Rick Baugh took over as general manager at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino on April 1. So how does he find his new position? And what are some of his plans for the future?
Following are his answers to those questions and others I put to him following the end of the 2012-2013 live horse racing at the upper valley track. It was interesting to note that he likes to refer to the Sunland operation as SPRC, short for Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino.
“I would not call this a new position but more like a new location,” he said in answer to the first question.
True. He had been general manager at Ruidoso Downs and Zia Park before coming to Sunland.
But then he added, “But to answer your question (about how he found the new position) it’s wonderful.”
Was it what he expected? “Not really,” he said. “And the reason I say that is because I cannot say enough good things about the team of employees at SPRC.”
WHAT ARE his plans for the future of Sunland?
He answered that he plans new hours of operation for the casino, new promotions for the property, direct mail to club members based on individual play, working on customer service incentives and getting the message out in a more effective manner.
What are the differences between Sunland and other jobs he’s held?
He said, “One of the main factors is the population base we have to work with. We have an excellent opportunity of reach to attract more customers to SPRC.”
AND HOW have he and his wife, Kim, found El Paso? Does he plan to settle here?
“I have been coming to El Paso since 1983 and have always found the people of El Paso and the surrounding area to be very pleasant, friendly and welcoming,” he answered. “We purchased a home and moved in before I started, so I guess one could say we are official residents.”
If he’s found his new position attractive, Sunland employees have found him the same. As one employee in an official position put it, “The door to his office is always open and he’s easy to talk to. He listens. And he knows the business.”
TRIVIA QUESTION: What position did Jackie Robinson play his first year with the Brooklyn Dodgers and whom did he replace at second base the following year? Answer to end.
YOU PROBABLY know the answer to the trivia question posed above if you saw the movie “42.” It’s the story of how Robinson, with the help of some good folks, broke the color line in the Major Leagues.
I’ve been to very few movies where audiences actually applaud when the film is over. It happened at Cinemark West where my wife and I saw “42.” My wife, Helen, is a weeper at movies and cries both when it ends on a sad note or a happy note. Tears of joy flowed after “42.”
My favorite review of the movie came from the critic who wrote, “… for all the hate and hostility,‘42’ is a film about decent-hearted people.”
ROBINSON PLAYED a crucial part in my life. I became a sportswriter because of him.
I wrote an essay about Jackie breaking the color line in a journalism class at UTEP (then Texas Western College) in 1949. It coincided with a decision by the El Paso Herald-Post to give sports editor Bob Ingram an assistant. The powers that be at the Herald-Post called UTEP wondering if it could recommend someone.
My journalism professor, Pete Snelson, who later became a state congressman, had liked the essay I had written about Robinson so much he recommended me.
I’ve been writing about sports ever since.
Thanks, Mr. Snelson. And thanks, Jackie.
ANSWER TO trivia question. Robinson started at first base his first year and took over second base the next year after Eddie Stanky was traded