2010 Coaching Thread -- Latest: Darnell Coles' Umpiring Stint

[SpaceCoastBaseball]

Regarding Corey Hart, he took a coaching job with the Astros last winter.

[Mass Haas]

Helena Site with an interview of Pitching Coach Elvin Nina

[Mass Haas]

Also, pitching coach Steve Cline, who is Arizona (Maryvale's) pitching coach, has stepped in to fill Fred Dabney's role with Brevard County while Dabney covers for Stan Kyles as bullpen coach in Milwaukee.

 

As does everyone, we wish Stan well as he fights prostate cancer. He's expected back with the Crew in 4-6 weeks.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Baseball is in Huntsville manager's Mike Guerrero's blood

By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times

 

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Mike Guerrero is baseball royalty.

 

Thus, it's more than a game. It's a sacred trust. Said Guerrero, the Huntsville Stars' manager, "Baseball is a way of life for me."

 

He is the second son of Epy Guerrero, a king of baseball in a country - the Dominican Republic - where the sport rules. When Mike calls his father "the greatest scout ever," it's not boasting or hyperbole.

 

The Dominican Republic's greatest export has been baseball talent, and the elder Guerrero has found and signed more players than anyone in the barrios of Santo Domingo, the sandlots of San Pedro de Macoris and the rutted fields in villages on the small, lively Caribbean island. If Dominican Republic baseball were to have its Mount Rushmore, Epy Guerrero's face would be one of the first ones carved.

 

"I know a lot of people (through his father) but from my point of view, it hasn't made anything easier," Guerrero said. "Actually at times, it makes it way tougher. Your responsibility, the family you're representing, is different."

 

Mike is the second son of Epy Guerrero to have worn a Stars uniform. Older brother (by 21 months) Sandy, who makes his off-season home in Huntsville, was the team's hitting coach for six seasons and is now with Milwaukee's Triple-A farm club in Nashville.

 

Sandy is the more jovial and feisty, Mike the more serious and low-key of the two. They still talk daily, they "share the same passion for the game," Mike said.

 

Growing up in the game, there has been one indelible lesson learned by all five Guerrero sons, all of whom are involved in pro ball.

 

"Play the game the right way. Play the game with all you have," the 42-year-old Mike Guerrero said. "I only know one way to play the game, and it's 100 percent."

 

Which is why, Wednesday afternoon, as school buses chugged away with most of the school-day crowd of 5,191, the Stars were collectively being taken to the principal's office. Guerrero held an extended team meeting.

 

"Don't ask me about what I talk to them about. That's a private meeting," he said, still a bit miffed after a pair of losses where the way the Stars played "was unacceptable."

 

Guerrero's approach in dealing with his team varies, with paternal measures. As a father of teenagers - he and wife of 20 years Larissa have sons Michael, 16, and Daniel, 13 - he knows that "sometimes you have to talk to them, sometimes you have to spank them."

 

"He's a good guy, a good manager to play for," said shortstop Zelous Wheeler. "He wants us to play the game the right way and play hard."

 

"There's really three parts to Mike," said Dan O'Brien, special assistant to Brewers general manager Doug Melvin.

 

"One is work ethic and daily preparation. Number two is his interpersonal skills with the athletes and the coaching staff. And, thirdly, his game management."

 

As O'Brien has followed Guerrero, he has seen an evolution in each of those areas, where he has "refined a little bit more each and every step, to a point now to where it's just part of his daily routine."

 

It may be private what was said Wednesday afternoon as players sat silent in front of their lockers. But somewhere in the message was surely the same sentiment Guerrero shared when three weeks earlier as he settled into his new office.

 

"You take care of the game," this product of baseball royalty said, "the game is going to take care of you."

 

Photos by Michael Mercier/Huntsville Times

 

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[Mass Haas]

Don Money Looks Back On His Career (Photo Gallery as well)

By Bill Traughber / Nashville Baseball Historian

 

An excellent tribute on the Sounds site, guaranteed you'll learn something along the way, as in the case of Money's Japan experience...

