Conversations with the Herd: Bisons Baseball's newest Hall of Famer, President Mike Buczkowski

President of Rich Baseball Operations Mike Buczkowski joined Brandon Phillips in the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2024. The two honorees became the 108th and 109th inductees into the team’s Hall of Fame.

Buczkowski sat down with The Herd Chronicles on the eve of his entry into the Hall of Fame to reminisce about some of the team’s great moments during his 38-year career with the Bisons organization.

Buczkowski’s first job with the team was as a Public Relations Assistant.

“I was hired in June of ’87, the last year at the Rockpile (War Memorial Stadium),” Buczkowski said. “The PR person left, and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I think I interviewed on a Thursday and started on a Monday – and I’ve been here ever since.”

Since he only worked briefly at the Rockpile, Buczkowski never developed the fondness for the old ballpark that many fans and employees of the team had.

“I lived in South Buffalo at the time,” he said. “So, I would drive right by this place (Sahlen Field) that was being built, and I would see how beautiful it was. We got near the end and I just didn't have a big attachment to War Memorial. I hadn't been there that long. But other people were like ‘Oh we’re going to miss this place.’” He added with a chuckle, “I’d think – have you seen the place they're building downtown? Like, what are you going to miss? But yeah, it was neat to be there for the last season.”

The next season, the Bisons moved into their brand-new state of the art ballpark, called Pilot Field at the time and now known as Sahlen Field. The ballpark’s opening is something no baseball fan from Western New York who lived through it will ever forget.

The stadium’s inaugural game between the Bisons and the Denver Zephyrs was an all-time classic. Bisons lefty Bob Patterson didn’t allow a hit until the seventh inning and catcher Tom Prince drilled a solo home run to lead the Herd to a 1-0 win in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,500 fans.

“You knew it was going to be an epic event,” Buczkowski said of the stadiums grand opening. “It was going to be an event that was going to be in the top events of all Buffalo sporting events. And it was building and building – and we were trying to get ready for it. We weren't quite moved into the offices. They were still painting a couple days before. So, it was very, very hectic. There was no soft opening. When we opened that gate for the first time, that was the first time everybody had been into the stadium”

“I remember driving to the ballpark that day and the sun was out,” he continued. “It was going to be cold, but it didn't matter. It was a day where it didn't matter. It was sold out. It was a great, great event. It was a fairy tale game, 1-0 on a home run, almost a no-hitter."

"My job was media relations at the time. There were people from Good Morning America here doing the weather and USA Today Baseball Weekly. It was covered by everybody, it was nerve racking. I was 23 years old and it was my first full season and we had all that attention.”

Buczkowski was promoted to public relations manager in 1989 and assistant general manager in 1992. In December 1993, he was promoted to general manager, where he would preside over the Bisons during some of the most memorable moments in team history, including nine division titles and three league championships.

When the Bisons’ won the American Association in 1997, it was their first league championship since they won the Governors’ Cup in 1961. It was also the last league championship in the history of the American Association. The league disbanded following the season due to the realignment of Triple-A baseball. After finishing first in their division with an 87-57 record, the Bisons defeated archrival Indianapolis three games to two in the East Division playoffs, before sweeping Iowa to win the championship. Buffalo won the final game of the championship series on a solo home run by Sean Casey in the top of the 10th inning at Iowa.

“There were so many disappointments before that,” Buczkowski remembered. “You know, 1990, the ‘91 team, the ‘92 team made it to the finals and got swept, in ‘95 we got to the last game of the of the finals and lost. There were just so many disappointments. So, it just never felt comfortable until it was over. Even when it ended, it was like – Did we really win?”

A celebration was held at the ballpark in Buffalo the next day.

“I remember coming out of the dugout and seeing all these people there cheering the players,” Buczkowski said. “It was just a great, great feeling – and long overdue.”

The next season, with the demise of the American Association, the Bisons rejoined the International League and won the North Division with an 81-62 record. They then swept Syracuse in the first round of the playoffs, before taking on the Durham Bulls in the Governors’ Cup Finals. In the fifth and deciding game at Durham, Jason Jacome hurled eight strong innings to lead the the Herd to a 3-1 win and their second consecutive league championship.

“They had Russ Mormon, who is in our Hall of Fame,” Buczkowski remembered. “It looked like he hit a three-run homer to take the lead – and a gust of wind came in Durham and blew it back in. But when it was hit, everyone put their head down. Then I look out and Jacob Cruz is standing there patting his glove and makes the catch.”

“Bob and Mindy could not make it to Durham,” he continued. “It was down to the final game and they called me in the ninth inning. I remember standing at the top of an aisle in Durham by myself and I'm giving them the play by play. ‘And a ground ball to (Jolbert) Cabrera, he throws it to first. We win! We win!’

