Larabee Thrives Promoting Ballpark Hospitality

2011 FARMINGTON GRAD WORKS IN PRO BASEBALL

Submitted photo Michaela Larabee, a 2011 Farmington graduate, earned a Master’s Degree in Sports Industry Management from Georgetown University in 2016. She is pictured working as an intern with the Washington Nationals Ballpark Operations team on opening day, April 4, 2016. (From left): Andrew Lieberman, Larabee, Lisa Marie Czop, Kevin Kelley, and Alexa McCarthy. Larabaee was hired in July as Assistant Manager of Events by the Nationals. She played shortstop for the Lady Cardinal 2011 state championship softball team.
Submitted photo Michaela Larabee, a 2011 Farmington graduate, earned a Master’s Degree in Sports Industry Management from Georgetown University in 2016. She is pictured working as an intern with the Washington Nationals Ballpark Operations team on opening day, April 4, 2016. (From left): Andrew Lieberman, Larabee, Lisa Marie Czop, Kevin Kelley, and Alexa McCarthy. Larabaee was hired in July as Assistant Manager of Events by the Nationals. She played shortstop for the Lady Cardinal 2011 state championship softball team.

FARMINGTON -- The path towards major league baseball operations wasn't exactly clearly defined for Washington Nationals assistant events manager Michaela Larabee, a member of Farmington's 2011 state softball championship team.

Larabee, daughter of former Arkansas Softball coach Mike Larabee, grew up around baseball. Considering baseball as a career didn't dawn on her while she maintained a 3.86 grade-point average on her way to a B.A. in Sociology at Hendrix College. Larabee also earned a minor in Psychology in 2015.

She stayed busy at Hendrix, playing softball all four years and receiving All-Southern Athletic Association honorable mention. During her junior and senior seasons, Larabee was named NFCA All-American Scholar-Athlete and listed on the SAA Academic honor roll. Then her affiliation with the sport shaped a new vision.

"As I progressed through college, the day became numbered where I was playing," Larabee said. "I realized how passionate I am about the game. I didn't necessarily see it as a career path until I started researching the opportunities out there."

Discovery of unprecedented opportunities for women to work in baseball franchises led her to the nation's capital as an intern in August 2015 with Most Valuable Kids, an organization that, through donations, collected more than $6 million worth of event tickets to be distributed to underprivileged youth since its inception in 2003. Larabee's job included many facets, all of which brought joy to a young lady thrilled to hang around sports, particularly baseball.

On any given day she might release and distribute tickets purposed to bring kids, who could not otherwise afford to attend a big-league game, into the ballpark. Larabee documented donations, mailed out tax receipts and developed relationships with recipient organizations. She had fun updating social media accounts and assisting with fundraising events.

The next step on her journey was to enroll at Georgetown University. Larabee earned a Master's degree from Georgetown in Sports Industry Management with a concentration in strategic marketing, communications and digital media in 2016.

She got a foot on base as an Events Intern with the Nationals in 2016, then after a stint as Logistics Coordinator for Live Nation in Silver Spring, Md., returned as part of the Nationals' full-time staff in July.

Nationals employees are expected to perform at a very high level as they interact with guests and endeavor to create a hospitable, welcoming atmosphere.

"We're in an industry where there is a lot of competition at the highest caliber," Larabee said. "There are a lot of security issues. There is a lot of credentialing, a lot of security aspects -- how people are entering the park. There's a lot on your plate at an entry-level position. The supervisors have a lot of experience."

There is nowhere she would rather be than smack dab in the middle of baseball. As the former starting shortstop for the Lady Cardinals' 2011 state championship team, Larabee is accustomed to performing under pressure.

"You're under more of a microscope and any small failure is blown up and escalated," Larabee said. "Compared to other levels there's not as many eyes on you. It's that way for anyone who works at the park. People pay to be there. We cater to them. Anything you do to slip-up is very visible. It's very important to do your job."

The former shortstop stationed in the center of the field of play is thrilled.

"I get to work at a professional baseball stadium, that is such a cool thing I think," Larabee said.

She's learned more from the Nationals in a nine-month internship and first week of full-time work than she did in the classroom.

"At any job you want to progress, at any job you want to move up. At this point, I'm just soaking up all I can experience-wise. I'm learning, which is one of my favorite aspects of the job. At the ground floor, I know pretty much everything that is going on throughout the stadium. How are we dealing with this security issue? How are we dealing with parking? Being there to help it to move on has been an incredible experience so far."

Larabee was hired two weeks after the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity June 15, 2017, at Nationals Park raised a record more than $1.5 million with 24,959 in ticket sales. The event raised security levels after the Republican practice June 14 was interrupted by an assassination attempt that wounded Congressman Steve Scalise, Tyson Foods lobbyist Matt Mika, Congressional staffer Zachary Barth, and Capitol Police Officers, David Bailey and Crystal Griner. The gunman was killed by police and the game went on the next day.

"It says a lot about the game of baseball," Larabee said, explaining, "Sports allow a lot of different people to overcome differences. Something like sports or music, baseball allows you to transcend those difficult issues to become back to what life is all about. We're all human and we all want to have fun."

Sports on 08/09/2017