2011 Coaching Thread -- Latest: Mike Guerrero to manage Sounds; Money now a special instructor

[Mass Haas]

A link to the 2010 Coaching Thread for reference only.

 

To kick off 2011, here's the Don Money, Rich Gale, Sandy Guerrero, etc. press release.

[jimmyjeromehardy7]

One quick question and one comment.

 

Does this mean that Money isn't in the running for the Brewers managerial position at all?

 

I didn't realize he was 63 years old already. I can't think that there are too many first time MLB managers that age or older, especially in the last 10 or 20 years.

[brewmann04]

I was under the Impression Money wanted to stay with the Minor league kids.

[Mass Haas]

As part of its press release announcing the formal extension of the Milwaukee / Huntsville relationship, this was also included:

 

The Brewers also announced today that the coaching staff from 2010 will take the field again at Joe Davis Stadium in 2011. The staff will consist of manager Mike Guerrero, pitching coach John Curtis, coach Al LeBoeuf, athletic trainer Aaron Hoback, and strength and conditioning coach Jake Marx. This will be Curtis' third season with the Stars and the second for Guerrero, LeBoeuf, Hoback and Marx. The Stars hold a 67-73 record under the helm of Guerrero.

[packfan79]

I heard from a reliable source that Appleton's own Matt Erickson will be the T-rats new manager with Chris Isom moving up to Brevard County.

[Mass Haas]

I heard from a reliable source that Appleton's own Matt Erickson will be the T-rats new manager with Chris Isom moving up to Brevard County.

From the Rattlers' site, the confirmation in some detail. Chris Hook returns as pitching coach and longtime college coach Dusty Rhodes returns to the Brewers' system after a long absence as the hitting coach.

 

http://www.google.com/url?source=imgres&ct=tbn&q=http://www.ugo.com/images/galleries/dreamwrestlers_games/dusty-rhodes.jpg&sa=X&ei=hKMkTdCEI4LGlQeBzMjVCw&ved=0CAUQ8wc4AQ&usg=AFQjCNEFXYQTfN4dJ_k_o5YKkVmvlx05Kg

 

Cool!

[Mass Haas]

The J-S provides the text from the Brewers with details all the way down to the Dominican Summer League.

[Mass Haas]

Florida Today spoke with Jeff Isom --

Manatees hire new skipper

BY MARK DeCOTIS • FLORIDA TODAY

The Brevard County Manatees have a new manager, their third in the past three years.

Such is life in developmental-level professional baseball.

The Manatees' parent club, the National League's Milwaukee Brewers, announced Wednesday that Jeff Isom, a former minor league pitcher and current manager, will direct the Manatees this coming season replacing Bob Miscik, who was named a roving infield instructor.

Miscik replaced Melbourne's Mike Guerrero at the helm of the top-level Class A Florida State League team last spring. Guerrero moved to Class AA Huntsville, where he will again manage.

Isom, 38, who lives with his wife and two children in West Lafayette, Ind., spent the previous four seasons managing in the Brewers' minor league system. He compiled a 116-161 record over two seasons with the Class A Midwest League Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Previously, he led Class A West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League to a 77-62 record in 2008 and managed Helena to a 48-28 mark in 2007, capturing the first-half title in the Pioneer League's Northern Division.

He will be assisted by pitching coach Fred Dabney (who will begin his seventh season with the Manatees), hitting coach Dwayne Hosey (second season) and athletic trainer Tommy Craig (fifth season).

Isom is looking forward to the opportunity.

"This will be my fifth season with the Brewers organization," he said. "I feel like I'm no different than the players. I want to move up the organization. Hopefully, this will be a stepping stone for me."

He will follow the road map of working with developmental level players.

"Obviously we want the players to get better from when they start the season until the end of the season," he said. "The players are the main objective here. I want the players, once they leave me, not only are they getting work done on the field but they're also working on the professional side of it. Knowing how to act, being on time, all those little things. Trying to develop a complete player.

