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Ruby
CLARKS SUMMIT – Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees general manager Jeremy Ruby will leave his position with Triple-A baseball franchise to oversee the Abington Heights School District athletic department.
Ruby, 35, will replace athletic director Scott Kaiser, who resigned in January. He will begin his new duties in late March.
“We are very much looking forward to having him here,” said Abington Heights School District superintendent Michael Mahon. “We interviewed 50 people for the job. It was very competitive and Mr. Ruby came through.”
Ruby was hired as the director of athletics and development. In addition to overseeing the athletic department, Ruby will be in charge of helping the district discover new ways to generate funds for the school.
The Abington Heights School Board had discussed the possibility of creating a director of development position in August 2010. The duties for that position would have included generating additional revenue for the district.
Mahon said the district did not enter the interviewing process seeking to combine the two positions, but after hearing about Ruby’s experience with promotions and fundraising, the school board felt confident in expanding the role of athletic director.
Ruby said he has some ideas for fundraising that he would like to implement, but did not want to disclose them at this time.
“The key is for me is to get acclimated with the athletic director program first and foremost,” said the Eynon resident. “To me it’s one of the premier districts in northeastern and central Pennsylvania.”
Ruby had nothing but kind words for the school board, Mahon and high school principal Pamela Murray.
“They were absolutely phenomenal during this whole process. I look forward to working with them.”
Ruby joined the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre franchise in 1998 with then Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons as a marketing intern. He rose through the ranks, serving as operations manager from 1999 through 2004. Ruby was named the fourth general manager in franchise history in January 2005 and was selected among The Times Leader’s Top Forty Under Forty in 2008.
During two seasons with the SWB Yankees, Ruby was on board for the franchise’s first Governors’ Cup championship in 20 years. That took place during the 2008 season.
Ruby is a 1994 graduate of Valley View High School, where he played baseball, basketball and football. In 1994, he was drafted in the 38th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by the California Angels. In 1998, he graduated from East Stroudsburg University with a bachelor’s degree in hotel, restaurant and tourism.
He is the great-grandson of longtime major league umpire Joe Paparella and son of former Red Barons pitching coach and current Houston Astros minor league coach Gary Ruby.
Ruby resides with his wife Maria and their two sons, Dante, 5 and Marco, 1.