The Beloit Snappers coaching staff will have some familiar faces to it for the
upcoming season. Manager Nelson Prada, pitching coach Gary Lucas and trainer Alan
Rail will all be coming back to Beloit for the 2009 campaign. Joining those three
will be new hitting coach Rich Miller, who will be replacing Rudy Hernandez.Prada will begin his second season at the helm for the Snappers and fifth overall as a manager in the Twins' organization. Last year he led Beloit to a 71-67 overall record, the third consecutive season the Snappers have been over the .500 mark.
Prior to the '08 season, Nelson spent three years as the manager of the GCL Twins. He went a combined 91-72 in those three seasons, good enough for a .558 winning percentage. Prada was signed by the Twins as a non-drafted free agent in 1995 and played four minor league seasons before being released in 1999. He then spent 2001-2003 as the manager of the VSL Twins and was also the Twins' Venezuela Academy Coordinator. He and his wife, Barbara, reside in Barquisimeto, Venezuela in the offseason.
Gary Lucas will return to the Snappers for his second consecutive season and third overall. Last season Lucas came back to Beloit after spending the '06 and '07 seasons with the New Britain Rock Cats in the same position. Gary was the pitching coach for the Snappers in '05 and also spent five seasons (2000-2004) on the coaching staff of the Quad Cities River Bandits.
Gary spent eight seasons as a major league pitcher for three different teams including the San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos and California Angels. During those eight years he posted a career 3.01 ERA and recorded 63 saves. In the offseason his resides in Rice Lake, Wisconsin with is wife Taffee.
Rich Miller comes to Beloit after spending last season as the roving Triple-A and Double-A baserunning/outfield coach. This will be Miller's fifth season in the Twins' organization and 36th season overall (31 with the New York Mets).
Rich was drafted by the Mets in the sixth round of the 1973 draft out of West Chester State University (PA). He and his wife, Patty, reside in Lebanon, Pennsylvania in the offseason.
Alan Rail is heading back to Beloit for his fifth season as the Snappers Athletic Trainer and sixth season with the Twins overall. Rail attended Weber State where he earned a bachelors degree in Athletic Training. He went on to receive his Masters in Health and Human Development from Montana State. Rail resides in Midway, Utah during the offseason.
The '08 coaching staff will all be returning with the exception of former hitting coach Rudy Hernandez. Rudy will now be coaching for the GCL Twins, a team he once managed. Next year will be Hernandez's 14th season in the Twins' organization that have included stints with the GCL Twins and Elizabethton Twins. Next year will be the first season, since the Snappers have been a Twins' affiliate, that Rudy has not been the hitting coach.
Former Snapper manager Jeff Smith (2006-2007) will be back to coach the Fort Myers Miracle in 2009. Last season he led the Miracle to an overall record of 74-56 and a first-half Western-Division championship, just one year removed from getting the Snappers within one game of their first Midwest League Championship since 1995.
Joining Smith next year with the Miracle will be former Snapper pitching coach Steve Mintz. Steve will be rejoining Jeff after spending last season in the same position for the New Britain Rock Cats.
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