Local principal talks former career as Dodgers marketing director

On any given day, you can find Dr. Barry Stockhamer, principal of Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary School, using the school’s new pseudo “baseball” cards to teach kids life’s important lessons. But, years ago, he wore a much different hat -a baseball hat.

“First year (at college) I wrote a letter to the owner of the Dodgers and he responded,” Stockhamer said. “I wrote about lessons that baseball teaches someone, lessons of life.”

So began a 31 year career with the Dodgers, eventually becoming head of marketing for the team.

“Sponsorships, working with the coca colas of the world, developing programs to present to fans,” he said.

While his job allowed him some of the neatest experiences of his life, he particularly enjoyed one aspect.

“Community relations, reaching out to kids,” he said.

Disproving timelines and timetables, “I did something I thought about doing in college, be a teacher. Went back to school, taught, and got my doctorate from USC a few years ago.”

From bats and balls to books and backpacks, Dr. Stockhamer finds himself teaching kids the same lessons he wrote about in that letter to the Dodgers when he was a kid.

“Keep persevering. If you need help you get a pitching coach, we have academic coaches,” he noted.

Because whether you’re about to take a big math exam or step up to the plate for a playoff game against the Giants, “you can be successful through hard work, same in baseball.”