EUGENE-OR. When Allan Benavides took over as the general manager of the Emeralds he knew he was going to have to make some big decisions. 

And while most people would imagine a GM would be concerned with dealing players and writing contracts, in 2017 Benavides was negotiating with pyrotechnics to see how fast he could set off his firework show after a 20 inning ballgame. 

With twenty thousand dollars' worth of fireworks lit in the parking lot at 1:17a.m., Allan waited with bated breath for the final out before giving the cue. 

As soon as the final out was caught Benavides signaled to, “light it up”, before unleashing fireworks that were originally scheduled for an 18-minute show in just 4 minutes creating the biggest, loudest, most erratic fireball in the history of Eugene, Oregon. 

Allan was no stranger to controversy as one of his first acts as GM in 2010 was his infamous April Fools prank, claiming that suspended UO quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was going to be joining the Emeralds bullpen. 

And while Benavides received flak from disgruntled neighbors and journalists alike, he never shied away from doing things his way.  

The Southern California native graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in film and entertainment, before he began his career as a talent agent in West Hollywood. He quickly became jaded with show business and went to create a show of his own, with his stage being minor league ballparks. 

In his words, “I can control the entertainment in the stadium. I look at it as theater. I tell the staff all the time the gates are our curtains and once game time hits, it is a show.” He added, “We look at every game like a wedding, every game is planned out, we have 66 weddings that we are playing this summer.” 

All of these weddings add excitement to the game, with themed nights ranging from Star Wars Night to Justin Herbert bobblehead night, hoping to attract a new younger demographic of students and young professionals to baseball games. 

He continues to defend minor league baseball themed nights, “Our players also absolutely love all the promotions we do. A lot of the time the purists are like why do you always do this silly stuff? They [the players] love seeing the interaction, they love seeing the mascot go out there and dance with them, they want to be goofy and have a good time”. 

But this reinvention of baseball in Eugene wasn’t especially popular when Benevidas was hired by the Emeralds in 2010. He inherited the Emeralds the year they started their move from the decrepit Civic Stadium to the brand new PK park, a 16 million dollar facility built by the University of Oregon. 

This move wasn’t especially popular among the Emerald faithful, a fanbase that had quite literally grown up with the park, with the average fan around 62 years old. 

At the start of his tenure Benavides even received threats and hate mail, although he had nothing to do with the team's relocation. He was seen as the new face of the franchise that was stripping the character from Eugene’s local team of over 65 years. 

But many would argue Benevides continues to add to the character of the Emeralds in many ways.

Allan is a first-generation son of Nicaraguan immigrants and he chooses to represent the local Eugene Latin-American community every Sunday when the team takes on a new name “los Monarcas” in Spanish meaning the monarch butterfly. The name was inspired through talks with local latino activists who suggested the name because of the symbolism associated with dreamers and the DACA act. 

This symbolism and recognition felt close to him for Allan as he is one of only three Latino GM’s in the country. 

He is looking forward to this Monarcas game this year which will feature a Spanglish broadcast.

Regardless of whether you are a fan of Benevides and minor league baseball’s antics it's impossible to ignore the success that the team has had since he was hired.

The Emeralds have won three out of their last four league championships and are nominated yearly for the Larry MacPhail Award which recognizes the best marketing in minor league baseball, even winning the award in 2018. 

And while he may rub some people the wrong way, he never fails to put on a show.