LITTLE ROCK — BASEBALL Travs name Allen general manager
The Arkansas Travelers have a new general manager.
The team announced Friday that Paul Allen has been named to the position by the team’s executive committee after spending the past seven weeks as interim general manager. He replaces former general manager Pete Laven, who is no longer with the organization after spending 15 years with the Class AA affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.
Allen, 32, said the vision of the team won’t change during a transition.
“At the end of the day, it’s minor-league baseball. It’s family, affordable fun,” Allen said. “You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. It’s just coming up with new ideas.”
Allen, a Las Vegas native, started working with the Travs as a stadium operations intern in 2005. He spent the 2006 season with the Class AA Birmingham Barons and returned to the Travs in 2007.
“Throughout this process we reviewed many qualified applicants, but Paul stood above the rest,” Travs President Russ Meeks said in a news release. “Now we’ve all gotten to know Paul through these last few years, but during his time as interim general manager he has shown exceptionally strong leadership and organizational skills under challenging circumstances.”
Allen took over as interim general manager after Laven and David Kay, who was assistant general manager for tickets, left the team in November. The team has not given any reasons for their departures, and Allen declined to give one Friday.
- Troy Schulte
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Stuttgart LB commits to OBU
Linebacker Waymon Johnson of Stuttgart, a member of the 2012 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Team, has orally committed to Ouachita Baptist, Stuttgart Coach Billy Elmore said.
Johnson, 6-3, 235 pounds, helped the Ricebirds win the Class 4A state championship last fall with 76 tackles, including 42 unassisted, 6 sacks and 2 interceptions.
- Robert Yates
Sports, Pages 23 on 01/19/2013