Billy McMillon Named PawSox Manager for 2019
Published on December 7, 2018 under International League (IL1)
Pawtucket Red Sox News Release
The Pawtucket Red Sox and the Boston Red Sox are pleased to announce that Billy McMillon has been named as the new PawSox manager for the 2019 season. Red Sox Vice President of Player Development Ben Crockett made the announcement.
McMillon, 47, has been Boston's Minor League Outfield & Baserunning Coordinator for the past three seasons after a six year stint as a manager in the Red Sox system...2010 & '11 with Greenville (low-A), 2012 & '13 with Salem (high-A), and 2014 & '15 with Portland (AA). Billy has actually spent the past 11 seasons in the Red Sox organization beginning with a stint as Greenville's hitting coach in 2008 & 2009. He replaces Kevin Boles, who had been manager of the PawSox from 2014-18 before leaving the organization following the 2018 season.
McMillon's 12-year playing career included parts of six seasons in the major leagues as an outfielder with the Florida Marlins (1996-97), Philadelphia Phillies (1997), Detroit Tigers (2000-01), and Oakland Athletics (2001-04). He had 6 HR in 66 games for the A's in 2003 and appeared in three games during the Division Series against the Red Sox that season (won by Boston, 3 games to 2).
Billy made his coaching debut in 2008 as the hitting coach for the Greenville Drive (2008 & 2009) before making his managerial debut in 2010 as the Drive skipper. During that 2010 season he led Greenville to the South Atlantic League Championship series where they lost to Lakewood, 3 games to 1. Christian Vazquez was his regular catcher on that team.
He was promoted to manage Salem in 2012 on a team that featured Vazquez as catcher, regulars such as SS Xander Bogaerts, 1B Travis Shaw, and CF Jackie Bradley, Jr., along with pitchers Matt Barnes and Brandon Workman who each made 20 starts apiece. In 2013, McMillon led the Salem Red Sox to the Mills Cup Championship (their first since 2001) by sweeping Myrtle Beach (2 games to 0) and Potomac (3 games to 0) in the post-season. Mookie Betts (50 games at second base), catcher Blake Swihart, reliever Robby Scott, and infielder Matthew Gedman (Rich's son) were key players on that championship club.
Billy's progression continued when he moved to Double-A Portland in 2014 where he was named Eastern League Manager of the Year after guiding the Sea Dogs to a franchise-record 88 wins and the 2014 Eastern League Northern Division title. Portland was defeated in the playoff semi-finals by Binghamton, 3 games to 2.
His 2014 Sea Dogs, who had the best winning pct. in all of Double-A Baseball (88-54, .620) featured Betts, Swihart, Shaw, and Scott along with starters Brian Johnson (who went 10-2 with a league-leading 1.75 ERA) and Eduardo Rodriguez following his trade from Baltimore. Prior to this upcoming season with the PawSox, McMillon's last year as a manager came in 2015 with the Sea Dogs on a team that included familiar names such as infielders Marco Hernandez, Tzu-Wei Lin, Mike Miller, and Jantzen Witte.
Overall in his six seasons as a minor league manager, McMillon has a career record of 440-400 (.524). He has spent each of the last three seasons (2016-18) as Boston's Minor League Outfield and Baserunning Coordinator which has included stops at McCoy Stadium.
Billy McMillon was born in Otero, New Mexico and resides in Columbia, South Carolina with his wife, Krista, and children, Kennedy (17) and Jackson (14). Billy earned a B.A. from Clemson University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. During his three year career at Clemson (1991-93), he had the highest career batting average (.382) of any former Tiger. He was selected by the Marlins in the 8th round of the 1993 June draft.
BILLY McMILLON'S LIFETIME MANAGERIAL RECORD (6 years)
YEAR CLUB LEAGUE W L PCT
2010 Greenville South Atlantic (A) 77 62 .554
2011 Greenville South Atlantic (A) 78 62 .557
2012 Salem Carolina (A) 68 69 .496
2013 Salem Carolina (A) 76 64 .543
2014 Portland Eastern (AA) 88 54 .620
2015 Portland Eastern (AA) 53 89 .373
Career Totals 440 400 .524
In 2014, Kevin Boles became the fifth PawSox manager during a six year span following Ron Johnson (2005-09), Torey Lovullo (2010), Arnie Beyeler (2011-12), and Gary DiSarcina (2013). Those four were all promoted to big league coaching staffs directly from the PawSox as Johnson became Boston's 1B coach in 2010, Lovullo was Toronto's 1B coach in 2011 and then Boston's bench coach in 2013, Beyeler was Boston's 1B coach in 2013, and DiSarcina took the Los Angeles Angels 3B coaching job in 2014. Boles won the 2014 Governors' Cup Championship with the PawSox during his first season and went on to compile 345 wins during his five year tenure in Pawtucket.
The complete list of all-time PawSox managers...
Darrell Johnson 1973
Joe Morgan 1974-1982
Tony Torchia 1983-1984
Rac Slider 1985
Ed Nottle 1986-1990
Johnny Pesky 1990
Butch Hobson 1991
Rico Petrocelli 1992
Buddy Bailey 1993-1996, 2002-2004
Ken Macha 1997-1998
Gary Jones 1999-2001
Ron Johnson 2005-2009
Torey Lovullo 2010
Arnie Beyeler 2011-2012
Gary DiSarcina 2013
Kevin Boles 2014-2018
Billy McMillon 2019-
International League Stories from December 7, 2018
- Billy McMillon Named PawSox Manager for 2019 - Pawtucket Red Sox
- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to Host 2020 Triple-A All-Star Game - Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders
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