March 29, 2024
Annapolis, US 40 F

New Manager For The Baysox

The Bowie Baysox and the Baltimore Orioles announced the Baysox coaching staff for the 2011 season.  Baltimore native Gary Kendall becomes the 13th manager in franchise history and is joined by Field Coaches Denny Hocking and Einar Diaz, Pitching Coach Kennie Steenstra and Athletic Trainer Aaron Scott.  Steenstra is the only holdover from the 2010 coaching staff.

Kendall opens his 12th season in the Orioles organization after spending the last three seasons managing the class Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds, where his teams went a combined 100-123.  Prior to managing, he was the Field Coach for the Bluefield Orioles (2000-2001) and the IronBirds (2002-2003) before making his managerial debut with Bluefield in 2004.  After that season he spent three years as the manager for class Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds (2005-2007).  Kendall graduated from Sparrows Point High School in Baltimore and played at the Community College of Baltimore and Atlantic Christian College.

Hocking enters his second year of professional coaching in his second year in the Orioles organization.  He spent last season as the Field Coach for the class Single-A Frederick Keys.  The Keys finished second in the Carolina League with a .267 batting average and finished third in the league with 475 walks.  Originally a 52nd round draft pick by the Minnesota Twins, Hocking played 13 seasons in the big leagues with Minnesota (1993-2003), the Colorado Rockies (2004) and the Kansas City Royals (2005).  In 2000, Hocking became the first player in Major League history to play at least 10 games at seven different positions.

Joining Hocking as Field Coach is former Major League catcher Diaz, opening his fourth season in the Orioles organization.  Diaz spent the last two years managing the Bluefield Orioles after spending the 2008 season as the Field Coach for the Bluefield Orioles and the Aberdeen Ironbirds.  Over two years as a manager in Bluefield, he compiled a record of 56-80.  In his playing career, Diaz logged 673 games over 11 Major League seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Montreal Expos and St. Louis Cardinals.

Steenstra returns for his second season in Bowie and seventh season in the Orioles organization.  Under his tutelage last season, Baysox pitchers combined for a 3.97 team ERA.  Steenstra was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 12th round of the 1992 First Year Player Draft and made his major league debut in Chicago on May 21, 1998.  He pitched 11 years professionally, spending seven years in the Cubs organization before playing for the Orioles, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves, Cardinals and Arizona Diamondback organizations.  In 2002, he pitched in six games for the Orioles class Triple-A affiliate in Rochester.

Rounding out the Baysox coaching staff is Athletic Trainer Aaron Scott.  Scott began his coaching career as Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Delmarva Shorebirds in 2004, spent a year as the Orioles Florida Trainer (2005), before stops as the Athletic Trainer for the Bluefield Orioles (2006), Aberdeen Ironbirds (2007-2008) and Delmarva Shorebirds (2009-2010).

The Baysox 2010 campaign has come to an end.  The Baysox open the 2011 season on the road in Harrisburg Thursday, April 7.  They play their first game at Prince George’s Stadium Thursday, April 14, at 7:05 p.m.  Baysox ticket packages are now available at www.baysox.com.

Previous Article

Regional Recap, February 2, 2011

Next Article

15 County Educators Names As Semi-Finalists

You might be interested in …