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Ventura County Pirates Sports Information and Game Day Operations assistant Robert Hollar has been promoted to Assistant General Manager of the organization. Hollar's primary responsibility will be managing the day-to-day operations of the GCCL Buccaneers.
"I'm humbled and thrilled by this opportunity," Hollar said. "I've been working under [General Manager] George Vranau for several years and have always considered him a mentor. I've seen how he puts a high-quality product on the field and that's exactly what I plan to do while managing operations for the GCCL Bucs."
Hollar has been on staff as part of the Ventura County Pirates for three years and has performed scorekeeping, writing, and announcing duties during that time, all leading up to his play-by-play call of the Pirates winning the Sunset Baseball League Championship in 2019. He was the baseball beat writer for the Daily Forty-Niner at California State University, Long Beach for the past two years before graduating last May.
"I try to stay as connected as I can to the game of baseball because I have tremendous respect for the people who play it," Hollar said. "As Assistant GM, I will constantly strive to match our players' dedication to the sport while making their experience with the Pirates as positive as possible."
Pirates Director of Baseball Operations Brian Mellblom brought Robert on board in 2018, as he suddenly had to fill the shoes of his predecessor just weeks before the season began. “I was just planning on announcing the home games again, but then in May our Game Ops Manager had to step aside to tend to a family emergency.
“Robert stepped up at the perfect time; his enthusiasm, work ethic, and team player attitude saved my sanity that summer. He was willing and able to cover whatever game day roles were necessary on a given day, and it has been great to watch his talents grow over these past few years.”
George Vranau described Robert’s promotion as a “no-brainer” as he’s already demonstrated his capability to handle these new responsibilities, and the move is consistent with the goals of the VC Pirates Baseball Club in preparing people to move up to the next level of the game. “We have been very fortunate to not only have 27 players move on to D1 colleges and 12 players drafted or sign free agent contracts,” George added, “but we have also been able to help two coaches equip themselves to rise in the ranks: Kevin Whitehead, who is now the head coach for CalTech after coaching the Pirates in 2018, and Alex Frapart, now an assistant coach for Allan Hancock College.”
The Buccaneers begin Golden Coast Collegiate League play on June 11, on the road for a three game series against the California Bucs. Full schedules and more information can be found at www.vcbucs.com.