Freedom Hire Former Reds Minor League Star as Manager
Published on November 3, 2008 under Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
Florence, KY - The Florence Freedom announced today Toby Rumfield has been named Interim Field Manager and Director of Baseball Operations. He will also oversee the Amateur Baseball program at Champion Window Field.
Rumfield has been in baseball 19 years and is a former second round draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds. Most recently he was the field manager of the River City Rascals also in the Frontier League. The '08 Rascals occupied first place in their division early in the season before player injuries and signings resulted in a 47 - 49 record and fourth place finish in the Western Division. During his first season at the helm in '07, Toby completely re-built the Rascals with an entirely new roster from the previous season. With the talent expected to return for the Freedom in '09, Toby feels that all he needs to do is add a few pieces to the puzzle to compete for a Frontier league championship.
"The situation here in Florence is different than with my old team because the foundation of players has already been set," mentioned Rumfield. "Since we have that core group I have high expectations for the players to produce a winning team in 2009. I am honored Clint Brown would consider me as the 2009 Florence Freedom's manager and am looking forward to this opportunity."
Rumfield is also the husband of Freedom GM Kari Rumfield.
President/CEO Clint Brown likes his new manager, "I'm confident this is the first instance in professional baseball of a married couple simultaneously occupying leadership roles in both the front office and in the field," he said. "While we are fortunate to have a highly experienced baseball man like Toby Rumfield available to us, this will be a one-year arrangement. After coaching the Freedom next season, Toby will continue to chase his dream of coaching in affiliated baseball and we will begin our search for a permanent manager for our ballclub."
Rumfield opens the 2009 season with the Freedom at Champion Window Field on Wednesday, May 20th at 11:05am against Midwest.
Toby Rumfield Background:
Rumfield was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 1991 and spent 6 years with the organization. He was MVP of the team (Princeton Reds) his first year where he was flown in with former teammate Trevor Hoffman to the MVP presentation and met with Marge Schott. In 1994 he was MVP of his team in Winston-Salem where he hit 29 home runs and was selected to the Carolina League All-Star Team.
Rumfield then spent three seasons in the Atlanta Braves organization where he was teammates with Mark Derosa, Marcus Giles, and Jason Marquis. In 1999 he was awarded the John M. Zwack III Award for Most Community Minded Player within the Braves organization. He also led the league in fielding percentage as a first baseman while in the International League.
Rumfield's first major league baseball experience when the Braves brought him to Atlanta to play in their 1999 and 2000 exhibition games. His first major league baseball hit was on March 29, 2000 off of Dodgers pitcher Kevin Brown.
In 2001, Rumfield signed a one-year contract with the Chicago White Sox and spent that season playing with Joe Crede and Aaron Rowand in Charlotte (AAA) where he hit 20 home runs. The next season he signed with the Montreal Expos where he was roommates with current Reds second baseman Brandon Philips.
He was then traded to the Florida Marlins where he spent the season in Calgary (AAA) with the Marlins organization where he was the catcher for a no-hitter thrown against the Iowa Cubs. Rumfield finished his affiliated playing career with the Cardinals and Astros organizations.
In 2003 Rumfield signed with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks where he concluded his playing career. He ranked third in the Northern League in hitting and helped the team win the 2003 Northern League Championship.
Rumfield's first experience as a Field Manager was with the San Angelo Colts (Central League) in 2004. He only managed half of that season because he was contacted about an opportunity to be an Area Supervisor for the Kansas City Royals. After two years as a scout for the Royals Rumfield signed on to manage the River City Rascals. While managing the Rascals he was also a part-time area scout for the New York Mets.
2009 Season Ticket packages are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting Champion Window Field or by calling the Freedom office at (859) 594-HITS.
The Florence Freedom are a member of the Frontier League, a 12-team Independent Professional Baseball League established in 1993. The Freedom play a 96 game schedule with 48 home games between late May and early September.
Frontier League Stories from November 3, 2008
- Freedom Hire Former Reds Minor League Star as Manager - Florence Y'alls
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