Rachel Philipson

ILR student Sarah Gilman ’16 poses with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred '80 and ILR Dean Kevin Hallock.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred ’80 covered a lot of ground while meeting in the ILR School with students April 21: international talent acquisition, pulling more fans into the postseason and the possibility of a new franchise in Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.

He grew most animated, though, when talking about 9-year-old Duane Dargin, a scholar-athlete in the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.

They met at the Little League World Series last summer and crossed paths again in February, when Manfred visited the academy. When the Nationals invited Manfred to throw their season’s opening pitch of the season, the commissioner called on Dargin.

Thrilled, Dargin was speechless, Manfred said.

At the mound on opening day, Manfred worried about the distance to home plate. The lefty at his side reassured him, “It’s not that far.” Then, the youngster threw right down the middle.

“This,” said Manfred, beaming, “really happened.”

Moments like that help drive home to him that he is professional baseball’s chief executive, said Manfred, who never fathomed he would rise to the top job when he went to work for MLB in 1998.

Another reality check came hours after he was elected commissioner. He needed to write his signature on five index cards and later pick one that would appear on all official baseballs used in MLB games.

The audience, filled with Cornell Sports Business Society members, could relate to many issues Manfred handles as commissioner and asked pointed questions about player retaliation for injurious pitches, youth outreach, MLB efforts in hiring underrepresented minorities as managers and coaches, draft rules and the league’s revenue model.

Seated at the bottom of an Ives Halls amphitheater, Manfred, a Rome, New York, native, answered one question after another and noted that MLB games will remain a part of cable television bundles despite media mergers and regulation changes.

Technology is allowing the MLB to enhance replays with analytics to engage fans more, he said, and on-field changes such as shorter breaks have been made in response to viewers.

Baseball is evolving on many levels, but the heart of MLB business remains the people on the field, Manfred said. “The most important part of the business is the players.”

Mary Catt, MPS ’14, is assistant director of communications at the ILR School.