Meet the Fan-ily: Laura Geist
“My favorite part of my job is staying authentic to the Oakland community”
By Terence Tee
Ballers General Manager Laura Geist wears every B’s hat–literally, every style, and whatever joyous opposite impossibility of literally is…magically? She manages each game day to the tune of 20,000 steps. Next year, the B’s *third*year, will be the first time she *ever* misses a game…for her daughter’s graduation and college move-in. She’s an extrovert who draws inspiration from others, but that’s just a ripple above the depths of her energy and involvement. She runs the Ballunteer volunteer program that connects all corners of the Town through partnering with some of its best nonprofit and community groups. She knows countless members of the fan-ily by their names and stories and is counted by the players as the head of their surrogate family. She looks out for guys who may be away from home, on their first professional team, figuring out their season as players and people. She’s found a lost wallet before a crucial road trip, escorted Maybelle Blair around the park (“she’s the GOAT”), dressed up as assistant coach James Harris (see above), and she writes out the lineups on the big board for each home game.
More than that: she built a substantial part of Raimondi Park by hand. She helped connect fans to the front office for a championship flyover. She plans short-term strategy and long-term sustainability with our founders weekly. At a Ballunteer event in February, she told me she only had one more weekend to herself until October.
She’s come a long way from little companies like Google, Meta, and Microsoft. Put it another way: she’s the person who gets, frankly, an unseemly amount of heartfelt “love you’s” in a team birthday video while finding the time to be a culture maker and mentor for women in sports and events.
Put simply: she’s a treasure, and the Ballers don’t work without her.
B’s media team member Terence Tee sat down with Geist to get her thoughts on some of the team’s biggest stories of the year.
The Championship
When the Ballers clinched the championship, Laura describes it as nothing short of surreal.
“It was such a roller-coaster. Watching us lose the first two in Idaho Falls and being in that environment — it was emotional. Casey and I had to go sit in the far bleachers and give ourselves a timeout. We kept saying, ‘If we win game three, we win game five.’”
More than anything, she feels pride.
“I was so happy and proud for this special group of players — especially the OGs — TLo, Sully, Shorty, Chewy, ZSP and Reed. Honorable mention to Lambo.” (That’s Tyler Lozano, Connor Sullivan, Luke Short, Conner Richardson, Zach St. Pierre, Reed Butz, and Carson Lambert for those scoring at home.)
But for Laura, the organization’s compass, her north star, goes beyond wins and trophies. “It's the community that supports us.”
“There are so many things to do in the Bay Area, and Ballers fans choose to spend their time and resources with us at Raimondi. That means everything.”
Life After the Parade
After being crowned the best team in the Pioneer League, celebrating with fans at breweries, and soaking in the hometown parade, how does she unwind?
“Besides being a momager on the team, I’m a mom in real life to Charlotte and Olivia.”
Family is her grounding force.
“Having quality time with my daughters and family is a huge part of how I decompress. Friends who aren’t baseball-related also help.”
Her joy is simple: “I love watching Olivia play soccer and Charlotte cheer. Watching them be happy makes me happy.”
Geist, center, with fans Allyson and Dawn
The McCurdy Cup
When the Ballers were named best front office in the Pioneer League and won the McCurdy Cup, her reaction was pure surprise.
“Unexpected — because we’re so new and none of us had experience in baseball,” she laughs. “We come from more traditional business backgrounds.” For Laura, this background was program management at Microsoft, Meta, and Google.
But the B’s formula works.
“We do a lot with the little we have. Small but mighty! Everyone in our office is a Swiss army knife. We all do 100 different things. There’s no task too small and no task too big. Because of that, we respect each other’s work ethic.”
Geist and Tre Cobb at a children’s reading event at the Oakland Public Library
Welcoming New Leadership
With the hiring of a new team president, Yeshayah Goldfarb, and the addition of Gervis Cash, VP of Marketing, Laura feels a noticeable shift. “A lot of weight has been lifted because we have more resources.”
She says of Goldfarb, “When I heard he was coming on as president, I was so excited to learn from him. He’s thoughtful, smart, and really wants to take our club to the next level.”
She’s equally enthusiastic about Cash. “He’s outstanding — smart, intelligent, incredible with marketing. These were the right moves for our organization.”
The biggest benefit?
“More voices. More perspective. The more you have, the better decisions you make.”
Built By Oakland
If there’s one part of the job that lights her up most, it’s community engagement.
“My favorite part of my job is staying authentic to the Oakland community. We asked for help in starting this new team from nothing and Oakland showed up for us.”
And the Built by Oakland you see on posters and t-shirts isn’t just a slogan.
“Our clubhouse was literally built by the community which inspired the Ballunteer program which sends fans out to volunteer for our community partners.”
The Ballunteer program reflects that commitment in its service pillars: Education. Youth sports. Neighborhood beautification. Feeding our communities. She emphasizes partnership:
“I want there to be a give/get return. I want us to be a partner who goes out into Oakland and truly becomes part of the community.”
And back in the ballpark, representation matters deeply.
“I want kids who walk into Raimondi to see themselves in our players, our coaches, and our staff and entertainment team.”
For Laura, sports are simply the connector.
“Sports are the shell that brings us commonality.”
Author Terence Tee and Geist
Full Disclosure
Laura hired me as a photographer for the B’s. When I first met her at a Teamwork Online networking event, everyone in attendance was in business attire, and here I was, the only person in jeans and a jersey. (An Oakland A’s jersey at that.) I’ve always admired Laura’s intuition. I think she saw how passionate I was talking about photography and she just went with her gut feeling that I would fit in with the Ballers media team.
“I was so happy when you were hired, Terence,” she says when I ask. “I remember your energy — it was contagious. I said to myself, ‘There’s something special about him.’”
I’ve enjoyed my time with the Ballers, and it’s because of people like Laura. We’re all building something not knowing at the start if we could. Bad luck and good luck have brought us together. It’s all connected, and it’s so lucky for me that the stars aligned and I got the opportunity to showcase my skillset at every Ballers game I’ve worked. I’m grateful.
“We love having you,” Laura says to me, but I think it’s really to all of us. “Oakland loves having you.”
Terence Tee is a former athlete turned sports photographer. Profession: Button pusher & dial spinner. Academic Achievements: One time in 3rd grade he got perfect attendance & they gave him a gold star sticker with a ribbon that said "Rockstar." Accolades: 3× Champion of The SmokeEaters “Hellfire” Wings Challenge. Find him @MaximumEffortPhotos