"You're playing a full season. The main thing I've been trying to teach my guys is . . . you're playing every day. You have to get used to doing that."

Isom will have a bit of an advantage because he expects a number of players he managed at Appleton to be joining him when the Manatees report in April.

Familiarity can only help over the course of the 140-game season played in the heat and humidity of Florida's brutal summer in ballparks notorious for their vast dimensions that challenge home run hitters and favor pitchers.

Isom is aware of the challenges and will tailor his team to the talent he has on hand.

"I am familiar with the league," he said. "They have to realize it's not easy to hit home runs. Hopefully, they get doubles and change the game a little bit. My philosophy is . . . I like to be aggressive on the basepaths, get guys running."

And should they be aggressive and should they run and should they do all the little things correctly, Isom believes winning will follow.

[Mass Haas]

Link while active, text follows:

 

Appleton's Matt Erickson to manage Timber Rattlers

By Mike Woods, Post-Crescent staff writer

About the time Matt Erickson set foot back in Appleton, various members of the Milwaukee Brewers organization kept asking him the same thing:

"Are you interesting in managing?" And his answer was always the same: "Yes."

On Wednesday, both of their wishes came true when the Brewers named Erickson manager of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers for 2011.

"I told them I would like the opportunity, if it became available in Appleton," said Erickson, an Appleton West graduate, who served as the Timber Rattlers hitting coach for the past two years.

"I expressed I wanted to stay in Appleton for the time being. After playing for 15 years, with a young family, I felt it was important to stay in Appleton. I like the stability of playing at home. Having a family life as well as being involved in the game."

Reid Nichols, the Brewers special assistant to the general manager/director of player development, said this was a move two years in the making.

"He expressed an interest in managing, pretty much as soon as he got here," Nichols said. "We've been training him, and this is his time.

"No doubt we like what he's doing. He managed our instructional league team a couple of years ago. He's a good person, first. And he's done a very good job in the position of hitting coach for us."

Nichols believes Erickson, 35, has the right makeup and the right intangibles to succeed in his new position.

"He's a good communicator and pays attention to the game," Nichols said. "He's always prepared and comes ready. Matt will be able to do whatever he sets his mind to do. He'll do a good job as manager.

"It is a unique position. You have to be willing to be on the point and take all the criticism that comes when everything goes wrong, and you have to give all the credit to the players when everything happens right. He's got that leadership, that capability."

As far as the Timber Rattlers are concerned, team president and general manager Rob Zerjav believes it's the perfect fit and the perfect situation.

"I know the Brewers are very, very high on him,'' said Zerjav. "You can just tell when you talk to Reid Nichols, (vice president/assistant general manager) Gord Ash or (general manager) Doug Melvin, who always refers to him as Matty. And putting him in this position shows that they think highly of him.

"From a personal standpoint and from the Timber Rattlers' standpoint, we're very excited about it. He's a good guy, a local guy and that's always a good story. We're excited to see what he brings to the table."

Erickson said he knows his role will change to some degree from the past two seasons, but not his philosophy.

"The manager does have to take a little step back and embrace the whole deal," he said. "But I don't see my personality changing. I'll still be hands-on and I'll stress and teach more on the defensive side of things, and base running. Those will be my main concerns as we go forward this summer as far as teaching on the field."

As for his style, he says he has watched both the good and bad from all his teachers and, above all, believes communication is not only vital, but how you relay the message.

"When you're dealing with young people, with all different backgrounds and personalities, it's very important," Erickson said.

While he has had his share of highlights in his baseball career, including playing for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2004, he said he's not yet sure where this fits in.

"I don't know yet,'' he said. "I'm excited about the opportunity but haven't gone through it. A lot of people around here, myself included, are very excited. I've had the opportunity to hear from a lot of family and friends. I know this is something I've been looking forward to doing, and now I have the opportunity to do it."

