As an operating partner of E3 Ranch & Co., former Blinn College baseball player Jeff LaRoche is applying the lessons he learned in Blinn's classrooms and on the diamond to thrive in the business world.
"As a baseball player, you always are driven to get it right, and there's a competitive drive to be the best out there that really sticks with you," LaRoche said. "That is how baseball and business are parallel. The element of patience also has a lot to do with both baseball and business, and if you have the right mentality and patience, it helps you go a long way."
The sons of former major league pitcher Dave LaRoche, Jeff and his brothers Adam and Andy all went on to become professional baseball players. A major league prospect out of high school, LaRoche passed up Division I offers to take the junior college route and multiply his chances of being selected in the Major League Draft.
"I chose to play baseball at Blinn because I wanted to give myself the opportunity to be drafted every year even though I did have a lot of offers from Division I schools," LaRoche said. "The campus is beautiful, the facilities are state-of-the-art, and Kyle Van Hook was a great head coach, so after my official visit, I chose Blinn."
LaRoche's parents had just moved to Kansas, so he was living on his own in Texas for the first time on the Blinn-Brenham Campus.
"Coach Van Hook helped us navigate campus life, so it was nice having that personal touch, and the academics at Blinn were very good," LaRoche said.
Early each season, Van Hook took the Buccaneers to a ranch in New Braunfels to build team chemistry.
"It was hard because we would run up and down hills to get into shape, but then at night everybody sat around the table for dinner," LaRoche said. "Those are the kind of memories you take with you."
LaRoche also remembers long bus rides to a tournament each year in Louisiana.
"It sticks in your head because you really became better teammates because of it," LaRoche said. "Even though at the time it was a little rough, those end up being some of the most amazing times of your life."
LaRoche generated a lot of buzz as a left-handed pitcher in his first season as a Buccaneer and was selected in the 31st round of the 1997 Major League Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He made the decision to come back to Blinn to complete his associate degree and signed with the Miami Marlins in 1998.
From Blinn, LaRoche went on to a have a seven-year career in professional baseball with the Marlins and Colorado Rockies organizations and in the independent league. He also spent one year as a ski patroller, six years as a police officer and SWAT team member, and four years as an owner of a Mexican restaurant.
Fast forward to today and LaRoche is his sixth year as an operating partner of E3 Ranch & Co. The company was founded by Jeff, Adam, and Jennifer LaRoche and is comprised of the E3 Headquarters, E3 Meat Co., E3 Chophouse Steamboat Springs, E3 Chophouse Nashville, E3 K9 Naturals, and the E3 Ranch Foundation.
The company is devoted to sustainable and humane practices that lead to the highest quality beef in America. Customers can have it shipped directly to them or dine at the E3 Chophouses for the full culinary experience.
"E3 is obviously an acronym for error to the first baseman, so baseball is definitely in the name and we have subtle baseball things in the restaurant," LaRoche said.
Instead of hopping from stadium to stadium, LaRoche now finds himself traveling between Southeast Kansas, home of E3 Ranch, Steamboat Springs, Colo., and Nashville, Tenn., where he has designed and developed restaurants.
"These are high-end steakhouses and all the beef comes from our E3 ranches," LaRoche said. "The majority of the time we grade out of prime, which is unique to what we are doing so our cuts are pretty incredible. We feel like the taste of a good steak is significantly better when it is an all-natural product, like ours, versus a hormone-driven product."
E3 Chophouse Steamboat Springs originated seven years ago, and the LaRoche family partnered with Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan to open E3 Chophouse Nashville in 2019.
"I like that I am getting to solve a different problem every day and each day is never the same," LaRoche said. "Just when you think you have everything figured out, it throws you a curveball, just like in baseball. You have to have the patience to solve those types of things and that is what I enjoy."
Ten percent of all E3 net profits are donated to the E3 Ranch Foundation, which fights human trafficking and serves combat veterans. For more information, visit www.e3ranch.com.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 41 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