[Mass Haas]

Linkwhile active, text follows:

 

New Brewers skipper Ayrault right at home in Montana

By AMBER KUEHN, Helena Independent Record

 

It didn’t take long for Joe Ayrault to feel right at home in Helena.

 

The Helena Brewers’ new manager walked through the clubhouse at Kindrick Field last week, shaking hands and chatting with everyone he came in contact with. Dressed in an Under Armour fleece jacket, blue jeans and Cabela’s hat, you’d think he’d been a Montana native all his life.

 

Not so. The 38-year-old Ayrault recently made the trek from Sarasota, Fla., with his wife, Kelly, 5-year-old daughter, Haley, and 2-year-old son, Kole, to manage the Milwaukee Brewers’ top rookie affiliate in a place where he can get his baseball fix and also enjoy the outdoors.

 

“When I was about 6 years old I got into baseball, just the love of the game, playing little league,” Ayrault said from his new office. “I knew I wanted to play pro ball.”

 

Ayrault was drafted out of Sarasota High School in 1990, taken in the fifth round by the Atlanta Braves. He played catcher, mostly in the minor leagues, until a shoulder injury and surgeries marked the end of his playing days.

 

Thus began his coaching career, beginning as a hitting coach for minor league affiliates of the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds. Ayrault was briefly hired to manage the Pioneer League’s Billings Mustangs in 2007, but the stint only lasted a couple of weeks before he was sent to manage Class A Sarasota.

 

“I never went to Billings, it was in the offseason that they offered me the position,” he said. “This is my first trip to Montana.”

 

He spent the past three seasons managing Sarasota, a Reds affiliate, going 195-220.

 

“Baseball’s in my blood I guess,” Ayrault said with a smile.

 

Big league memories

 

Ayrault carries several memories from his playing days with him wherever he goes. Among them is playing Triple-A ball for the North Carolina Durham Bulls in the old stadium, and then getting the call up.

 

“I was in Richmond, Va., actually warming up; I was supposed to catch in the game,” he recalled. “Our pitching coach, Bill Fisher, he came in and said ‘the manager wants to see you.’ ... He said, ‘you’re not playing tonight’, I said ‘why not?’ and he said ‘because you’re flying to Chicago tomorrow morning; you’re going to be playing at Wrigley Field.’ ”

 

Ayrault was included on the World Series roster for the 1996 Atlanta Braves, and remembers being in Yankee Stadium in October like it was yesterday. It was his only year with the big-league club, but now he considers himself lucky to be able to work with young players.

 

Passion for teaching

 

He’s especially happy to be down a level, coaching rookie league. At one point he thought he wanted to be a teacher, like his wife, and he’s glad his current job lends itself to that.

 

“Teaching them how to be pros, teaching them how to be a Milwaukee Brewer, the way we do things,” he said. “Being around baseball and combining that with the young players, there’s so much teaching involved, which I love.

 

“The first-year guys, teaching them stuff on and off the field ... how to carry themselves. They play every day, whereas college it might be just Friday or Sunday, high school just 30 to 40 games. Teaching them it’s a daily grind.”

 

Steve Wendt, director of broadcasting and media relations for the Helena Brewers, has known Ayrault since 2003 when the two worked for the Class A Stockton Ports, and thinks his personality carries over well into developing young players — his primary duty.

 

“His enthusiasm and passion are positive qualities, and as the role changes, those don’t,” Wendt said. “He’s an advocate for the guys ... If a guy struck out and was having a hard time, he was always willing to help. If the guy wanted extra time in the cage, Joe was there.”

 

In talking with Ayrault, one hears him mention “staying on an even keel” several times. It’s important to him to teach guys how to contain their emotions and not let things snowball on them. Especially young pitchers just learning the professional ropes.

 

“Don’t get too high on your highs or too low on your lows,” he said. “Just stay composed on the mound to where if a fan walks into the game and the scoreboard’s broken, they don’t know whether you’re winning or losing out there. You’re the same way every time.

 

“Our job is to develop these guys, not just to be good in this league, but to develop them into championship-caliber, major- league players.”