The Post-Crescent's Matt Erickson Photo Gallery

[Mass Haas]

Ayrault keeps the game going

By Doug Fernandes, Sarasota (FL) Herald-Tribune

Nice guys don't always finish last. Sometimes they finish first. And sometimes, they win the whole darn thing.

 

But before the former Sarasota High star could turn upside down the words of Leo the Lip, he had to get himself right-side up.

 

Ayrault had to get a job. Whatever it was, a bat and ball would be at its epicenter.

 

"Baseball has been in my blood," he said, "since I played for Dick Lee at Coast Federal at 12th Street Little League."

 

It's still in there, coursing through his veins in not one capacity, but two. The economy didn't outsource or downsize Ayrault's aspirations.

 

He's managed. And continues to.

 

"It worked out perfectly."

 

Some background. For three seasons, Ayrault served as manager of the FSL's Sarasota Reds. His teams lost more than they won, but minor league skippers aren't typically evaluated by wins and losses.

 

By every other accepted metric, Ayrault succeeded. He performed the necessary baby-sitting and hand-holding that comes with being a player's mentor, friend, father, disciplinarian.

 

In each role Ayrault assumed, the Reds were sold.

 

Right up until they were.

 

"I was real disappointed when the Reds left here," he said. "I was considering getting out of the game just because I wanted to be close to home and be with my wife and kids."

 

He wouldn't have to. Jeff Howard, owner of Extra Innings Sarasota, an indoor baseball and softball training facility, offered him a job.

 

Ayrault could stay at home. He could teach baseball. He could impact lives.

 

Hadn't he spent the prior three years doing exactly that?

 

"It was a perfect fit. I was real fired up."

 

Ayrault had his job. In baseball. The Brewers called with another.

 

They needed a manager for their rookie-league team in the Pioneer League. Three months in Helena, Mont., a little longer if the team reached the playoffs.

 

Longer still if they won the title. Ayrault will get his ring in spring training. The Helena Brewers, 2010 champions of the Pioneer League, must have followed directions pretty well.

 

"From Day 1," Ayrault said, "I stressed to those guys team chemistry and a family atmosphere. And these guys really ran with it. It was one of those teams that was special."

 

As was his experiences off the diamond. An avid outdoorsman, Ayrault bagged a 250-pound, 11- point white-tail deer in Indiana using a bow and arrow.

 

"To have this job, win a championship and get the biggest deer of my life, 2010 was a pretty awesome year for me."

 

Before long, Ayrault will leave for spring training in Arizona. He'll return to Sarasota, then head back to Helena in June for the 2011 season.

 

Of course, the Brewers wanted him back. His pupils at Extra Innings probably don't want him to leave.

 

"I get rewarded here seeing it click for the kids," he said. "Seeing the kids smile and seeing the kids get better."

 

The sign outside the Cattlemen Road facility summarizes perfectly Joe Ayrault's perfect life.

 

"Where the Game Never Ends."

 

"That's my lifestyle," he said. "The game never ends for me."

 

PHOTO / DYLAN BROWN (HELENA, MONT.) INDEPENDENT RECORD

Joe Ayrault, manager of the Helena Brewers addresses players during a practice early in the season for the Pioneer League. In his first season, Ayrault led the Brewers to a 41-34 regular season record and their first league title since 1996.

 

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[Mass Haas]

New Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson eager to take on latest challengeBy Dan VanderPas, Post-Crescent assistant sports editor

APPLETON — Tuesday's Red Smith Banquet marked Matt Erickson's first public appearance since the Appleton native was named manager of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

 

And the man who will call the shots on the field for the Brewers' Midwest League Class A affiliate handled the moment well and appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself. After being introduced, he received an impressive ovation from the 1,400 in attendance.

"This is a great place to come to work and a great place to play the game," he said from the podium.

Erickson, 35, was the Rattlers hitting coach for the past two seasons. As the first person with local ties to manage the Fox Cities' Midwest League team since Marion native Bert Thiel headed the Appleton Foxes in the 1970s, he understands that he will have to show his skills when the honeymoon is over.

