Pioneer League Concludes Annual Meetings

Dodgers EVP, Janet Marie Smith, Delivers Keynote Address; Kim Klages Johns named PBL Executive of the Year

The Pioneer Baseball League concluded its annual meetings, sponsored by AMI Graphics, in Las Vegas, announcing that Kim Klages Johns, the Missoula PaddleHeads Senior Director of Sales and Retail, was the recipient of the league’s 2021 Executive of the Year Award, the first woman to be so honored.

“The Pioneer League is so fortunate to have someone of Kim’s experience and expertise to not only help drive the PaddleHead’s tremendous brand success but also to assist the league in developing its new properties division,” said PBL President Mike Shapiro. “We’re really proud to have Kim break barriers in the PBL and in the sports industry as a whole.”

The league’s annual Keynote Address was delivered by renowned ballpark architect and Los Angeles Dodgers Executive Vice President for Planning and Development, Janet Marie Smith, who spoke on the rising trend toward experiential features of modern ballpark design and operations. Smith was the driving force behind the design of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the renovation of Fenway Park, and the most recent renovation project for Dodger Stadium.

“Janet Marie is one of the most visionary and brilliant ballpark design experts in the world,” said Shapiro. “What she’s accomplished has been extraordinary. She’s changed the way people and the game of baseball are brought together; how we approach and appreciate the meaning and history of the game.”

Other speakers at the meetings included noted sports executive and marketing icon Andy Dolich, ballpark operations expert David Rafinski, and famed Ballpark Digest owner and publisher Kevin Reichard.