MANCHESTER, NH – Things are always busy for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats’ general manager Taylor Fisher.
Tonight, the Toronto Blue Jays’ former American League All-Star pitcher Alek Manoah is rehabbing with the AA club, and lately there has been much ado in the city about the replacement of the outfield at Delta Dental Stadium.
Additionally, a NESN crew is filming a feature on Casey, the Fisher Cats’ bat dog, and Fisher also needs to clear some time to sit down for an interview with a local journalist.
Things are definitely busy, but Fisher would have it no other way. “Everyday is so different. There is no monotony in this position,” he said.
The general manager for a minor league baseball team essentially oversees everything that is non-baseball related. From ticket sales, to promotions, to the maintenance of the facilities, to maintaining a good relationship with the city of Manchester, Fisher is constantly spinning plates.
“In simplest terms, my job is to provide the best facilities for player development and to maintain a great relationship with The Blue Jays, while making sure that we have the best promotions, cool giveaways and the best fan experience,” said the 35-year-old Fisher.
And the job is something that Fisher has eyed since middle school, born and raised in Merrimac, Mass., when he decided that one day he wanted to run the business side of the Boston Red Sox.
A diehard Boston sports’ fan, Fisher began his journey at Bentley University in Waltham where he received his bachelor’s degree in corporate finance and accounting, knowing he wanted to one day get into sports management.
On a professor’s recommendation, Fisher applied and was accepted into a master’s program in sports leadership at Northeastern University, which led to him becoming a gameday intern in 2013 for North Shore Navigators, who competed out of Lynn, Mass. in a summer collegiate league.
After the opening day for Navigators in June, Fisher had found his calling. “I knew at the end of Opening Day that I wanted to work in baseball for the rest of my life,” he said.
And his work caught the attention of the Navigators’ GM and mentor Bill Terlecky, who recommended Fisher for the position of general manager for the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide in the same collegiate summer league in 2014.
Fisher’s first experience with minor league baseball, however, was working as the sponsorship account manager for a Baltimore Orioles single-A team, the Frederick Keys, for two years before accepting a position in business development with the Nashville Sounds, the Milwaukee Brewers’ AAA affiliate.
“When you’re in the lower leagues in the minors, early in your career, you usually hop around, staying in one place for a few years, then you look for the next opportunity,” said Fisher.
Fisher stayed with the Sounds until 2024, working his way up the ranks to vice-president of ticket sales and service.
Fisher and his wife Rebecca—a Connecticut-native—had put down roots in Tennessee, purchasing a home and starting a family, when a random phone call would provide another opportunity that would change everything for the young couple.
Diamond Baseball Holdings, who owns the Fisher Cats and 44 other minor league teams, reached out randomly to Fisher with a phone call, and in the conversation, Fisher told them that he and Rebecca were originally from New England and he had aspirations to someday become a general manager.
They informed him that there was a position open for the general manager with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, a team who Fisher watched play at Delta Dental Stadium almost two decades before that phone call.
“Both Rebecca and I wanted to one day move home so our own kids could be closer to our families,” said Fisher, whose daughter, Kennedy, is 2 years old, and son, Theo, is nine months old. “I believe in signs, and when it comes out of the blue—a position that I’ve always wanted, back home—it was a sign. I believe that everything happens for a reason.”
On Halloween in 2024, Fisher was offered the job to be the next general manager for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. His young family was moving home.
“It has been amazing to be home and to have friends and family coming to games,” Fisher said. “People I haven’t spoken to in 20 years are messaging me and bringing their families to games. Opening Day this year was a homecoming and a full-circle moment being at the same stadium that I came to as a fan.”
But uprooting his young family and working at a job that requires an immense amount of time in the front offices, especially during homestands, has not come without its share of trials.
“It has been tough with the move,” said Fisher, whose family recently purchased a house in Chester, N.H. “There is a lot of work to do at the stadium and with the team, and I spend an inordinate amount of hours here. But my wife, Becca, has been a rock star. I couldn’t possibly do this without her.”
And there has been a learning curve for Fisher in his new position. “I have an immense amount to learn. I’ve been exposed to situations where I have to navigate them and try to figure out the best solution. I’m basically learning how to run a business,” he said, adding that he often seeks advice from his boss Geoff Iacuessa, who is the vice-president of Northeast operations for Diamond Baseball Holdings, as well as president of the Portland Sea Dogs, and has more than 25 years of experience.
While still learning from some mistakes, Fisher said that the crew in the Fisher Cats’ front office is “very close,” spending more time together in season than they do with their families, although Fisher said there is a required day off for all employees after each homestand.
And while his middle school goal of running Boston Red Sox is still alive, Taylor Fisher has no plans of leaving soon. “I plan to be with the Fisher Cats for an extremely long time,” he said. “I’m home. We’re settled, and I love coming to work everyday.”