 

Ayrault estimates 15 or so of the players he has managed over the past three years are in the majors. He still keeps in touch with several of them, including Jay Bruce and Chris Heisey of the Reds, and said he uses things those guys experienced as examples for players just getting their feet wet.

 

Outdoors enthusiast

 

Just as players have to find a way to stay composed, managers need to feel grounded as well. Ayrault’s appreciation for nature and all it has to offer has helped with that. It’s one of the reasons he’s so thrilled to be in the Treasure State. The outdoor enthusiast even bought a fly rod for his summer in the mountains.

 

“I was in Cabela’s (in Florida) and was debating on getting something bare bones,” he recalled. “Even hunting, I’m a bow-and-arrow guy versus a gun. When I went in to get my fishing pole, I thought ‘maybe I’ll get a spinning reel, keep it simple.’

 

“The guy at Cabela’s gave me a smack, and said ‘you can’t go to Montana with a spinning reel! You’ve got to get a fly rod, it’s the fly-fishing capital of the world!’ So he sold me.”

 

Ayrault already caught his first fish on a fly at home in Sarasota and is eager to test the Montana waters.

 

“My main priority is baseball but early in the morning, getting out, days off, anytime I can,” he said, admitting he has already fallen in love with the state’s scenery. “Seeing the mountains with the snow on top, it was great.”

 

Ayrault and his family took a short overnight trip to Yellowstone National Park the weekend before the players flew in. And he appreciates that he doesn’t have to look far to feed his outdoor appetite.

 

“When I open the newspaper there’s an outdoor section, I love it,” he said. “When you’re at home (in Florida) you have to go the extra mile to find those kinds of things ... it seems like everywhere here caters to the outdoorsman.

 

“It definitely seems like my kind of lifestyle.”

 

Before baseball, hunting, fishing and golf, though, family comes first.

 

“I’ve made all the changes in my career based on family,” Ayrault said. “Leaving the Reds organization to come to the Brewers ... I’m thankful to be given this job.”

 

Short-season baseball gave Ayrault the opportunity to spend more time with Kelly and the kids before getting into the daily grind the sport brings.

 

“When I was with the Reds they offered me a position to go up to another league, and I would’ve been away from my family probably six and a half months, counting spring training and stuff,” he said. “When I got the call about the Brewers job, I didn’t hesitate. I knew I needed to talk to the Mrs. first, but I wanted to tell them yes right there.

 

“I knew it’d be a perfect fit for me.”

 

Joe Ayrault, Brewers' new manager, talks to infielders Cody Hawn, left, Shea Vucinich and the rest of the Brewers' infielders during Friday's practice.

 

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/helenair.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/e/ef/bc0/eefbc0d8-7b6f-11df-aa06-001cc4c03286-revisions/4c1c6a60ee806.image.jpg

 

New Helena Brewers manager Joe Ayrault has come to Helena with a wife and two kids after managing in Sarasota, Fla., for four years.

 

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[Mass Haas]

Detailed history on Nashville Pitching Coach Rich Gale's career --

 

I liked this:

 

MOUND VISITS

So, as a pitching coach, what are the conversations on the mound during a timeout?

 

"Every situation is different," Gale said. "Sometimes you just want to go out and remind somebody of something simple. You go out and say, 'hey, remember what we talked about earlier. You're messing up by overthrowing.' A guy might be in a jam with the bases loaded and nobody out. You walk out and say, 'you've got them right where you want them kiddo.' You are teasing them. You try to calm them down. They think you are going to do something else and you burst their bubble.

 

"Or you say something like, 'man, I had to get away from Don (Money) on the bench. Holy Cow he is killing me there.' I try not to talk about mechanics. I want to talk about a concept, a mindset, or just say, 'hey I just want to give you a breather.' There are times I go out to talk because I want to wait for the umpire to come out so I can ask him about a couple of pitches. I may or may not have a legitimate complaint, but I want my pitcher to know that I am backing him up.

[Mass Haas]

Linkwhile active, text follows:

 

Guerreros dish out homers, but no sibling rivarly

Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- We were sitting in a clubhouse office in Mississippi three years ago Friday, just Sandy Guerrero and me. The television was on. It was almost cruel what it was showing.