He's confident that he can do the job just like he has in all of his sports endeavors. It started with a memorable three-sport career at Appleton West and continued in baseball at the University of Arkansas and at the professional level. He also impressed Brewers brass as a hitting coach since they opted to promote him.

You'd think there'd be added pressure for Erickson to succeed as a manager in his own backyard. Expectations are so high because of his winning background in sports as well as that of his retired father, Bruce, who was named to the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame following his success at Appleton West and North.

Although Erickson advanced to the big leagues for only a short stint, it certainly wasn't for lack of effort. The polite kid from Appleton always left it on the field, and there's no doubt that he'll do that as the field boss at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium.

Erickson said he doesn't feel any added pressure to do well before his home fans.

"Anybody who competes will want to be successful and do all that he can to put kids in the best situation possible," he said. "If anything I am more encouraged because growing up in this area, I am getting a lot of support."

Through the years, Erickson has come off as a polite athlete who always appears calm. He's not worried about being too easy going as manager.

"There are times when I get excited," he said. "But to me, if you are excited all of the time and barking all of the time, it loses its meaning. There are a lot of ways to motivate in others ways and to challenge so many personalities. What works on one player might not work for another."

Erickson thanked everyone for the opportunity to manage the team and for their commitment to the community. He said he has established a lot of relationships with sports fans through the years that are still going on today.

Doug Melvin, Milwaukee's general manager, appreciates what Erickson brings to his first managerial position.

"It's exciting for the city and for Matt," he said prior to the banquet. "He was always prepared as a player. He saw the game at a lot of different angles. He's a very dedicated individual. He's going to be able to share his experiences with our younger players. He's got a feel for the entire game. He's not a one-dimensional guy."

With all of the attention he has received since being promoted to manager, Erickson still comes off as the same likeable, down-to-earth kid that he was when he and his sister, Brett, shot baskets at the Appleton YMCA when they were kids. He appreciated the congratulatory comments he received during the banquet. But he made it clear that his role isn't about him. He sees himself as a teacher — a facilitator.

 

"It's really not about me," he said. "When the season starts, it's about the kids who come up here. They are chasing their dream and I am helping them with that. That's my main priority."

 

Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson speaks at the Red Smith Sports Award Banquet in Appleton on Tuesday. (Post-Crescent photo by Ron Page)

 

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[Mass Haas]

Kyle Smith, GM of the Manatees, will be sending out a little Q&A with all of the Sea Cows' coaching staff for the 2011 season, including new

skipper Jeff Isom. If you have any questions you'd like to ask, please send them to Kyle. You can submit questions for Isom, pitching coach Fred Dabney, and/or hitting coach Dwayne Hosey.

 

Send your questions ASAP to ksmith "at" spacecoaststadium.com

 

A chance for you minor league diehards to have some direct involvement in the Q&A's...

[Mass Haas]

Here's a nicely detailed Q&A session Chris Mehring conducted with new Rattler Manager Matt Erickson.

[CheezWizHed]

Is it just me, or does that picture remind anyone else of Dave Bush?

[TooLiveBrew]

Yeah, a little bit. I definitely see it.

[Mass Haas]

Catching On Is Key to Brewers InstructorBy Jim Henry, AOL Fanhouse Senior Writer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Remember Mike Engelberg from the 1976 movie, "The Bad News Bears"?

Engelberg was the Bears' portly, unathletic and volatile catcher, the kid who ate candy bars at practice and cussed at his coach. Charlie Greene Jr., the veteran field coordinator and catching instructor for the Milwaukee Brewers, likes to joke about the Engelberg characterization when he works with both amateur and professional players.

"They put Engelberg back there, but to me catching is a very athletic position," Greene told FanHouse.

"Catching is the most under-taught position in the whole game and you handle the ball the most. I am trying to tell guys in baseball you are spending all this money, millions of dollars on all these pitchers, and you have some kid back there who doesn't know what he's doing. That's going to hurt the pitcher's development."

