Talking sports and life with Madison Mallards general manager Samantha Rubin

Editor’s note: This is the first installment of what I hope will be a regular fixture at Kevin’s Kronicles, an interview profiling an interesting person in the sports world. With National Girls and Women in Sports Day coming up Feb. 7, I couldn’t have picked a better person to kick off this series than Sam Rubin, general manager of the Madison (Wis.) Mallards baseball team and a new not-yet-named women’s softball team.

Samantha Rubin made headlines when she became the first female general manager in the two-decade history of the Madison Mallards, a collegiate summer league baseball team based in Madison, Wisconsin. In the past couple years, Rubin has immersed herself in the whirlwind of running an organization similar to a low-level minor league team. Selling tickets, spearheading promotions, pitching in at the concession stand, recruiting players and if that wasn’t enough, Rubin has jumped into a new role – leading a fledging collegiate summer softball team as it embarks on its first season in Madison. But the energetic, business savvy 26-year-old tackles it all with poise and a desire for new experiences. It’s all about bringing baseball – and softball – fans the best local, gameday experience they can’t find anywhere else.

When she’s not busy running two teams, Rubin pumps iron at a Madison gym as a CrossFit athlete and coach. Rubin chatted with me recently about trying to maintain the success of a very popular local baseball team while getting another team in a new softball league off the ground, the joy of winning a national title as a collegiate rower and what game days are like down in Florida at The Swamp.

Q: You’ve been with the Mallards since December 2021 and have completed two full seasons as the team’s first female general manager. Have you been able to take some time to reflect on that accomplishment?

A: A little bit. I don’t ever really think about it in that perspective. I think I’ve said this before, but I’ve talked to my bosses about it and I remember when they announced that I was the GM, there was a lot of media around it and I knew there was going to be something because I know what the Mallards mean to the Madison community, but I wasn’t really expecting the news it became. Honestly, to me it’s just a thing – this is my job. I just so happen to be the first female to lead the Mallards.

It’s interesting because I had a conversation with my boss when all this was happening and was saying how it was so strange because I wasn’t expecting it. I knew it was going to come a little bit but not at the level that it has. But then he told me something I’ll never forget: “We didn’t hire you with the intent to make history, or for this and that, we hired you because you’re the right person for the job and it just so happens, you’re a woman.” It’s one of those things that will always stick with me. Now that I have the position, along with heading up the softball team, it’s been a whirlwind but to be able to think back introspectively about when I got interested in working in sports, I never had anyone to look to to say, “I want to be like this person.” Now, people do and that’s something I take with a great responsibility. It’s important that young girls and young women have someone they can look at and say, “I want to be just like that because I can.” There was never a doubt in my mind that a role like this was going to happen but to the extent that it has, has just been incredible and the organization as a whole is just the best thing that ever could have happened.

Q: What are your duties as GM?

A: A little bit of everything and that’s what I love about it. I am not a personality that can sit behind a desk and do the same thing every day. I need change, I need different, I need fast, I need fun and that’s exactly what I’ve gotten. I oversee ticket sales, food and beverage, the budget … I do a lot of sponsorship sales as well and work with our corporate sponsors. I oversee construction projects and work with our contractors. …

Q: Are you also still involved in recruiting players for the Mallards and helping construct the roster?

A: A little bit. It’s shifted now with softball coming in. My life on the business side has become a little crazier with softball. This year, the team president really spearheaded recruiting but somewhere down the line, that will become more of a priority. Right now, I’m more focused on softball and getting that off the ground.

Q: What are some aspects the Mallards look for when recruiting new players?

A: Obviously, we’re looking for talent. We pride ourselves on being THE place to play in the country for summer collegiate baseball. We don’t compare ourselves to anyone else. We like to say we’re the gold standard of summer collegiate baseball so we look for people who are good but we also look for people who will want to come play for us. We love bringing in local people. I think this year we currently have seven people on our roster from Wisconsin. Our manager, Donnie Scott, has been with us for 12, 13 years so we know what type of player and athlete he wants so it makes our job pretty easy.

Q: Are game days hectic?

A: (laughs) I don’t even think hectic explains it. Yes, they are. It’s a lot. It’s hectic. It’s crazy, but I could not have it any other way. I have to have the excitement, the adrenaline and the problems. That’s the type of environment I thrive in. I’m glad I’ve found baseball because I don’t know what I would have done outside of that.

Q: Every year, once May rolls around, I’m all about watching the NCAA softball super regionals and College World Series and immersing myself in it, so I’m very excited for the new softball team coming to Warner Park in Madison. Will the team be built like how the Mallards are put together?

A: Yes, it’s the same level of play, so it’s still summer collegiate softball. We will be getting players from all over the country. It’s nice that we now have an in with the UW-Madison softball program. I’ve talked to their head coach, Yvette Healy, a lot about all this and there’s not many collegiate softball leagues in the country. There’s a handful down in Florida that are very player-development based, but they don’t actually do the fun, the tickets, the beer, the kids and the promotions, they just focus on the development of the athlete, which is great, but in summer baseball that’s been a staple, whether it’s collegiate league, minors, independent ball, and to start something like this and to be on the front side of it, especially in a town like Madison you really can’t ask for anything more. And to be able to match that excitement and that level like the Mallards is pretty awesome.

Q: Does the team have a name yet?

A: Not yet. We were taking fan submissions for names, and we want to make sure the community likes the team’s name, no matter what it is and that it’s a community thing. That’s how the Mallards are; we would not exist without Madison and the surrounding suburbs supporting us. We want to appeal to the local fan base. Once the names are submitted, we’ll start narrowing it down and do some voting and some top tens and kind of go from there.

Q: You played softball in high school. For someone who’s more of a baseball fan and doesn’t know much about the sport, what makes it unique and fun?

