J.D. Schneider leaving El Dorado Broncos after 29 years
Look around the sun-faded red seats in the upper bowl at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, right where the shade hits the stands, and you’ll probably find J.D. Schneider and his bushy white beard.
Schneider, the El Dorado Broncos general manager and co-owner and a member of the NBC Hall of Fame, has been here a few times. So have his Broncos, with over 20 top 10 finishes in the tournament. But this year will be his last with the titles of general manager and co-owner of the team.
After 29 years, Schneider announced he would step down from his dual roles at a barbecue on July 4.
“Next summer, I’ll be 72 years old,” Schneider said. “I’ve been doing this for 29 years, and the travel is getting a lot more difficult for me. It’s just traveling and aging.”
Schneider has moved the team from Hutchinson to Wichita to El Dorado, where it’s stayed since 1995. He was inducted the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003, and led the team to five NBC World Series championships, most recently in 2009.
That year — 2009 — was the first year he started to give up some of his general manager duties. Doug Bell recruited that 2009 team, and Bell will take over the reins of the team next season.
“Over the last four of five years a lot of the people that I’ve dealt with are not longer around,” Schneider said. “Doug has learned the ropes … I wanted to make for sure that the ball club would continue as it is if something was to happen to me.”
After contemplating stepping down over the last few years, Schneider finally feels comfortable doing that in 2015. Bell will take over practically all operations of the team, but it doesn’t mean that Schneider will disappear.
“I’m still going to be part of the ball club, but just not to the stand point that I’m going to worry about recruiting, and day-to-day,” said Schneider, who will still make suggestions to Bell and coaches. “I’ve been around a few years … I think they’ll listen to me.”
This story was originally published August 1, 2015 at 8:33 AM with the headline "J.D. Schneider leaving El Dorado Broncos after 29 years."