Meet The Owner – Everett Aquasox

April 8, 2023

Everett, Everett Sports

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Everett Aquasox

“I always thought this was the coolest logo in sports.” Tom Volpe has owned the Everett Aquasox since 2008.

All fans received a stadium blanket for opening night.

Plenty of time for a pre-game catch.

Harry Ford

Mariners top prospect Harry Ford had 3 hits Friday night.

Tom Volpe earned degrees from Harvard College and the London School of Economics. He’s run investment firms and built up and sold companies and lived around the world. What he really likes though, is sports. Baseball yes, but really all sports. “If you invited me to a lacrosse game right now I’d say let’s go,” he laughed.

In 2008 Tom Volpe became the owner of the Everett Aquasox. Mr. Volpe was at Funko Field last night to see the Aquasox on opening night and we had a chance to chat briefly about his ownership of a team in Everett, Washington that has been playing minor league ball here for nearly four decades.

“I’ve always loved baseball,” Tom Volpe told me before the first pitch at Funko Field in Everett, Washington last night. “I bought my first team in 2000 and after I dug into it I found out this was a very interesting business.”

The ballclub started off as the Everett Giants in 1984 after Bob and Margaret Bavasi bought a minor league club that had been playing in Walla Walla and moved it here, affiliating it with the San Francisco Giants.

In 1994 the club changed names and affiliations becoming the Everett Aquasox and affiliating with the Seattle Mariners starting with the 1995 season.

In 1998 the club was sold to Mark Sperandio and in 2004 Peter Carfagna purchased the club which brings us to November 2008 when Tom Volpe became the owner and added the Aquasox to the two teams he already owned with his company 7th Inning Stretch, LLC. (The Delmarva Shorebirds who play in Salisbury, Maryland and the Stockton Ports who play in Stockton, California)

Aquasox

Webbly and Tom Volpe on the concourse.

Mr. Volpe’s ownership of the Aquasox is starting its fifteenth season this weekend which will make him the longest-running owner in the history of the ballclub.

7th Inning Stretch, LLC is a family run business with three baseball teams that Mr. Volpe has no intention of selling. “We’ve been doing this for 23 years and this is a family business involving my wife and two sons,” Tom told me. “It’s a multi-generational business and with the Aquasox, my son Chad meets with the Mayor and Economic Development director in Everett about the club and is the President on the PDL License which runs through 2030.”

The new Player Development League License instituted by Major League Baseball two years ago also means changes in Everett including having to upgrade the stadium where the Aquasox play. “We need to upgrade to meet Major League Baseball requirements,” Tom said. It also meant opening day begins in April instead of June as the Aquasox play a full season schedule with 131 total games.

Mr. Volpe said the team enjoys a great relationship with the Mariners and also the City of Everett. “I wish every city was as great to us as Everett,” he said.

I watched him as he walked around Funko Field greeting fans and employees, spending much of his time watching the concourse and stands instead of the action on the field. “We’re really good at what we do,” he said with a smile. “We’re providing family entertainment and a positive experience for fans young and old.”

The Aquasox won their season opener last night over the Eugene Emeralds in an 11 inning game with a final score of 4 – 3. They play at Funko Field Saturday and Sunday with both games starting at 4:05 PM before starting a six game road trip to Hillsboro, Oregon on Tuesday.



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