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 Meet the Front Office: Ray Cotrufo/Group Sales Representative
December 10, 2004 - Every Friday during the offseason, www.Zephyrsbaseball.com will feature a new interview with a Zephyrs front office employee in a series entitled, "Meet the Front Office." This week: Group Sales Representative Ray Cotrufo.
Ray Cotrufo will begin his second season with the Zephyrs in 2005. When Ray isn't selling ticket packages and assembling hospitality tents, this Renaissance man enjoys watching sports at home, watching sports at bars, watching sports in person, and travelling. Ray recently agreed to grant www.Zephyrsbaseball.com a rare sit-down interview, and candidly discussed his baseball career and his many interests.
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:How did you get your start in baseball?
Ray Cotrufo:"There was a minor league ballpark 10 miles from my house in Poughkeepsie, NY - the Hudson Valley Renegades from the New York Penn League. I just walked in off the street looking for work and got an internship in the Group Sales Department for the 2002 season.
"After that, I took a Marketing position with the Wilmington Blue Rocks in the Carolina League in 2003. I came to the Zephyrs after I went to a promotional seminar and interviewed with Group Sales Director Mike Schline."
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:Can you describe the typical work day of a Group Sales Representative during the season?
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RAY COTRUFO STATS
Age: 28
B/T: R-R
Hometown: White Plains, NY
Resides: Uptown New Orleans
College/Major: Worcester Polytechnic
Institute/Industrial Engineering
Graduated: Yes. May '98
Other College/Major: University of
Connecticut/French
Graduated: Yes. May '00
Marital Status: Single
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RC:"I get here around 8:45 AM to pull tarp, then between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM, we make and receive phone calls for group outings and try to set people up in hospitality areas. From 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM we're doing game preparations, setting up tables and chairs in hospitality areas and tables on the concourse. We make sure the pool and hot tubs are full of water and working and also set up tents."
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:What is your best game night story since you've been with the Zephyrs?
RC:"We were waiting during a rain delay. There was a really bad storm, and Mike (Schline) called frantically on the radio and said the tent that was in the pool was now in right field, including the concrete buckets that hold it down. We went out during the massive rain storm and had to take the tent apart and hoist it off the field, getting soaked in the process. We were all worried that we would get struck by lightning, but we got the tent off."
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:Since you spend most of your time on the phone, what is the funniest or most interesting phone call you've gotten?
RC:"In Hudson Valley, I took a call from a lady who wanted to purchase the same seats as she had the year before. She insisted her seats had been behind second base. I tried to explain that if her seats were behind second base, she would be in serious danger of being hit by a line drive, but she didn't really understand. The phone call lasted 10 minutes."
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:I understand you are fluent in French. How would you ask a Parisian if they would like to buy a Fireworks Package?
RC:"Bonjour monsieur/madame, Je m'appelle Ray et je vous appelle des Zephyrs de la Nouvelle-Orleans. Est-ce que vous voudriez acheter une formule des feux d'artifice? C'est une formule de 15 jeux et ces jeux-la se passent chaque vendredi soir pendant la saison."
("Hello sir/madam, my name is Ray, and I'm calling from the New Orleans Zephyrs. Would you like to buy a Fireworks Package? It is a 15-game plan, and these games are played every Friday night during the season.")
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:As the only qualified industrial engineer on the Zephyrs staff, how would you rate the efficiency of our tarp pulling operation?
RC:"Out of all the places I've been, the Zephyrs tarp crew is by far the most efficient and most talented. But any time you pull the tarp, it's important to make sure that the tarp is rolled out well by evenly distributing the load across the entire tarp and pulling with an equal vector force at all points along the edge. The best way to accomplish this is to follow (Asst. Director of Operations) Todd Wilson's recommendation - 'Get the beefiest people on the handles.'"
Cotrufo as Boston catcher Carlton Fisk in the Zephyrs' Salute to Baseball's Greatest Moments on September 2nd. |
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:You are a big Yankees fan, and yet you portrayed former Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk (right) hitting his famous home run in the Zephyrs salute to great moments in baseball after the final game of 2004. Did you break the curse?
RC:"Break the curse? I didn't think there was a World Series this year. Didn't they cancel it?"
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:Being a long-suffering fan of those perennial underdog Bronx Bombers, it must be a thrill to finally experience the height of championship victory, which you did when your alma mater University of Connecticut Huskies won both the Men's and Women's basketball championships this year. What was the experience of going to the Final Four in San Antonio like?
RC:"After not having a World Series Championship in four years, it was good not to worry about my cursed baseball team and actually cheer for a winner. The best part about that trip was watching them win and then driving all the way back to New Orleans in the middle of the night so I didn't miss a day of work. It was an adventure."
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:Seriously, though, as a Yankees fan, how do you feel about the fact that everyone hates you?
RC:"I definitely like it. It's nice being the antagonist, but like Derek Jeter says, if everyone is booing you, you must be good. They don't boo bad players or teams."
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:You played college baseball as a member of the powerhouse Worcester Polytechnic Institute Engineers. What was it like to bask in the glow of being a big-time athlete on campus?
RC:"The one year I played, we almost beat Quinsigamond Community College, which would have bumped us up to the second-ranked school on Park Avenue in Worcester. So as you might imagine, the girl on campus was falling all over us."
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:Ok, let's move on to the speed round of the interview.
Favorite movie?
RC:"Swingers."
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:Favorite movie line?
RC:"You're from Anaheim. Out here you can avoid trouble. In New York, trouble finds you." - Swingers
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:Favorite Simpsons line?
RC:"You're pinch hitting for me? But I've got nine home runs today!" - Darryl Strawberry in episode #8F13, Homer at the Bat.
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:Best concert you've been to?
RC:"Tie between sitting in the front row for Ben Folds at UConn and sitting in the second row at Harry Connick Jr. in Paris on Mardi Gras in 2000."
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:Coolest song you can play on the guitar?
RC:"Over the Hills and Far Away by Led Zeppelin. But I'm not that good at guitar."
www.Zephyrsbaseball.com:Best restaurant in New Orleans?
RC:"Sake Cafe on Magazine St. Get the Snowcrab Roll."
Every Friday during the offseason, www.Zephyrsbaseball.com will feature a new interview with a Zephyrs front office employee in a series entitled, "Meet the Front Office."
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