Fernando Aguirre talks SeaWolves, Piñatas, and the Big Red Machine

Fernando Aguirre served as the Chairman and CEO of Chiquita Brands International for almost nine years after spending more than two decades at Procter & Gamble. He is currently a Director of CVS Health Corporation and serves as a Director at Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa. He was also the first Latino CEO to appear on CBS’ “Undercover Boss” in 2010.

That’s Aguirre’s resume away from the baseball diamond.

“One day I decided to get out of the rat race and dedicate myself to be more of an entrepreneur,” Aguirre told La Vida Baseball Live. “I played baseball since I was a little kid. I was born and raised in Mexico City and played baseball since I was a little kid… and I was lucky enough to come to the U.S. when I was 17 years old to learn how to speak English and to play baseball.”

Aguirre earned a scholarship to play baseball at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. In 2015, Aguirre became the sole owner of the Erie SeaWolves, the Class AA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers which will transform into the Piñatas during this year’s Copa de la Diversión.

Aguirre is also a partial owner of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Advanced Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs) and owns a minority stake in the Cincinnati Reds.

The SeaWolves have some exciting players on the roster this season, including third baseman Isaac Paredes. Aguirre mentioned that Paredes, a native of Mexico as well, was among the players who were excited to see the new look Piñatas gear when the jerseys and caps were unveiled to the players before the season began.

The fans of the SeaWolves love the Piñatas gear as well. The team played their first Piñatas game on Cinco de Mayo and, according to Aguirre, 50 percent of the merchandise sold that day was Piñatas.

Aguirre has to be happy about the on-field product in Erie as well as the Tigers begin matriculating some of their top prospects up through the organization. On April 24, Alex Faedo threw seven innings of a combined no-hitter for the SeaWolves. Less than one week later, the Tigers promoted Casey Mize to Erie. The top-ranked pitching prospect in baseball promptly threw a no-hitter in his first game with the SeaWolves on April 29.

However, Aguirre is a tough customer to impress.

“I grew up following the Big Red Machine,” he said. “In the 1970s I was growing up playing baseball and I fell in love with the Big Red Machine.”

Aguirre described some of the impressive memorabilia collection he had behind him during our interview, which included nine baseball signed by members of the 1970s Reds teams. He also shared an anecdote about a special baseball signed by Cincinnati icons Johnny Bench, Ken Griffey Jr., Pete Rose, Barry Larkin, Joe Morgan and George Foster.

Aguirre joined La Vida Baseball Live earlier this week to talk about team ownership, being a fan of the Big Red Machine and his love for the game. Watch the video for more .