“Jeff Datz was our manager – and he’s a lifelong friend of mine. One of the greatest guys in the world, let alone baseball. Winning it with Datzy at the helm was really special.”

The Bisons also won the Governors’ Cup in 2004. They came back from a two games to none deficit in their semifinal series against Durham to win, and then beat Richmond in four games in the Governors’ Cup Finals. Due to the fact Hurricane Ivan had caused flooding in Richmond and damaged the ballpark, the entire series was played in Buffalo. It was the first of the three modern-era championships that were won at home.

“I was just telling someone the other day, that it was strange, because we got to that clinching game and usually I was a wreck for all those playoff games,” Buczkowski said. “I didn't sleep. I didn't want to eat. I didn't want to do anything. But for whatever reason, that day I was just relaxed. I was calm. It was like this was going to happen. It's going to happen in front of our fans. And it did. We were in control most of the game.”

“Then to be able to be in front of your own fans was really special,” he continued. “I remember getting the trophy. The picture is up there from (International League President) Randy Mobley of (Bisons manager) Marty Brown and I. Marty said, ‘Let's walk it around the warning track so people can touch it.’ And just the looks on everybody's faces as we walked by. It was just great. I never want to rank which championships felt better, because they're all super, but winning at home just made it a little extra special.”

Buczkowski’s Hall of Fame induction is one of many awards he’s received throughout his career. In December 2001, he accepted the Bob Freitas Award from Baseball America on behalf of the Bisons. The award is given annually to a franchise that demonstrates long-term success and sustained excellence in the business of Minor League Baseball. In 2019, Buczkowski was named the International League Executive of the Year.

Buczkowski was promoted to President of Rich Baseball Operations in 2019, where he oversees the operation of not only the Bisons, but also the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals and the MLB Draft League’s West Virginia Black Bears.

Then, in 2020, one of the most remarkable summers of Buczkowski’s tenure with the Herd occurred. It began when the minor-league season was first postponed, and later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was in Florida when things started to get shut down,” Buczkowski remembered. “I think there was just a feeling at first that maybe we'd miss a month or two months of the season, but that sometime in the summer we'd be able to get started up again. Then as the days and weeks went on, it became apparent that wasn't going to be the case. So, I wasn't surprised when the announcement came that there was going to be no minor league season. But I just remember saying, I just can't believe there's not going to be a baseball season. I quoted Vin Scully at the press conference – ‘In a year of the improbable, the impossible has happened.’

Just a few weeks later, another seemingly impossible event occurred – major league baseball returned to Buffalo. The Toronto Blue Jays made Sahlen Field their temporary home when the closure of the U.S.-Canada border due to the ongoing pandemic made them unable to play in Toronto.

“I think you started to become accustomed to improbable things happening,” Buczkowski said. “I mean, who would have ever believed Covid and the devastation it would cause? I always said to people, if you would have submitted that script for a movie, nobody would have believed it. That could never happen. So, when it happened, it was kind of like, well, here's another impossible thing that major league baseball is going to be played in our ballpark.”

“I had one foot in – oh my gosh, everything we’ve got to do to get ready. We’ve to get our community involved. We’ve got to talk to everyone to make sure we do this safely, and what are all the rules, and the Blue Jays coming, and how do we transform the ballpark so it can be played during Covid? So, it was very quickly that the announcement was made and it was very strange after going through all those years of trying to get a team, that it was actually going to happen.”

Unfortunately, because of health and safety protocols, fans were unable to attend any of the big league games in Buffalo in 2020.

“Then you came to the ballpark and there's hardly anybody here,” Buczkowski said. “It was just staff, media, and players. I remember standing up on the club level a couple times and thinking, this is major league baseball that is being played here, and unfortunately the only people that can see it are the people that work here. So, it was bittersweet to have it, but not be able to have our fans share in it.”

The U.S.-Canada border remained closed to begin the 2021 season, so the Blue Jays returned to Buffalo for a portion of their home schedule. This time, with pandemic restrictions eased, fans were able to return to the stands.

“I think what kept me going, was that our fans were going to be able to see what I saw the year before – major league baseball being played in Buffalo for the first time in over 100 years,” Buczkowski smiled. “That's what kind of kept me going, because it was a ton of work for our staff for the Blue Jays to come here. We had to move the Bisons to New Jersey to play. It was just the most hectic time I have ever been a part of. I mean, way crazier than the grand opening of the ballpark, because there was no roadmap. Nobody had ever done what we were attempting to do. But knowing that, in the end, if we can do this and pull it off, that there's going to be people from here that are going to be watching major league baseball played in Buffalo.”