Greene, 40, who makes his offseason home here in Florida's state capital, departs Tuesday for Arizona and the start of spring training. Ron Roenicke will take the field for the first time as the manager of the Brewers when the team's pitchers and catchers hold their first official workout at Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix.

The Brewers made headlines this offseason with trades for pitchers Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke. Greinke is only two seasons removed from winning the Cy Young Award in 2009, when he posted 2.16 ERA along with 242 strikeouts and a 1.07 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched).

"Everyone is excited because pitching has always been our bugaboo. Just like anyone else, you never have enough pitching," Greene said. "I've never heard an organization say we have too much pitching."

While much improved in pitching, the Brewers are looking to establish a regular catcher. The top returning candidates are Jonathan Lucroy (.253) and George Kottaras (.203).

Greene expects to deliver much the same message to that pair that he did to nearly 30 youth players who attended Greene's Pitcher-Catcher Camp here at Next Level Baseball.

"Hopefully, I am able to show these guys some basic fundamentals that they can build on," Greene said as the players gathered their equipment for the start of the four-hour camp.

"A lot of guys don't want to catch, that's why you see a lot of older catchers in the big leagues. A lot of young guys really don't want to pay the price for it. It's a tough job, a hard job to do, but it's very important."

Many youth baseball players in Florida's Panhandle and South Georgia certainly recognize Buster Posey's name and accomplishments.

Greene also likes to tell the story how Posey wasn't Engelberg -- in any shape or form -- from "The Bad News Bears." Posey was converted from shortstop to catcher at Florida State because of his incredible work ethic, athleticism and desire. Posey was named NL Rookie of the Year last season as he helped the Giants to a World Series title.

"Buster picked it up because he's such a great athlete," Greene explained.

"I tell these kids you are half-pitcher, half-position player. An outfielder doesn't really have to worry about the pitching staff, an infielder really doesn't have to worry about the pitching staff. A catcher does. It takes a very unselfish guy to do that, to put in the time and the effort. You are basically working double.

"For every one Buster Posey, there's thousands of kids who take a while to develop because catching is so difficult and it takes a while to learn."

Greene also stressed to campers they needed to work on their own to sharpen their skills. Even at the professional level, each season begins anew with the most seasoned players working on the most basic skills.

And, naturally, Greene repeated the obvious: Don't take the approach used by Engelberg.

"If you wait on a coach to work with you, you are not going to be that good of a player," Greene said.

"You have to work on receiving, blocking and throwing. All the good ones do those well. They are under appreciated skills, but so important to a team's success."

http://www.blogcdn.com/mlb.fanhouse.com/media/2011/02/charlie-greene-jr-200ml021411.jpg

[Mass Haas]

New baseball season springing up for Huntsville Stars' staff

By Mark McCarter, The Huntsville Times

HUNTSVILLE, AL. -- Lo these many years, 20 as a pro baseball player, now his ninth as a coach in the Brewers' system, John Curtis's body tells him it's time.

http://media.al.com/sports_impact/photo/9286323-large.jpgPhoto by Bob Gathany/Huntsville TimesHuntsville Stars pitching coach John Curtis

You don't need the first warm day or the first birds flying back north. Maybe just the final whistle of the Super Bowl, then the alarm on his body clock starts to bleat.

The alarm tells him, It's baseball season.

"Even when I was away from the game, post-Super Bowl time, the blood starts to boil," Curtis said. "It's simply the after-effects of having played. And this time of the year the body starts to respond like a tree. The leaves start to sprout and the sap starts to run. It's something you don't ever lose."

But if you're Al LeBoeuf, there's no alarm needed. It's baseball season year-round. Such is the life of a minor league coach and the father of high school hot shot in Florida.

"I never got away from baseball," he said.

On Saturday, he and wife Laura even attended a game in West Boca Raton, to watch their son Mac play.

Probably not the ideal occasion for their last evening together until April, considering Sunday was Laura's birthday and Monday was Valentine's Day.

