After spending eight seasons as a player, player/coach and coach with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, Jeremy Owens will manage the Atlantic League baseball club in 2016.
Continue reading “Owens to manage Southern Maryland Blue Crabs”
Former Southern Maryland Blue Crabs star Patrick Osborn will manage the Staten Island Yankees this season, Robert Pimpsner of Pinstriped Prospects reported yesterday.
Osborn, 33, who holds several franchise records for the Atlantic League team as a player, managed the Blue Crabs to two consecutive playoff appearances before leaving to manage the New York Yankees’ Gulf Coast League affiliate last season.
Former major league pitcher Butch Henry, 46, will serve as Staten Island’s pitching coach in 2015. He had a 33-33 record with a 3.83 ERA, playing for the Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies, Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners from 1992-1999. He is an original Colorado Rockie and was the last pitcher in major league baseball to hit an inside-the-park home run.
Ty Hawkins, 47, will return for his tenth season as the Staten Island Yankees’ hitting coach, while former New York Yankees top prospect Eric Duncan, 30, will round out the team’s coaching staff.
I enjoy the ferry ride to Staten Island’s Richmond County Bank Ballpark, so I try to make the trip at least once each summer. If I get out there this year, I will have to remember to wear my Blue Crabs cap.
Yankee fans, what do you think of Staten Island’s 2015 coaching staff?
Lance Burkhart will become the third manager in Southern Maryland Blue Crabs franchise history this season, the team announced today. The 39-year-old former catcher had served as the hitting coach for the Lancaster Barnstormers for the last four years.
Burkhart replaces Patrick Osborn, who left the Blue Crabs to manage one of the New York Yankees’ two affiliates in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League.
Meanwhile, the Sugarland Skeeters announced that manager Gary Gaetti has agreed to a three-year contract extension. A two-time Major League Baseball All-Star, Gaetti has been the manager of the Skeeters since they entered the Atlantic League in 2012.
In other news, the Somerset Patriots announced that hitting coach Shane Spencer and pitching coach Cory Domel will return for the 2014 season yesterday.
I remember Burkhart and Osborn from their playing days, and I’m happy to see them get a chance to move forward in their coaching careers.
And maybe this year, I’ll finally have a chance to get Shane Spencer’s autograph.
You can follow Paul’s Random Baseball Stuff on Facebook or Google+, see my photos on Flickr and Instagram, and follow @PaulsRandomStuf on Twitter, where I talk about about a variety of things in addition to baseball.
The Atlantic League is looking to the future, and has re-arranged its two divisions for the 2014 season.
The Somerset Patriots and Southern Maryland Blue Crabs will switch places.
“This division alignment prepares the Atlantic League for the creation of the Western Division as teams are added in Texas, and other markets, over the next few years,” said Atlantic League President Peter Kirk in a statement. “It will also create a well-balanced travel schedule and continue to enhance fun, local rivalries amongst the four Liberty Division teams which are within close proximity of one another.”
Now if only somebody could come up with more memorable names for the Atlantic League’s current divisions…
All four Atlantic League playoff teams were in action Wednesday night.
The Somerset Patriots took a commanding two-games-to-none lead in their best-of-five series with the Sugar Land Skeeters with their 3-2 victory. (box) Somerset’s David Harden and Sugar Land’s Jason Lane (yes, the former Houston Astros outfielder) matched up fairly evenly, each allowing two runs. But the Patriots’ bullpen was better than the Skeeters’. Somerset’s Eddy Martinez-Esteve and Sugarland’s Koby Clemens (yes, Roger’s son) hit home runs.
After a travel day on Thursday, the Freedom Division series resumes at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater at 7:05 p.m. on Friday.
The Long Island Ducks bested the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 6-2 in the first game of the Liberty Division series on Wednesday night. (box) John Brownell earned the complete game victory for the Ducks, striking out 12. Nick Schwaner and Jeremy Owens hit home runs for the Blue Crabs, while Bryant Nelson and Adam Bailey homered for the Ducks.
The series continues Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. at Bethpage Ballpark in Central Islip, N.Y.
PaulHadsall.com 