SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

Ledesma Named RiverDogs Manager, Colbrunn to Return as Hitting Coach

Published on January 24, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


CHARLESTON, SC - The New York Yankees have announced that Aaron Ledesma, the former hitting and third base coach of the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, will manage the Charleston RiverDogs in 2011.

He replaces Greg Colbrunn, who resides year-round in nearby Mt. Pleasant and who held the post for one season. The Yankees also announced that Colbrunn will return as the team's hitting coach, a spot he held for the three seasons prior to his managerial debut.

Ledesma will be introduced to the Charleston baseball community during the 7 th Annual Hot Stove Banquet, set for Jan. 28 at The Citadel's McAlister Field House that features recently-retired Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox.

"Aaron is a successful coach and a great person who is ready to manage," said Mark Newman, the New York Yankees' senior vice president of baseball operations. "We firmly believe that he will do a fine job in Charleston.

"This is in no way a demotion for Greg, (Colbrunn) as we thought he did a great job as manager of the RiverDogs last year," Newman added. "He is terrific at coaching hitters, and that is where his passion is."

In the two seasons that Ledesma spent in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the International League club captured consecutive North Division Championships.

Ledesma joined the Yankees organization for the 2008 season as the hitting coach for the High-A Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League. During that campaign, the T-Yankees finished fourth in the league in doubles, tied for sixth in triples and boasted the third-lowest strikeout total in the FSL.

As a player, Ledesma was drafted in the second round of the 1990 Major League Baseball Draftby the New York Mets and made his major league debut on July 2, 1995. Prior to the 1996 season, he was traded by the Mets to the Angels, where he spent the season in the minors. The Union City, Calif. native became a minor league free agent after the season, and signed with the Baltimore Oriolesin 1997, where he hit a robust .352 over 43 games.

He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Raysfrom Baltimore as the 62nd pick in the 1997 Major League Baseball expansion draft. The utility infielder played 188 games over two years with Tampa Bay, but was traded to the Colorado Rockiesbefore the start of the 2000 season.

Colbrunn will begin his fourth season as the RiverDogs' popular hitting coach. A sixth round pick by Montreal in the 1987 First-Year Player Draft, Colbrunn served as manager of the RiverDogs in 2010 after three seasons as hitting coach. Although the team suffered through a 65-74 campaign - the RiverDogs' first losing season since 2002 - Colbrunn instructed an offense led by infielder Rob Lyerly, who was named to the SAL's Postseason All-Star Team after finishing with a .312 batting average to lead the squad and rank third amongst all SAL hitters while adding seven home runs and 71 RBI.

From 2007-09 and under Colbrunn's tutelage, the RiverDogs never finished worse than fourth in the SAL in team batting average and featured several individual highlights. In 2007, third baseman Mitch Hilligoss sported a league-record 38-game hitting streak that lasted from April 17 to June 1.

Colbrunn, a lifetime .289 hitter in 992 major league games, spent 13 seasons in the major leagues with stints with Montreal, Florida, Minnesota, Atlanta, Arizona, Colorado and Seattle. He won a World Series ring playing for the Diamondbacks in 2001 when the team ironically defeated the New York Yankees, who had won the previous three World Series titles from 1998-2000.

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South Atlantic League Stories from January 24, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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