Media Savvy
Domino Effect
By Alby Oxenreiter

I ran into an old friend last summer, an acquaintance who takes me back 40 years to the first grade at Saint Bernard School in Mount Lebanon. I make my living in sports, so the intrigue is genuine when I find an old classmate who does the same. Chuck Domino is a born and bred Pittsburgher.

These days, however, he makes his home in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he embraces his role as “Mister Baseball” in what the locals call “Baseballtown.” Domino is about to enter his 25th season in minor league baseball; he has been the general manager of the double-A Reading Phillies for 19 years.

It all began in Oklahoma City in the early 1980s. Domino was hired as an intern for the Texas Rangers triple-A affiliate. His days as an intern would be short-lived and Domino would soon be ready for his first full time front office job. He moved to the Northwest League to become the concessions manager for the Kansas City Royals rookie league team. In 1985, after his boss told him he was ready to run his own team, Domino picked up and moved again, this time to Pocatello, Idaho, where he was hired as the general manager of the rookie league team for the Oakland A’s. A year later, he moved northeast to become GM of the rookie league Idaho Falls Braves. It’s a town with a slogan, “Where Great Adventures Begin,” but Domino’s adventure was already energized and the reviews came fast and furious.

In his first year, Domino was named Executive of the Year in the Pioneer League, and he still remembers that summer night in 1987 when a bench clearing brawl brought out the best - and worst - of the Idaho Falls fanatics. After pulling players from the scrum at second base, Domino found a pile of bikers, who had come in from the right field bleachers to join the fray. They refused to leave the game, proud that they had come to the rescue for the hometown team.

Idaho Falls was indeed an adventure, but Domino seized an opportunity to return to the east and landed his dream job when he was hired as GM of the double-A Reading Phillies in the Eastern League - a position that came with huge responsibility. Domino had final say over marketing, ticket sales, concessions and stadium operations. His plate was full, but Domino found immediate success. Between 1988 and 1997, he was named Eastern League Executive of the Year three times. The Sporting News also picked Domino as its Class AA Executive of the Year, and Baseball America named him the “General Manager You Would Want To Run Your Franchise.” In 2003, Baseball America draped Domino with another honor, this time Minor League Baseball Executive of the Year.

Domino’s reputation was spreading, and attendance in Reading was booming. In 2005, the Reading Phils became the first Eastern League team to draw better than 450,000 fans in six consecutive seasons. And the crowds weren’t coming by coincidence. Domino was winning them over with fun, family-oriented entertainment that included creative bits between innings. The Crazy Hot Dog Guy is a favorite at Reading’s FirstEnergy Stadium, where a swimming pool and hot tub highlight a party deck in the right field corner. Reading home games also feature the Sumo High Jump, and a stunt called the Basketball Bungee Contest, where two contestants connected by a rubber cord pull each other in opposite directions while trying to shoot baskets. Best of all might be the Fifth Inning Drag, where the Reading grounds crew, dressed to kill with white coveralls and wigs, “drag” the infield. It’s a winning formula. Altoona Curve general manager Todd Parnell, who was Domino’s assistant in Reading for seven years, is trying to create a similar atmosphere with the Pirates double-A affiliate. Parnell knows a good thing when he sees it and he calls Domino a “visionary.”

Domino keeps close tabs on Pittsburgh. He and his brother share season tickets for the Steelers, and he still makes the drive for football weekends. But after the football diversion, it’s back to Reading and back to baseball.

Domino insists he has no desire to take his act elsewhere. He’s found a niche in Reading, and says minor league baseball gives him the freedom to do the things he wants to do. Not even the big leagues can offer that. After almost 20 years at the helm, it’s more obvious than ever - the game of Domino can be fun and profitable. The man in charge is a major deal, especially in the minors.

Alby Oxenreiter is sports director for WPGH-TV Fox 53.