A: Softball is fast paced. There are all these studies that show a pitched softball actually comes into home plate faster than a baseball because of the distance. It’s just crazy. Baseball has this stigma attached to it: it’s slow, it’s boring but the level of play for the Mallards is still competitive. Softball doesn’t have that stigma. It’s quick, fun. Seven innings. The ball comes in so fast and the athletes are incredible. That makes it a little bit different feel on the field in addition to being this ground-breaking sort of team and league that we’ll be a part of.

Q: You grew up a big sports fan and graduated from the University of Florida. What are gamedays like at The Swamp?

A: Oh, my god, they’re amazing. Nothing will ever compare to gamedays at The Swamp. Madison is obviously a big UW Badgers town and I’ve been to UW-Madison games, but nothing compares to 95,000 people in a stadium just loud as ever and everyone doing the chomp is so cool. All the things that come with being a Gator fan make it the best atmosphere to play football anywhere in the country. The stadium is one of the loudest in the country because of the elevation and the way the stadium is built. It’s technically below sea level so the way the sound echoes is insane. It’s an experience.

Q: At Florida, you were a member of the women’s rowing team. Rowing seems like a grueling sport. What were some personal highlights and challenges from your time rowing for the Gators?

A: Rowing is the ultimate team sport. There’s no offense or defense, you are the whole thing. There’s not one side of the ball or the other. There are no breaks. Once you’re in the boat, you’re locked in. It’s the most harmonious sport because it has to be. If you are a millisecond off someone else in the boat, the whole thing is ruined. I think it’s pretty impressive to be a rower. It’s the definition of sprinting a marathon. The distance you’re rowing is far enough where you’re reaching into all these different things where you have a marathon style that seems like it’s really long, but you’re going so fast it feels like a sprint. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life and will ever do but there’s nothing like a rowing team. You have to be on the same page as all those other people in your boat at all times. The second you lose that, it’s completely done. My senior year we won a national championship, which was awesome. My freshman year, my boat was our program’s first boat to medal at nationals. When I started rowing we were very much on the rise so to be the first boat to medal was pretty awesome and it just got better from there.

Q: What exactly does the coxswain do? For a novice observer, it seems like they’re just sitting in the boat but I’m probably off base here.

A: The coxswain is the brains behind the muscle. They’re the person who looks forward because the rowers are all sitting backwards, so the coxswain is looking forward to steer and they can see everything the rowers are doing. They can see if someone’s off on timing and say, “’So and so,’ you’re off on timing. You need to find your rhythm.” There’re different courses that have turns and different speed levels and bridges, so yeah, the coxswain isn’t physically doing things but they’re the brains behind the operation.

Q: You’re also involved in CrossFit in Madison. What’s your role there?

A: I’m a CrossFit athlete. I have been since graduating college. After I graduated, I got pretty bored when I was going through my internship. I needed something, whether it was in a team aspect or active lifestyle challenge, so I picked CrossFit in 2019. Since then, I’ve become a coach in Madison, and I work out as a CrossFit athlete. I’m certainly not competitive, I will never compete, nor do I want to in the CrossFit Games. I was able to take the leadership side of my job and really combine it with my love of sports. I do that in my everyday job, but I was able to do it in a fun setting as well.

Q: It seems like you relish challenges both physically and mentally.

A: Oh yes. I love them.

Q: What goals can you envision five, 10 years down the road? Do you see yourself in an executive management role with a Major League Baseball organization or maybe pivoting to another sport?

A: The way minor league baseball and the MLB is set up is so different. A general manager at the MLB level doesn’t really work on the business side, they’re more on the players’ side, which is great, but my passion and love is not so much on the players’ side, it’s the business aspect. Interacting with fans, and understanding what we can improve, what can be better from game to game. Can our lines be shorter? Little things like that. People always ask me, “Are you going to be the next GM of the Brewers?” Probably not, because it’s not what I love to do. I love this level of baseball. The ability to know season ticket holders’ names and to be really involved in the community. I don’t want to do contracts, deal with lawyers … I want to do the business side and make a fan’s experience the best it can be.

I don’t know exactly what my next step is. I’m loving what I do now. I love Madison. I don’t love winters quite as much, but that’s OK. I love the organization and I couldn’t ask for anything more. Now with softball, there’s always something new on the horizon. I just really want the Mallards to be the best entity they could be and see where it goes.

Q: I don’t think you can get that type of hands-on experience without it being at the collegiate summer league or low minors level.

A: That’s the thing because I like to be part of everything. My gamedays are hectic but one gameday if we’re short-staffed, I’m in the concession stand and another gameday when we’re not short-staffed and everything is running smoothly, I’m in the office answering emails or I’m watching the game. I don’t ever want to feel complacent. I always want to be pushing boundaries. The ownership group feels the same way, they want to push boundaries. That’s why we’re bringing softball to a league that’s never existed before. That’s why I love it here. I want to see where it can take us.

By bringing in turf, it opens up a world of possibilities. With that, we’re dipping into the tournament space and the clinic space. I think it’ll be a game changer.

Q: There have been pro softball leagues that have started and failed in the past, which is a shame because if more curious fans came out and watched a few games, they would fall in love with the sport.

A: From the research we’ve done, the people that are starting these softball leagues are softball minds, which is great. Certainly, every entity needs an expert in whatever sport it is, but you have to bring that business side, too. Softball alone, unfortunately at this point, isn’t going to do it. That’s what we’re trying to do: mesh what we know works business-wise to a sport that we think more people are going to fall in love with. We’re trying to set the standard. I hope that 50 other collegiate leagues pop up because of what we’re doing, and I hope this creates a professional softball league. That’s going to be the best thing in the long run. We have some good stuff ahead of us.