Being heralded by 800,000 adoring Kansas City Royals fans as he walked Tuesday’s parade route, Jin Wong ’97 found himself in a far different place from Mary Washington’s dusty playing fields. But it was as a baseball player and business administration major at UMW that Wong received the guidance and developed the discipline that has taken him to the pinnacle of baseball.
He is assistant general manager/baseball administration for the World Series championship team. Kansas City won its first World Series title in 30 years on Nov. 1, beating the New York Mets 7-2 in 12 innings in New York to take the fall classic in five games.
“It was overwhelming,” Wong said. As for the parade, which he participated in with his wife, Libby, and sons Kai and Tate, “It was an amazing sight to see. Fans came out in droves.
“A championship brings every walk of life together. Everyone was wearing Royals blue,” Wong said. “I could not be more proud to be a part of it.”
A former All-American as a center fielder at the University of Mary Washington, Wong – who grew up in Northern Virginia –had gone to Atlanta as a college senior for a job interview with Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, who has worked for the Atlanta Braves since he retired as a player.
Wong became a baseball operations trainee with Atlanta. Then, he landed a position with the minor league Richmond Braves, as a group sales manager. At one of the games, he crossed paths with Dayton Moore, now general manager of the Kansas City Royals.
Moore, who worked in the front office of the Atlanta Braves, was in Richmond to see the minor league affiliate. He let Wong know that a job was open with the Kansas City Royals as scouting operations coordinator.
He got the job, and has steadily moved up during the past 15 years in the Royals’ organization. In his current position, he not only assists Moore, Wong aids in contract negotiations, salary arbitration matters and roster management.
Scott Sharp, Royals’ assistant general manager/baseball operations, has worked several years with Wong. “Jin is a tremendously driven and detailed individual who has talents that extend to all areas of a major league front office.”
Wong attributes much of his success to former College of Business professor and dean Larry Penwell. His academic advisor, Penwell assisted Wong with the Braves application.
At UMW, Wong played for long-time coach Tom Sheridan, whom he described as “very strict.” Wong says he appreciates now that rigor instilled in him by Sheridan.
And he’s thankful the persistence of his Royals finally paid off.
Freelance writer David Driver played Division III baseball at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg and covers the Washington Nationals for The Sports Xchange and www.pressboxdc.com.
Laurie NEWMAN DiPadova-Stocks (class of '67) says
This is so exciting to see! I live in the Kansas City area and was at the parade! My office is a couple of blocks from where it started–and little did I know that a graduate of Mary Washington was actually IN the parade! What a season! Congratulations to Jin and to all the other Royals!