They talked less about business than about their backgrounds in baseball, one as a professional executive and the other as a college coach. The first meeting between the president of Columbia’s new minor league team and South Carolina’s athletic director stretched far longer than either had planned, marking the beginning of a new relationship between college and pro sports in the state capital.
“I want our dialogue to be open and genuine,” said Katz, president of the Columbia Fireflies, the South Atlantic League team which debuted this year. “If he needs something, he can call me. If I need something, I want to be able to call him.