need and sports are a huge part of people’s lives, especially here in the Bay Area.”
Hundreds of letters and e-mails end up at Baksa’s desk each year. He responds to them all.
Many times, the content is gutwrenching, heartwarming or both. Though the situations differ, the requests are usually similar. Will the San Francisco Giants help?
“They will get a response no matter what, 100 percent of the time,” he said. “Depending on the situation, depending on the timing, we respond with a letter or some Giants’ items or an invite out to a game to meet a player or a field visit.
“It makes you appreciate the work that you are doing and I love trying to take the Giants name and take it to the next level behind the scenes. You just try your best to help them out because the little things you do for them really go a long way.”
Baksa recently accompanied Giants’ slugger Aubrey Huff on a visit to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. On Monday, he joined Jeremy Affeldt who was the keynote speaker at a general education graduation ceremony at Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco.
While Kevin Frandsen, a Bellarmine and San Jose State graduate whose brother, DJ, died of cancer in 2004, was with the Giants, Baksa and he worked closely with a program called Second to None where outreach is provided to brothers and sisters of cancer patients.
“The reactions of the people you meet and the thank yous that we get … that’s when it is all worth it,” Baksa said. “You go to those visits and you walk away hoping for the best for those families.”
Baksa broke in with the club in 2006 as an intern, working first in community relations and then Giants Enterprises, which deals with events such as concerts and private parties.
Riding the wave of ebbs and flows that are part of being an intern, Baksa was let go after that year but was called back to assist with the 2007 All-Star Game at AT&T Park.
“To this day, that is still one of the best sporting experiences I’ve even been through,” he said, whose list of responsibilities during the festivities was to deliver the trophy to the Home Run Derby winner and game MVP.
After returning to Gilroy following the 2007 season and an unsuccessful attempt to land a job, Baksa received an offer to become a part-time employee during the 2008-09 season and was hired at the conclusion of the year, taking over his current position, coordinating sponsorships and community appearances.
“Working for the Giants in the community outreach part, it’s using probably the biggest brand name in the Bay Area, the Giants, for the better,” Baksa said.
“One of my main projects this year is creating a night in recognition of homeless agencies and homeless groups that work on or off the streets. Five organizations in San Francisco, we felt the desire to create a night to let the fans know what these organizations can do and how they could help.”
Step Up to the Plate Night is Aug. 24.
With the job comes a few perks and early on Baksa experienced first hand the privileges that pop up every now and then.
As an intern in 2007, Baksa was called to work on a Saturday to host a field visit for an unknown guest who turned out to be James Hetfield, lead singer of Metallica.
“He came out on the field and I had Omar Vizquel come over and play catch with his son,” Baksa said. “The last few times (Metallica) have played here in the Bay Area I e-mail his wife and get backstage passes and all that good stuff.
“I don’t know how I’m going to top that.”
Despite some of the perks, Baksa does not take anything he does for granted. The season doesn’t begin in April and end in October. It is a year-round job.
“It’s an industry that requires a lot of patience and effort and not normal hours,” Baksa said.
“You have to bust your butt and show what you can do. It’s great working here but it’s tough getting here.”
Each day, he arrives at his office at AT&T Park, the ocean a stone’s throw away and the ballfield is at his fingertips. He sums it up easily:
“There’s really no place I’d rather be right now.”
