SPOKANE, WA – The Spokane Indians will have the luxury of a combined 24 years of Major League Baseball experience sitting on their bench when the 2005 season of Northwest League Baseball rolls around in June. After former Major League Manager Greg Riddoch was named Indians Manager earlier this month, the Texas Rangers announced today that former Seattle Mariners Mark Whiten and Glenn Abbott will join the Indians in the 2005 season as Hitting and Pitching Coaches, respectively.
Although Mark Whiten played for eleven seasons with eight different teams, he is best remembered for one record-setting game on September 7, 1993 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. In the second game of a double-header, Hard Hittin' Whiten, as he was known around the league, rewrote the Major League Baseball record books by smashing four massive homeruns and driving in 12 of the St. Louis Cardinals 15 runs. Both accomplishments tied existing Major League records. During his eleven-year career, Whiten hit 105 homeruns, including 25 in 1993 with the red birds. A career .259 hitter, the switch-hitting Whiten drove in 423 runs in his career. Although his stay in Seattle was brief in 1996, Whiten made an instant impact with the Mariners, hitting 12 homeruns, driving in 33 runs and batting .300 in 40 games. Originally a 5th round selection in the 1986 Major League Draft, Whiten played his last Major League game in 2000 with the Cleveland Indians.
Indians fans will surely remember the name and face of Spokane's new Pitching Coach, former Seattle Mariners pitcher Glenn Abbott. Abbott, who has been the Pitching Coach of the Rangers' AAA affiliate in Oklahoma City for the past two seasons, has guided the RedHawks to a 4.41 team ERA over the last two seasons in the 16-team Pacific Coast League. Abbott was in the Mariners' starting rotation for six-years, winning a career-high twelve games on two separate occasions. In 1977, his first year in Seattle, Abbott went 12-13 with a 4.45 ERA and equaled that win total in 1980 during a 12-12 campaign with a 4.10 ERA in which he tossed two complete game shutouts. In eleven big league seasons, Abbott compiled a 62-83 record with a 4.39 ERA. Each of the past two seasons, the Indians have led the Northwest League in team ERA with ERA's of 3.38 and 3.73 in 2003 and 2004 respectively.
Riddoch and staff will get their first taste of Northwest League action on Monday, June 21st as the Indians open the 2005 season on the road in Eugene, Oregon to take on the Emeralds. The Indians 2005 home opener is Sunday, June 26th at 6:30 PM versus the Everett AquaSox at Avista Stadium. Ticket packages to see Greg, Mark, Glenn and the rest of the 2005 Spokane Indians are on sale now. To reserve your seats today, call the Indians at (509) 535-2922 and be sure to Make It An Indian Summer!
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