But spring has sprung. Duty calls.

Curtis, the Huntsville Stars' pitching coach, and LeBoeuf, the hitting coach, had a rendezvous in Huntsville Monday.

They moved a few things into the clubhouse, left their cars behind, looked for accommodations for the summer, toured the stadium and did some busy work before flying out early this morning for Phoenix and the beginning of spring training.

 

They'll join Stars manager Mike Guerrero and work with the big league team and its expanded roster until the minor leaguers report in March.

The stadium that greeted them is a work in progress. Any more work going on, it'd have been surrounded by Day-Glo orange cones. The playing field has had layers of dirt shaved away. You always wanted your lawn to look like a baseball field? It probably does now. But fresh sod is en route and draining woes are fixed.

http://media.al.com/sports_impact/photo/9286325-large.jpgPhoto by Bob Gathany/Huntsville TimesHuntsville Stars hitting coach Al Le Boeuf

As for the team that is to appear there April 13 for the home opener - at 6:43 p.m., the new start time for most games, a nod to the 6-4-3 double play in a scorecard - there is much construction to be done, too.

The conversation must begin with Hunter Morris, the Grissom High and Auburn product who was Milwaukee's fourth-round draft pick last June. It'd be a gigantic leap to the Double-A level this quickly, but the Brewers are high on him and he was impressive in the fall.

"That kid can play," said Curtis, who was with him in the Arizona Fall League for top prospects.

No guarantees he'll start in Huntsville, but he'll be given ample opportunity to earn a roster spot.

Curtis expects a "really good" quintet of starting pitchers, but he's uncertain about the relief staff. Ditto the uncertainty for LeBoeuf and the everyday players.

As the coaches arrive in camp, there is a new sense of optimism for the big-league Brewers. A trade for ace pitcher Zack Greinke gives them a much-needed No. 1 starter.

"You gave away a lot of good players (including 2010 Southern League All-Star Lorenzo Cain) but you've still got a pretty good young ball club," Curtis said.

"Offensively," LeBoeuf said, "it gives everybody hope. Especially when you see the kids come up through the system. You see some young guys up there. It gives everybody hope they're going to promote from within and they'll have a chance to play in the big leagues."

Hope. Doesn't that spring eternal?

[dadofandrew]

Charlie Greene was the best defensive catcher I've ever seen. If he could have hit .250, he'd have been a superstar.

[Mass Haas]

Chris Mehring with another insightful interview, this one with new rattler hitting coach Dusty Rhodes.

[Mass Haas]

Sounds pitching coach steps down, cites personal reasonsNashville City Paper

 

Less than a week after he was selected to participate in the 2011 Pacific Coast League All-Star Game, Nashville Sounds pitching coach Rich Gale resigned for personal reasons, according to the team.

 

Gale stepped down over the weekend. The Sounds and their parent club, the Milwaukee Brewers, had no additional comment.

Bill Castro, the Brewers' roving minor league Latin pitching instructor, has replaced Gale on an interim basis. A permanent replacement will be hired at a later date.

 

Gale was in his second season with Nashville. He also spent two seasons (2007-08) with Albuquerque and spent 2009 as a Class A pitching coach in the Washington Nationals organization.

 

He was named a pitching coach for the all-star game (July 13, Salt Lake City) on June 16 but his decision meant that he would not appear there either.

 

The 57-year-old pitched 195 Major League Games over parts of seven season with four different franchises. The majority of his time was with the Kansas City Royals.

 

The Sounds entered Wednesday’s doubleheader against Omaha third in fewest runs (349) and hits (648) allowed and fourth in the PCL in team ERA (4.56).

[Mass Haas]

Rich Gale was a big proponent of the Marco Estrada waiver claim, which paid dividends early this season on the big league level.

[Mass Haas]

Don Money tells us in this audio interview that Chris Bosio will be taking over AAA pitching coach duties from interim Bill Castro (and from Rich Gale prior).

 

Bosio returns to this role from a few years back, he was doing advance pro scout work for the Brewers.

