Submitted photo Matt Woak (left) poses with his brother, Tyler (center), and father, Fred (right), at Rogers Centre in Toronto before Game 2 of the World Series on Oct. 25.

Ten years ago, the notion of becoming a general manager for a Minor League Baseball team seemed about as far-fetched as attending a World Series, as far as Matt Woak was concerned.

“I mean, you don’t just wake up one day and decide, ‘I want to become a minor-league GM’, that certainly wasn’t on my radar,” Woak said.

In fact, the Niles native had dreams of following in his dad’s footsteps and embarking on a career in radio. Fred Woak, known throughout the area as Fast Freddie, has been a mainstay on the local airwaves since the 1990s. Matt planned on “doing something in radio, music or entertainment.”

As for his World Series aspirations?

Woak is a self-proclaimed baseball fanatic. And while he has attended his share of MLB games over the years, he had never attended a postseason game – something he says was always on his bucket list.

However, thanks to a surprising career twist, notions that once seemed highly unlikely became realities over the past several months.

Before the start of the 2025 baseball season, Woak was named general manager of the Dunedin Blue Jays, the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Woak has worked for the Blue Jays since 2017.

Thanks to his connection with the organization, Woak spent last weekend at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, where he was in attendance for the first two games of the World Series between the Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Woak plans to make a return trip to Toronto on Saturday for Game 6 of the Fall Classic.

“It’s been a crazy ride, and now to be able to closely follow an organization that I work for make this run is something I never expected,” Woak said. “This is a dream come true.”

Woak is a 2009 graduate of Niles McKinley High School. He went on to study broadcast journalism at Kent State University, then in the summer of 2014, he found himself working part-time for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

Woak had a friend who handled game entertainment production for the Scrappers, and the organization was in need of workers during the second half of the season as some of its summer help was returning to school. Woak was asked to handle the in-game audio.

“I’m the stadium DJ, I get to play walk-up songs while I watch baseball. Heck yeah, I was all in,” Woak said. “It was a blast, and I got the opportunity to gain an understanding of the entire operation of game-day production. It was fascinating.”

Woak returned to Eastwood Field in 2015, where his unofficial job title was Jack-Of-All-Trades. In addition to his audio duties, he could occasionally be heard behind the public address announcer microphone or seen on the field as the in-game host.

In 2017, Woak decided it was time for a change. Tired of the Ohio winters, and with a grandmother living in Florida, he headed south.

As fate would have it, as Woak arrived in Florida, the Dunedin Blue Jays were looking for help.

“I just arrived, I was literally sitting at the airport waiting for my baggage when my dad sent me a job posting, saying the Dunedin Blue Jays were looking for a scoreboard operator and an in-game host,” Woak said. “I thought it would be a nice summer job while helping out my grandma.”

Thanks to a series of persistent phone calls and emails, along with the assistance from the Scrappers’ front office, Woak received the job.

The rest, as they say, is history.

“Working in minor league baseball is like being in the mafia,” Woak says with a laugh. “Once you’re in, you can’t get out. In my case, I just loved learning all the aspects of every job associated with the organization.”

“When you work for a minor league club, it’s baseball, entertainment, community relations and so much more all rolled into one.”

Woak’s role extends far beyond the Single-A level. The Dunedin Blue Jays play their home games at TD Ballpark, which is also the spring training home of Toronto Blue Jays. As a result, Woak works closely with the parent club and is heavily involved in the day-to-day operations throughout spring training.

During Woak’s first year with the Blue Jays, Dunedin won its first-ever Florida State League title. That team included numerous players who now play for Toronto, including Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and Bo Bichette. The team was managed by current Toronto manager John Schneider.

“That first year here was an unbelievable experience,” Woak said. “Dunedin has been part of the Toronto organization since it joined the MLB in 1977. This has always been Toronto’s spring training home. And everything came together that year. We won a doubleheader against the Tampa Yankees at George Steinbrenner Field to win our title, so when Toronto beat New York this year in the playoffs, it was like things went full circle.

“It was a crazy start to my career with Dunedin. I was here for six months, and here I had this same championship ring that Vladdy and Bo probably have stored away today in some drawer.”

As with any minor-league organization, Woak’s time with Dunedin has been met with many unusual twists and turns. In 2019, TD Park underwent renovations, causing Dunedin to play its home games at Jack Russell Stadium – a ballpark which hadn’t been used for professional baseball since 2003.

In 2020, Dunedin played 11 games at its newly renovated stadium before COVID shut down the season. A year later, with travel restrictions still enforced between the United States and Canada, Toronto played 21 of its home games at TD Park before relocating to Buffalo for the remainder of the season.

Through it all, Woak has had a front-row seat to the building of a team that is now battling the Dodgers for MLB supremacy.

“I remember the buzz when we first got (Alejandro) Kirk, he came here and roped doubles like it was nothing,” Woak said. “Vladdy and Bo ripped the cover off the ball. Vladdy hit a home run to send us to the playoffs – that ball is probably still flying today.

“Earlier this year, we had Trey (Yesavage). He’s pitching for us on a Sunday afternoon in April in front of a couple hundred fans, and six months later, he’s striking out Shohei Ohtani to open the World Series.”

Woak was among the 44,353 fans in attendance to witness the strikeout – and the ensuing 11-4 Blue Jays victory.

“I can’t even describe the atmosphere inside the Rogers Centre last weekend,” Woak said. “To see those two flags on the field prior to the game, to hear the two national anthems, it made me want to run through a wall.

“The level of energy when Trey recorded the strikeout to start the game was off the charts. Then when Toronto exploded for nine runs, the noise level was unlike anything I ever experienced, whether it was a sporting event or a concert. The place went insane. Beer was being poured on everyone, but no one cared. I spent the night hugging people I didn’t know.”

Woak also spent the game with his dad, which made the moment all the more special.

“My dad took me to my first-ever game at Jacobs Field in 1995,” Woak said. “When Cleveland was selling out every night in the ’90s, we’d go sit in the nosebleed section in Pittsburgh to watch the Pirates.

“To be able to share that moment with my dad was unbelievable. He’s been to every concert imaginable, he’s seen it all. And during the game, he turned to me and says, ‘This is the craziest event I’ve ever been to.’ That was the best part of the night.

“My mom (Cheri) and dad have been extremely instrumental in everything I’ve done to this point.”

Woak is hopeful that the best is yet to come.

“Toronto has waited a long time for this. Their fans are among the most passionate in all of sports,” Woak said. “Last weekend was crazy. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like with the series ending in Toronto.”

The Blue Jays and Dodgers play Game 6 on Friday, and Game 7 on Saturday if necessary.Valley native Matt Woak enjoying unique POV of World Series