Beavers' Ready Returns for 2009 Season

Published on December 17, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Portland Beavers News Release


PORTLAND, Ore. - The San Diego Padres today announced that Randy Ready will return for a second season as the manager of the Portland Beavers in 2009. It was also announced that hitting coach Max Venable and pitching coach Glenn Abbott once again will join Ready on the Beavers field staff.

Additionally, the Padres announced that Wade Yamasaki has been named Portland's athletic trainer for the upcoming season, which begins April 9.

Padres vice president of scouting and player development Grady Fuson made Wednesday's announcements.

Ready, 48, returns to the Beavers after guiding them to a 70-74 record in 2008, his first season managing at the Triple-A level. Recognized for his efforts in his first year with Portland, Ready was singled out as the Pacific Coast League's "Best Manager Prospect" in Baseball America's annual "Best Tools" survey of the league's field managers.

Ready, who will mark his eighth season as a minor league manager in 2009, led Class AA San Antonio to a 73-66 (.525) overall record and a Texas League championship in 2007, receiving the Padres' Jack Krol award at season's end in recognition of his overall contributions to player development in the system.

The 2009 campaign is Ready's sixth in the Padres organization, as he guided San Diego's Class A Fort Wayne affiliate for three seasons previously (2004-06).

Prior to joining the Padres, Ready spent the 2002 and 2003 seasons managing Detroit's Class A affiliate in Oneonta. He was named the New York-Penn League Manager of the Year in 2002 after leading the Tigers to a 47-27 (.635) record and a division title.

Overall, Ready has compiled a 443-406 (.522) record in seven seasons as a minor league skipper.

As a player, Ready was a fifth-round selection of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1980 draft and played parts of 13 seasons in the major leagues with the Brewers (1983-86), Padres (1986-89), Philadelphia (1989-91; 1994-95), Oakland (1992) and Montreal (1993). During his major league career, Ready batted .259 with 107 doubles, 21 triples, 40 home runs, 239 RBIs and 312 runs scored over 777 games.

Ready and his wife, Tracy, have six sons and reside in Poway, Calif.

Venable, 51, returns for a second season as Portland's hitting coach after serving in the same capacity at Class A Lake Elsinore (2007) and Fort Wayne (2005-06) previously.

He came to the Padres organization after serving as the hitting coach for Cincinnati's Class A affiliate in Dayton during the 2004 season. Venable's previous coaching experience also includes five years in the Atlanta Braves minor league system (1994-98).

Originally selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round of the 1976 draft, Venable played 12 major league seasons with San Francisco (1979-83), Montreal (1984), Cincinnati (1985-87) and California (1989-91). The outfielder hit .241 with 57 doubles, 17 triples, 18 home runs, 128 RBIs and 64 stolen bases in 727 major league games.

Venable resides in San Rafael, Calif. His son, Will Venable, is an outfielder in the Padres organization who played most of the 2008 season with Portland.

Abbott, 57, also marks his second season with the Beavers after serving as a Class AA pitching coach for the Padres at Mobile (2006) and San Antonio (2007). He came to the San Diego organization after three seasons as a pitching coach in the Texas Rangers system. Abbott was the pitching coach at Class A Spokane in 2005 and served in the same role at Triple-A Oklahoma for the 2003 and 2004 campaigns.

Previously, Abbott coached 13 seasons in the Oakland Athletics minor league system. He originally joined the Athletics as a coach for Class AA Huntsville in 1990 and rounded out his time with the organization as the pitching coach at Class A Modesto for three seasons (2000-02).

Abbott made his coaching debut with the New York Mets organization in 1985 with Class A Little Falls and coached in the Mets' system through 1989.

A right-handed pitcher, Abbott compiled a 62-83 record with a 4.39 ERA and 37 complete games over 248 appearances (206 starts) during an 11-year playing career in the major leagues with Oakland (1973-76), Seattle (1977-81; 1983) and Detroit (1983-84). On Sept. 28, 1975, he appeared in the first four-pitcher no-hitter in major league history, combining with Vida Blue, Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers against the Angels on the final day of the regular season.

Abbott resides with his wife, Patti, in North Little Rock, Ark. The Abbotts have three children and five grandchildren.

Yamasaki joins the Beavers for a first season, his 10th in the Padres organization, after most recently serving as the athletic trainer at San Antonio during the 2007 and 2008 campaigns.

He began his career as an intern with the Padres training staff in 2000 before being named the athletic trainer for Class A Eugene in 2001, a role he held through the 2003 season. From there, Yamasaki was the athletic trainer for the rookie-level Arizona League Padres from 2004-06.

Yamasaki, who graduated from Mililani (HI) High School, earned a degree in education with an emphasis in athletic training from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He and his wife, Jodi, reside in Mililani, Hawaii, and have one daughter, Arie.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from December 17, 2008


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