(April 3, 2013) Aaron Cox is taking the next step up the minor league baseball broadcasting ladder. An STAA client, Cox is the new Director of Broadcasting/Media Relations for the Hickory Crawdads.
The Crawdads are the full-season Class-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Cox joins the organization after two seasons with the short-season Idaho Falls Chukars. (The Chukars are not accepting applications for Cox’s replacement and have already chosen their finalists).
“The job was obviously a step up in Minor League baseball for me and a chance for me to expand my network in the game,” says Cox. “I gained a lot of valuable experience the last two years in Idaho Falls, and this was an opportunity for me to move up to a full-season league and continue to hone my skills.”
The Hickory position opened when the AA Springfield Cardinals hired Andrew Buchbinder. With the start of the season just three weeks away, the Crawdads didn’t have time to conduct a national public search for Buchbinder’s replacement, so they asked STAA for a list of qualified clients.
“I actually heard about this job through STAA as a secret posting,” says Cox. “I had a good idea that it was a domino opening from the hiring in Springfield, but didn’t really know where the job was. It’s always a weird feeling applying for a position and not even knowing where it is, but you can’t really hesitate in this industry. I was a finalist for the Springfield position so I was hoping that would put me in a good position going forward and I think it did.”
Cox admits it was nerve-racking to accept a new position less than three weeks prior to Opening Day. “I had a great job with the Chukars working for a front office I loved and in a great community, so that made the decision even harder,” he says. “Ultimately, it came down to my wife’s reaction. She was completely on board from the minute I told her about it and convinced me that it was the right decision. We both had prayed a lot that God would lead us to where we should be and I feel like Hickory will be a great stop for us.”
This is the third job Cox has accepted since joining STAA in 2010. “Simply put, I would not be where I am today without STAA’s help. No other organization has the job postings that STAA has, and that doesn’t even include all of the personal critique, input and advice that [STAA CEO Jon Chelesnik] has given me over the years. It’s so nice to have someone in the industry that I can call and simply bounce ideas off of or ask for a sincere opinion on a position.”
(Visit Aaron’s STAA Talent Page).