Jammers Announce 2014 Coaching Staff
January 13, 2014 - New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Jamestown Jammers News Release
Jamestown, NY- The Jamestown Jammers of the New York-Penn league are excited to announce the release of their 2014 coaching staff. This year's staff features a vast amount of Major League Baseball playing experience. Brian Esposito will serve as Manager, Orlando Merced as Hitting Coach, Mark DiFelice as Pitching Coach, Dominic Cappozzo as Athletic Trainer and Anthony Norman as a Player Coach.
Brian Esposito will replace Dave Turgeon as Manager when the Jammers open their season. Esposito was originally a fifth round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2000. Esposito primarily spent his time playing as a catcher. He made appearances with both the St. Louis Cardinal and the Houston Astros. His professional baseball experience began in the New York-Penn league when he played for the Lowell Spinners in 2000.
Orlando Merced will serve as the Jammers Hitting Coach. With 13 years of Major League Baseball experience, Merced has the most distinguished career of any prior Jammers coaching staff member. Over the course of 1391 career games Merced batted .277, with 103 home runes, while splitting time between Right Field and First base. Merced, a native of Puerto Rico, was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1985. He spent time in the majors with the Pirates, Astros, Blue Jays, Expos, Twins, Red Sox and Cubs.
Mark DeFelice has the most recent Major League experience of the Jammers and will be the Pitching Coach for the Jammers in 2014. DeFelice was drafted by the Rockies in the 15th round of the draft. He played parts of three seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers, finishing up his Major League career in 2011.
Dominic Cappozzo and Player Coach Anthony Norman are returning members from the Jammers 2013 staff. They were an integral part of the Jammers 2013 playoff run and should help ease the transition of introducing other new coaching staff members.
With this top notch coaching staff that has an array of Major League experience, the 2014 season hopes to build on the momentum gained from the first season as a Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate. General Manager Matthew Drayer noted, "last summer was great for baseball at Diethrick Park. The Jammers had an exciting team that competed everyday and brought us to the first round of the playoffs. We hope these great coaches we have added are able to bring us even farther in 2014."
With the coaching staff finalized, season tickets are now on sale. They serve as a way to attend games at a heavily discounted rate. For more information on season tickets and all the latest updates on the Jamestown Jammers, call the Jammers office at (716) 664-0915 or visit them online at www.jamestownjammers.com. Be sure to follow the Jammers on Facebook & Twitter!
The Jamestown Jammers are the Class A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are owned by a local Buffalo company, Rich Products Corporation, which also owns the AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals and AAA Buffalo Bisons.
New York-Penn League Stories from January 13, 2014
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- Jammers Announce 2014 Coaching Staff - Jamestown Jammers
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