 

"I feel like I lost a leg," Guerrero said. "I feel like I lost and arm and a leg."

 

That, despite what his brother Mike would maintain last week, "There's not a rivalry between us at any time."

 

The annual Home Run Derby was coming on the office TV. Sandy Guerrero was watching. Prince Fielder, the former Huntsville Stars slugger, was in the competition.

 

Sandy was supposed to be in San Francisco pitching to him.

 

Instead, his brother Mike was pitching to Fielder.

 

"At least," Sandy rationalized that night, "it's staying in the family."

 

Sandy had been invited by Fielder. However, when then-Huntsville manager Don Money was called to San Francisco to coach in the Futures Game, it was left to Guerrero to go to Mississippi to manage in the Southern League All-Star Game.

 

And Mike Guerrero got the invite to pitch batting practice to Fielder.

 

"Probably one of the best experiences I've had," said Mike, now the Huntsville Stars manager.

 

"It was pretty special. All the stars were around you and the camera were all on you. Even Prince felt nervous out there," he said.

 

Guerrero has been throwing batting practice forever. It's nearly a daily ritual in-season. It's daily in spring training. It's as routine as brushing his teeth.

 

"The only thing different, you're throwing brand new balls," he said.

 

The batting practice pitcher's job is simply to heave the ball in somewhere along three-quarter speed and put it consistently in the sweet spot where the hitter generates the most power.

 

"I thought about it this way. If they win it, the player won the Derby," Mike said. "If he loses it, it's oh, he didn't throw well."

 

Fielder didn't get in a groove that night. The late-day sun caused some tricky reflections that made the ball difficult to pick up.

 

No such problems last year.

 

Fielder won the '09 Derby, beating the Texas Rangers' Nelson Cruz, also a one-time Huntsville Star, in the last round.

 

Sandy Guerrero was Fielder's pitcher last year.

 

"That's even better. That's awesome," Mike Guerrero said. "When Sandy threw to him and Prince won, I felt like we won."

 

Sandy, typically less serious than Mike, showed more restraint than most big brothers could muster.

 

He didn't do any taunting. He didn't establish bragging rights.

 

"We're the type of brothers," Mike said, "that we don't get on each other. That's the way my dad (long-time scout Epy Guerrero) made sure the way it goes.

 

"Blood is thicker than water."

 

Fielder has said he wouldn't defend his title this year. Another former Huntsville Star, Corey Hart of the Brewers, will be in the Derby on Monday night in Anaheim.

 

He's decided on his pitcher.

 

Apparently forgetting there are three other Guerrero brothers, Hart has invited Sandy Guerrero.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Timber Rattlers' Matt Erickson glad to again meet up with Cecil Cooper

By Mike Woods, Post-Crescent staff writer

GRAND CHUTE — No two guys were happier to see each other Sunday than Cecil Cooper and Matt Erickson.

 

"We'll always have a special moment together because he was the guy who told me I was getting called up to the big leagues," Erickson said Sunday after Cooper made an appearance during the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers' 4-1 victory over Burlington in Midwest League play on Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

 

"He was just as happy as I was. Sometimes people fake that kind of stuff but he was genuinely pleased for me. And that means a lot as a player. So I knew, that entire season, he was somebody that was on my side."

 

The year was 2004 and Erickson was the last player sent down on the last day of big-league camp during spring training. He was ticketed for Triple-A Indianapolis, where Cooper was the manager.

 

Prior to Sunday's game, the last time Erickson saw Cooper was early July of 2004.

 

"I remember the game vividly," said Erickson. "We came back from a long road trip, got back in the middle of the night. We didn't do anything on the field the next day. The game went into extra innings and, to be very honest with you, I wasn't very good at the plate that particular game. But I got up with an opportunity to win the game in extra innings and got the game-winning hit that night. I was feeling pretty good and the atmosphere in the clubhouse was pretty excited. But I was just so dang tired I was looking forward to going back to the hotel and getting some sleep.