[Mass Haas]

Don Money piles up victories for Nashville Sounds

Manager piles up 189 victories with Sounds

by Greg Sullivan, The Tennessean

 

Nashville Sounds Manager Don Money has been climbing the franchise’s all-time managerial wins list quickly in recent weeks.

“It just means I’ve been here awhile,” Money said, laughing.

The four-time big league All-Star and third-year Sounds manager overtook Pete Mackanin’s 186 wins for fourth place in franchise history Sunday night. He had passed Stump Merrill for fifth (178) on June 9.

He also has the career wins record for the then-Brewers’ Single-A team in Beloit, Wisc., and the Double-AA team in Huntsville, Ala.

With 189 victories, Money is still 131 away from Sounds record-holder Trent Jewett, who has 320. Still, the 64-year-old already has begun to leave his mark among the city’s more memorable managers.

“I’m familiar with all of the managers here, and the one Money reminds me of is Rick Renick (second with 309 wins),” said Larry Schmittou, a long-time former Sounds president and general manager who helped bring baseball back to Nashville in 1978. “They’re both all about fundamentals, and both of them are big on little things.”

But every Sounds manager has brought his own unique personality, Schmittou said.

“Jewett was a real gambler. Pete Mackanin was dealt a bad hand with all free agents, but he did good with what he had.”

Schmittou, though, said he couldn’t compare Money to Merrill because the Sounds were a Double-A team during his tenure.

“It’s totally different,” Schmittou said. “You almost have to be a psychologist to be a Triple-A manager. A Double-A manager has guys enthusiastic about being a prospect. You have a bunch more egos you have to stroke when you’re in Triple-A.”

Money never will claim to be a psychologist, but his frank style of communicating with his players seems to be well-received in the clubhouse.

“He’s a straight shooter. That’s just how he is,” said first baseman Mat Gamel, who played for Money at Double-A Huntsville in 2008 and parts of three seasons with the Sounds before being called up by the Brewers again earlier this week. “There’s no sugarcoating to it, and I respect that.

“I feel like he’s in my corner. I’ll go in there and just shoot the bull with him from time to time. We’ll talk about baseball and talk about life. Some managers aren’t like that.”

He has also made a good impression managing 14 seasons in Milwaukee’s minor-league system.

“Don knows the game quite well and he knows how to maneuver in the course of a game to position his team to win games,” said Dan O’Brien, special assistant to the Brewers general manager of baseball operations. “That never changes. He’s very consistent.”

Money continues to teach his players different lessons along the way.

“I like doing what I’m doing,” Money said. “If I can physically keep doing it, then it’s fine. If they want me to stay here, I’ll stay here. It’s a long season wherever you play.

“I don’t hold guns to anybody’s head and say, ‘I’ve been here for three years.’ You just take it for what it’s worth and leave it at that.”

 

Sounds Manager Don Money, left, holds the career victories mark with two minor-league teams, and has 189 with Nashville. / Photo by Sanford Myers, The Tennessean

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DON MONEY

Age:[/b] 64, born June 7, 1947, in Washington, D.C.

Residence:[/b] Vineland, N.J.

Family:[/b] Money and his wife, Sharon, have two children, Don. Jr. and Shannon, and are grandparents of six.

MLB career:[/b] Hit .261 with 176 homers from 1968-83 for Philadelphia and Milwaukee. Holds MLB record for most consecutive errorless games at third base (88). He was also the first Brewer to start an All-Star game (1978) and played for the Brewers’ 1982 American League champion team.

Career record:[/b] 929-958 in 14 seasons in Brewers minor league organization

Sounds record:[/b] 189-178 in third season.

Managing career:[/b] Spent 1998-2004 at Beloit (Single-A) and went 465-501, leading the club to three playoff appearances. Led Huntsville (Double-AA) to two Southern League championship series and went 275-279 from 2005-08. Was named Southern League manager of the year in 2007. Led the Sounds to winning seasons in his first two years in Nashville.