“We knew it was going to be a historic time. But there were battles all the way up through, whether it was getting the ballpark ready, whether it was how many fans were going to be allowed in at first, and then we increased it. And how do you get people to buy the tickets? What do you do with our season ticket holders? Then knowing that at some point, they were probably going to go back to Toronto, and how do we get the Bisons back to finish the season? So our staff, did yeoman's work. I mean it was just incredible what everybody did to pull that off.”

“People are going to look back maybe, I don't know, 50 years from now and they're going to tell their great grandchildren that major league baseball was played here. And they're going to say, ‘What? No, it wasn't.’ They're going to look it up, and they're going to see – yeah, indeed, 49 major league games were played here in those two years.”

In July, the Canadian government granted the Blue Jays a National Interest Exemption allowing them to return to Rogers Centre to finish the season. A few weeks later, the Bisons were able to return from Trenton, New Jersey, to finish their season in the Queen City.

“To me, it was like a great sign that things were normalizing,” Buczkowski said. “Covid was subsiding. We're able to open, we're able to have as many fans here as we want, and we have our hometown Bisons back. Don't get me wrong, the major league games here were great. But our mission is to deliver Bisons baseball to our fans. I'm glad we were able to do what we did with major league baseball, but it was really great to have our own team back.”

Baseball, and specifically Bisons baseball, runs in Buczkowski’s family. His grandfather, Huck Geary, played for the Bisons from 1935 to 1937. Geary also made it to the major leagues, playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1942 and 1943.

“By the time I really understood that my grandfather was a major league player, he was older,” Buczkowski said. “He was always just my grandpa. I never thought of it (him being a major leaguer) until I started to get older, and my friends would say, ‘Your grandfather played in the major leagues?’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, he really did.”

“I've researched and learned about some of the stuff he did in the big leagues. He didn't play very long there, but he hit a grand slam and had a walk-off steal of home. Some cool things in a short career. I appreciate it more now than when I was younger, because then he was my grandpa. Now, he's still my grandpa, but he's also a major league baseball player.”

“The other day, I was in the backyard with my grandson, Nolan, pitching a ball to him. He's five years old. One of my earliest memories is my grandfather pitching a wiffle ball to me in the backyard and hitting it and then I’d have to run and go get it for him and give it to him. And I just thought about it the other day as I was throwing the ball to Nolan, thinking, wow, this has really come full circle.”

Buzkowski’s 25 years as general manager is the longest tenure of any GM in team history, which dates all the way back to 1877.

“It's never anything I set out to do,” he said. “I can't remember what year it was that I surpassed whoever it was, but I never even thought about it. I think (current assistant general manager) Brad (Bisbing) probably came up with that and said, ‘Did you know?’ And I'm like, ‘No, I didn't know.’”

“It’s nothing that I ever thought too much about (being the team’s longest serving general manager). But in the last couple of weeks especially, I started to think, and it's hit me again. After the (Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame) committee voted to put me in, I was like – wow! Now I think it's hitting me again. You know, this is really something special and I’m just grateful and lucky. I'm fortunate. I do this job in my hometown. I was born and raised here, and I'm doing this job here. I’m working for two of the best people that I've ever met. Bob and Mindy Rich are two of the best people, let alone two of the best owners. I can't even tell you in words what they've meant to me and what they've meant to our organization. So. I've been in the right place at the right time, fortunate and lucky along the way.”

As someone who appreciates the long, storied history of Bisons baseball, Buczkowski understands the honor of what it means to be inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame.

“One of my first jobs when I started here, I was the team liaison to the Hall of Fame committee,” he remembered. “So I used to go to their meetings, take notes, and help them. I got to sit with Joe Overfield, Ralph Hubble, Vince McNamara, and Cy Williams, and all these legendary sports people. I got to hear them talking about the history of Buffalo baseball, a lot of stuff that I never knew. I never knew that all these great players and these Hall of Famers played here.”

“It's overwhelming,” he said of joining Buffalo’s baseball legends in the Hall of Fame. “It's not anything I ever thought of. I've always thought about the legends that I was around. Those guys I mentioned earlier, you know, Pete Weber and these guys that are just bigger than life. It’s just nothing that I ever really set out to do. It's nothing I thought too much about. It's very gratifying. I’m humbled by it. I'm very appreciative. But it's also… I'm the one that's going to get the plaque, but there have been hundreds of people that have helped me get here, whether it's former managers and coaches and front office people. I mentioned the Riches, my family, my friends. I've just been really fortunate and I've had so much support. Obviously, without that support, I wouldn't be the one being awarded. I really honestly share this with so many people.”