 

"That's when he called me in his office. He actually said, 'You're not going to believe this. But we had two middle infielders collide in Double-A and we're going to have to send you to Double-A, just for a series or two, until we can get one of the younger guys ready and then you can come back here.'

 

"And this is after I had been in Triple-A for a while and I had no plans of going backward. And I was kind of like 'You've got to be kidding me.' That's when the big smile came over his face. He said 'You're going to get your chance. You're going to Milwaukee tomorrow.' It was a nice moment for both of us. I gave him a hug, said thanks and got out of there."

 

The two embraced again Sunday near the first-base coach's box prior to the game.

 

"I hope he gets another job and gets back in baseball because talking to him today he really wants to get back into it," said Erickson of Cooper, who spent less than three full seasons managing the Houston Astros before being let go in 2009. "Coming to the ballpark today, you could see he was fired up. I hope it works out for him."

 

***

 

Nice story, more on Cecil Cooper and his visit to Appleton Sunday from the Post-Crescent here and here.

[battlekow]

Brad Krause included a couple shots of Cooper & Erickson in his excellent photo gallery from yesterday.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Coles makes switch from coach to umpire in a pinch

Hitting instructor comes to rescue after umpire Roberto Medina's injury

BY JIM CAWLEY, FLORIDA TODAY

 

A foul tip off the bat of Jupiter Hammerheads designated hitter Brett Hayes set in motion a rare occurrence in the first inning of Tuesday night's Florida State League game against the Brevard County Manatees at Space Coast Stadium.

 

The ball hit home plate umpire Roberto Medina square in the chin. Medina then stumbled backward and fell to the ground in a seated position. Though he was able to return to his feet, he could not continue umpiring the game, leaving just one umpire on the field.

 

Enter Milwaukee Brewers roving hitting instructor and former major leaguer Darnell Coles.

 

At the suggestion of Hammerheads manager Ron Hassey, Coles -- wearing a Brewers uniform -- agreed to be an emergency umpire on the bases, while base umpire Matt Moisan put on the gear and took over behind the plate.

 

So Coles, who just happened to be in town for the game, slipped on a navy pullover and headed out of the Manatees dugout and onto to the field.

 

"I can't say that I've seen that before," Manatees manager Bob Miscik said.

 

As it turned out, Coles did have to make some close calls.

 

"He had two or three bang-bang plays, but he got them correct," Miscik said. "Both Ron Hassey and I knew that things had changed a little bit . . . You've got to play the game. I think both of us really weren't going to say much if he got it wrong -- but every call, he got it right."

 

Jupiter won the game 7-6.

 

According to FSL president Chuck Murphy, league rules also allow the home plate umpire to continue alone -- either behind the plate or behind the pitcher's mound. Or, a player from each team can be on the field as an umpire.

 

"But that doesn't happen very often because you don't want to risk a player getting hurt out there," Murphy said.

 

A final option is contacting one of two local designated umpires who are on call for the game. The home plate umpire would then continue by himself until the local umpire arrived to join him.

 

But that was deemed unnecessary Tuesday night after both managers agreed on Coles as a replacement. Coles, who was traveling and unavailable for comment on Wednesday, willingly accepted the task, Miscik said.

 

The unique situation wouldn't have happened at the Double-A or Triple-A levels, which use three umpires. At the FSL's Class A-Advanced level and below, just two umpires are used.

 

Tuesday's injury delay spanned 20 minutes. Medina was examined thoroughly by Manatees trainer Tommy Craig -- according to Stephen Smith of spacecoastbaseball.com, who was web casting the game -- before being helped off the field. Medina never lost consciousness, and was not taken to the hospital.

 

But he was watched closely by Manatees staff, including general manager Kyle Smith.

 

"I basically was with him the whole evening," Smith said. "It's very important for us to make sure these umpires get taken care of. They're young, they're trying to climb the ladder just like the players are."

 

Murphy said the league will proceed with caution regarding Medina's return to the field.

 

"He's all right, but he's probably going to have to go through some rehab," Murphy said. "He's had a couple concussions before this, so we're going to watch him very closely and go through all the procedures. He's going to be out for a while."