Blues Revival: Marketing Alumnus Adam Stowe Brought Stability Back to San Luis Obispo Baseball

When Adam Stowe became general manager of the San Luis Obispo Blues baseball team in 2012, he joined an organization that had endured several years of debt, instability and turmoil – capped off by a former owner’s 32-month prison sentence.

But since taking over, Stowe (Marketing, ’97) has  turned the club around. And now profits accompany larger crowds eager to enjoy the familiar sights and sounds of a beloved summer sport.

“The owners changed so much and tried so many different strategies, people didn’t know who the Blues were and what to expect,” Stowe said. “And over the last ten years, I think we’ve done a reasonably good job being consistent and establishing an identity.”

The Blues were founded in 1946. Now a collegiate team, players join the club in the summer, after the college baseball season ends. Several past Blues  have gone on to major league careers, including Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs, Adam Frazier of the Mariners and C.J. Cron of the Rockies.

The San Luis Obispo Blues — named after its blue socks — was formed in 1946. Today it’s a collegiate baseball team, featuring players from college teams around the country. (Courtesy San Luis Obispo Blues)

Brooks Lee, whose Cal Poly career ended this summer when he was the 8th overall pick in the MLB draft, was perhaps the Blues most highly touted player.

“Brooks Lee came to us right out of high school, and to this day, I think he is the best shortstop that ever played for us,” Stowe said. “He was consistent, competitive, athletic and humble. You can’t ask for much more in a ballplayer.”

As a youngster in Los Osos, Stowe was competitive as well – but not as good with a bat as Brooks Lee.

“I would have been happy playing any professional sport,” he said. “But as time went on, I found that I enjoyed putting on events, entertaining people, and sports tends to lend itself pretty well to that.”

After graduating from Morro Bay High School, Stowe attended the University of Michigan as a sports management student before transferring to Cal Poly.

“I’m a California kid at heart,” he said. “Eight months of snow was a little bit much for me.”

As he began a career in marketing, he married his wife, Lauren, and they eventually moved to New Orleans so Lauren could pursue a Ph.D at Tulane University. Not long after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, Stowe became director of marketing and fundraising for the University of New Orleans Athletic Department.

Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee (pictured here after hitting a homerun) is one of the most highly touted players to play for the Blues. Lee was recently selected as the 8th overall draft choice in the MLB, and will join the Minnesota Twins minor league system.

When the couple returned to San Luis Obispo in 2009, Lauren pursued her speech therapy career, and Stowe offered to help the Blues, which had undergone a period of controversy that included financial setbacks and frequent ownership changes. In 2009, a former owner was convicted of writing bad checks, including rent for the team to play at Sinsheimer Stadium.

Stowe started with the Blues part-time, then became general manager in 2012. In 2015, the Stowe family, including Adam’s parents, purchased the team.

“What it boils down to is that we paid a lot of money to inherit a lot of debt,” he told SLO Life magazine in 2015.

As attendance began to climb, the team eventually began making a profit – something the Blues hadn’t done for a long time.

“I think being able to understand what people want and need and being able to adjust on the fly has proven invaluable,” said Stowe, who attributed those qualities to his Cal Poly education. “Additionally, efficient time management was the best skill acquired during my time in Cal Poly’s Business Department.”

The San Luis Obispo Blues team plays its home games at Sinsheimer Stadium. The season begins in late May and ends in early August. (Courtesy San Luis Obispo Blues)

Running the Blues entails numerous tasks, including on-field promotions, merchandising, sponsorships, ticket sales, staffing and community outreach. Meanwhile, the team is closely connected to Cal Poly, employing students as interns and often featuring Mustang players on the roster.

Ryan Baum, a Cal Poly baseball recruit and Orfalea College of Business transfer student, is mostly focused on his role as a pitcher with the Blues, but he knows there’s more to a baseball game than what happens on the diamond.

“Every night I come to Sinsheimer, and we have the crowd and concessions and on field activities, being a business major, I really do think that this had to be put on and orchestrated by someone,” he said.

While he could learn a lot from Stowe’s business instincts, he is leaning more toward combining his business education and baseball knowledge in a slightly different way.

At home, he has binders full of baseball statistics and analytics.

Blues pitcher Ryan Baum, center, warms up before a game. Baum recently transferred to the Orfalea College of Business and will pitch with the Cal Poly Mustangs next season.

“I haven’t decided my concentration yet, but I’ve been looking at the quantitative analysis or statistical analysis kind of stuff that is kind of relatable to baseball,” he said. “I love the numbers for pitching, like spin rates and velocity, and how that can improve a pitcher’s game.”

He hopes to play baseball as along as possible, but if he doesn’t have a career as a player, he hopes to use his degree to help develop players with those analytics.

“I love the game and the constant development, trying to get better,” he said.

Stowe has several plans to make the Blues better, taking the team to the next level and competing annually for titles.

But while winning is important, his main goal is to entertain.

“The idea with the Blues is you don’t necessarily have to be a baseball fan to enjoy coming,” he said. “It’s supposed to be a big moving backyard barbecue that happens to have baseball going on.”