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It was easy to see why Paul Toboni impressed the Nationals ownership group during his interview process for the team’s then-open president of baseball operations position, a job that he officially accepted earlier this week. He’s charismatic, personable and smart.
What may not have been so obvious to those watching Wednesday’s press conference without being there in person is that those traits extend well beyond his new job. They clearly apply to his role as a father, too.
And Toboni may not even be the best holder of those traits in his own family. During his first 30-minute meeting with the local media, his wife, Danielle, spent most of the time wrangling the couple’s four young boys, who are between the ages of 1 and 6.
She’s the real star of the family.
But as Toboni looked at his young family and thanked them multiple times throughout the day, it was clear that this is a loving family man taking over the Nationals family.
Obviously, Toboni has a lot of work to do in terms of the baseball team in the coming weeks, months and years. He has to fill out his front office, hire a new coaching staff and manage a major league roster and minor league farm system. But the 35-year-old executive isn’t that far removed from being a fan, something he remembered in the days between leaving the Red Sox and coming to the Nationals.
“What I think about is summers in Boston, kids are having fun during the day, they're maybe going to summer school or playing sports, whatever it is, and then they're showing up to Fenway at night. And Fenway's their safe place, where they're having a blast,” Toboni said. “It's funny, actually, between ending my time with the Red Sox and fully hopping on board with the Nationals, I went to a game at Fenway just as a fan with two of my kids. And I looked around and I was like, 'Gosh, there are a lot of young kids here.' So when I think about that as it relates to D.C., and I see my kids right here, it's, hey, you want them playing sports or having fun during the day. You want them going to museums. But then we want to create an environment where, not just my kids, but kids around D.C., around the greater region, are filling up the park. Just because that's what it should be about.”
The Nationals, obviously, do not have as long of a tradition as the Red Sox. Boston has had a baseball team since 1901. Washington didn’t have a team from 1972 until the Expos moved here in 2005, missing out on a generation of fans.
The years of winning between 2012 and 2019, culminating in a World Series championship, helped build a solid foundation in the Nats fan base, with a new generation of young fans donning curly W caps.
But in the six years since, the Nats have been one of the worst teams in baseball, a condition Toboni has been hired to fix. And he understands from his time growing up going to Giants games in San Francisco and while working in Boston that, while there is a lot of work to do on the field, there is equally important work to do off it. Even though that might not necessarily be a part of his job description.
“First and foremost, I think we have a ton of young players that are exciting young talents on our major league team. And I think we're going to have more as time goes on,” Toboni said of his message to young Nats fans. “But almost separating that for a second. Let's forget the players we have. Let's forget me in this role, or the front office, the coaches, the scouts. Baseball is such a great game. And to those kids: Come to the park over and over and over again, and I think you'll realize that there's a good chance that you're going to fall in love with this game, just because of how great it is. So that's the main thing.”
Toboni, a self-proclaimed high school basketball fanatic, already knew how important sports are to the D.C. area before taking the Nats job. He even evoked legendary DeMatha Catholic basketball coach Morgan Wootten (much to the chagrin of this Gonzaga College High School graduate).
“Sports is, in my opinion, so deeply woven into the fabric of this area, not just baseball,” he said. “But I mentioned I'm a big hoops fan. I think about Georgetown hoops. I think about Howard hoops. I think about DeMatha and coach Wootten, and all the great players that have come through there. It's not just the pro level, not just the college level or the high school level. This is a great area for sports, and it's my hope that kids just dive into it, because sports has been such a positive influence on my life. I hope that kids around the area can experience the same.”
D.C. is known as a basketball city. But there is recent evidence the town is also home to a giant baseball fan base that is waiting to resurrect. That’s not necessarily a part of Toboni’s new job, but it’s something he is keenly aware of after discussing it unprompted.
“It's a great sport. It's the best sport, in my opinion, and I love it so much,” Toboni said of baseball. “And one of the reasons why I love it so much is I grew up in San Francisco going to Candlestick and Pac Bell or AT&T or SBC or Oracle, whatever. But I went to hundreds of games. And I think that's where I really fell in love with the game. And I want kids in the D.C. area to fall in love with the game the same way I did.”
