One-on-one with Michelle Montoya

For a woman whose job description is jaw-droppingly long, Michelle Montoya is probably best known as this: Orbit’s mom.

After all, she helps make sure the Isotopes’ mascot stays laundered and “smells good,” books all of the appearances and accompanies the orange giant to more than 200 charity and youth events a year.

“Our (general manager) called me ‘Orbit’s mom’ in a speech on the field one time, and it has stuck ever since,” she said.

Montoya is the community relations director for the Isotopes, but she knew little about baseball when she joined the team’s staff eight years ago.

Her life had been filled with soccer and basketball as a kid growing up in Belen, but dreams of a college athletic scholarship and a career as an athletic director crashed during her senior year of high school.

She tore her ACL and meniscus playing soccer her senior year at Belen High School. The injury resulted in six surgeries over the years and forced her to reconsider everything.

“It was probably the biggest heartbreak that I’ve ever experienced,” she said. “There was kind of a period of trying to figure out who I was without my sport. When you’re in a sport like that, that’s just what your identity is.”

A formative experience for Montoya came as something of a whim: She applied and was hired as a seasonal staffer with the Oakland Raiders, which led soon after to her Isotopes community relations position in 2016.

For Montoya, it was the perfect pivot.

“Community relations … was something that, if I can’t play sports, then I can utilize this amazing platform in sports to help people and to do really good things,” she said.

The Isotopes recently won the 2023 Bob Freitas Award for best overall Triple-A organization, in part because of its community service and volunteer efforts.

Tell me about washing Orbit.

“We do not ever disclose any of the behind-the-scenes information about Orbit. But I do make sure Orbit gets regular baths and smells good for the fans.”

What else does your job entail?

“We all wear many hats. I manage all of our youth programs, the Orbit’s Kids Crew, Valentine’s Day program … youth skills clinics. I manage all of our ballpark tours, all of our mascot appearances — about 250 a year, and I attend every single appearance. I’m in charge of anything that comes in regarding awareness nights, I manage player appearances and attend those. This past year, I started helping suite relations.”

That sounds like a lot.

“It’s a lot, but I have to tell you that I have met some of the coolest people in my job, in this community. It’s really fun. Anybody in minor league baseball that you meet, I promise you, you could probably hire them anywhere because minor league baseball workers are just so motivated. They can multitask, they work long hours, they can probably do anything.”

What’s the most difficult thing about your job?

“I think one of the difficult parts of my job is trying to find my worth and my value. We all have different roles in this business. Although mine makes a great impact and there’s so many people that know that, it’s really difficult to put a numerical value on it. Whereas if you say, ‘I’m the director of retail; I sold $1.2 million worth of merchandise,’ I can’t say that. I can’t say that I brought 1.2 million people to the ballpark. I’m on the front lines of our community effort, but not everybody gets to see the special moments that our mascot has when he walks through the door. What’s important is that connection. So really trying to find ways to showcase those moments has been difficult for me, but it’s getting better. We’re finding more and more ways to get that out to the community — that yes, we’re a business and we make money, but it’s not just about that.”

What’s your favorite stadium food?

“Green chile cheese fries. We have the most amazing chef right now — Chef Jim Griego, who is really bringing New Mexico culture into the ballpark. I also like the carne adovada nachos.”

What’s a weird part of your job?

“When we have to pull tarp over the field when it rains. It’s probably the craziest thing, because when it’s time to pull tarp, nobody has a title and nobody matters. Everybody is just there from the GM (general manager) all the way down to our events staff. Everybody is all hands on deck. And we’re doing it in the rain, and it’s at the very last second.”

What do you do to relax?

“I’m a gym person. I love to box. I’m also an actress. I got into background acting in 2005. I went to a casting call for ‘Swing Vote’ with Kevin Costner, and they booked me right on the spot. Being able to be somebody else for a day, to me it’s just fun. I started taking acting classes … and got an agent about eight years ago.”

Do you have any superstitions?

“Our assistant general manager Nick LoBue passed away in (2020) because of COVID. It was hard for everybody. I found this nickel that was at the ballpark that we renamed Nickel LoBue. Maybe he’s looking down on us. I kept it in my pocket and we won, like the next three games. So we would say, ‘Where’s Nickel LoBue? We need Nickel LoBue.’ We’ve also saged the ballpark. I’ll walk the sage when we’re really having a bad slump and go through the bullpen and on the mound.”

Describe yourself in three words.

“Passionate and scrappy.”