[Mass Haas]

Sounds coach Sandy Guerrero can serve up home runs

Guerrero will throw to Fielder tonight

by Greg Sullivan, The Tennessean

 

One half of arguably baseball’s best Home Run Derby team used to play his baseball in Nashville. The other half is current Sounds hitting coach Sandy Guerrero.

 

At the Milwaukee Brewers’ 2004 spring training, Prince Fielder, then best known as the son of former big league slugger Cecil Fielder, formed a bond with Guerrero that still goes strong.

 

With Guerrero throwing the pitches, Fielder won the Home Run Derby in 2009 in his second appearance. Fielder didn’t participate last year because he didn’t make the All-Star team, but tonight the pair will look to reclaim the title with Fielder serving as the National League captain.

 

“We always talked about that derby stuff,” Guerrero said. “Even in 2004 he always joked, ‘Hey, when I get to the derby some day I want you to pitch to me.’ And I’d say, ‘Hey man, we’re going to win it.’ We always talked like that, ‘I guarantee we’re going to win it.’

 

“In ’09 we looked at each other and said, ‘We just won the derby.’ It was unbelievable. We had talked about it for five years.”

 

Fielder belted 23 home runs at the 2009 event to defeat Nelson Cruz, another former Nashville Sound who hit 21. In 2007, Fielder had wanted to use Guerrero as his pitcher in his first derby appearance but Guerrero was unavailable, serving as a manager at the Double-A All-Star Game. Fielder hit only three home runs in that derby.

 

“I said, ‘There’ll be other opportunities,’ ” Guerrero said. “ ‘You’re going to keep hitting home runs and keep getting better so we’ll have another chance.’ ”

 

Fielder, who played for the Sounds in 2005, said Guerrero’s return at tonight’s event helps his chances of winning another title.

 

“The pitcher is very important,” Fielder said. “Sandy is a great batting practice pitcher. I’m very comfortable with him. He knows where to throw it — right down the middle.”

 

Guerrero insists that pitching at the Home Run Derby is not as easy as it looks on television.

 

“I’ve seen some guys go in with the intention of throwing batting practice and I’ve seen a handful of them that can’t do it,” Guererro said. “They get so nervous because it’s so overwhelming having a camera on you all the time. You try and have a plan with the guy you’re throwing to about what you’re going to do, but when you go outside and see 60,000 people you think, ‘What if I throw a ball in the dirt?’

 

“But I’ve thrown to these guys so many times. I think that’s why I’m so relaxed.”

 

Guerrero threw to Corey Hart at last year’s derby and a Brewers spokesman confirmed Sunday that Guerrero will also throw to Rickie Weeks at tonight’s event. Guerrero worked with both Hart and Weeks in the minors and at spring training.

 

It’s with Fielder, though, that Guerrero already has a well-planned routine.

 

“He’s got a really short swing, which helps him,” Guerrero said. “We don’t have a time limit so I want him to take as many pitches as he can. I don’t want him to hit another one right away after he hits his first one. I want ‘take, take and boom.’ You get tired quickly when you swing, swing, swing.

 

“I always think my guy’s going to win,” he said. “But it all depends on how he feels in that moment.”

 

SANDY GUERRERO

 

- Age. 45

- Born. April 6, 1966 in Santo Dominigo, Dominican Republic.

- Residence. Huntsville, Ala.

- Family. Wife, Jessica. Guerrero’s brother, Mike, is the manager of Double-A Huntsville. Their father, Epy, is a major-league scout in their native Dominican Republic.

- Coaching career. Sounds’ hitting coach since 2009. Hitting coach at Double-A Huntsville 2003-08.

- Playing career. Played 19 pro seasons after the Blue Jays drafted him as an infielder when he was 18. In his best season, he hit .319 with five home runs and 44 RBI in 76 games for Triple-A Denver in 1992.

[Mass Haas]

Don Money and Sandy Guerrero among those to share All-Star memories