Milwaukee Makes Change to Stars' Coaching Staff

Published on October 11, 2003 under Southern League (SL1)
Huntsville Stars News Release


Huntsville, AL – The Huntsville Stars announced today that the Milwaukee Brewers have made a change to the Stars' coaching staff. Huntsville's pitching coach in 2004 will be Fred Dabney, who spent 2003 as the pitching coach for the Stockton Ports in the California League.

Dabney will enter his fourth season as a minor league pitching coach and first with Milwaukee. Dabney comes to the Brewers from the Texas Rangers, where he previously worked with current Milwaukee General Manager Doug Melvin and Director of Player Development Reid Nichols. In 2003, Dabney helped guide the Ports to a 77-63 overall record and his pitching staff posted an outstanding 3.99 earned run average, second behind Inland Empire's 3.77, the only other Cal League team with an earned run average under 4.00. The Ports' staff allowed just six runs over three games in the Cal League championship series, but Inland Empire still swept the series. Dabney spent the two prior seasons with the Charlotte Rangers in the Florida State League, where his staff logged a league-best 3.40 ERA in 2002 and ranked third with a 3.37 mark in 2001. Fred was with Savannah in the South Atlantic League in 2000 and Texas' Gulf Coast League club in 1999, where his pitchers finished second with a 3.10 ERA. A left-handed pitcher, Dabney played 11 seasons in the Chicago White Sox, Cubs and New York Yankees systems prior to 1999. He was originally chosen in the 15th round by the White Sox in the 1988 June Draft and attended Seminole (Okla.) Junior College. Fred and his wife, Inger, have two sons, Dane and Tanner, and reside in Venice, FL.

Sandy Guerrero will return for his second season as the Stars' hitting instructor after finishing his playing career in 2002 with Tabasco of the Mexican League and Adirondack of the Northern League. In 2003, his first as a hitting coach, Guerrero led a young group of Stars hitters – in the second half, the starting eight averaged 21.5 years old – to a .260 team batting average. In 2002 with Adirondack, Guerrero hit .265, blasted eight homers and drove in 54 runs over 82 games. He played in the Brewers farm system from 1986-1992 with Class A Stockton, Double-A El Paso and Triple-A Denver, where he batted .319 with five homers and 44 RBI in 76 games in 1992. Guerrero played in Taiwan in 1998, hitting .327 with nine homers and 64 RBI. He is the brother of Mike Guerrero, manager of Milwaukee's Dominican Summer League team.

Manager Frank Kremblas will likely return for his third season in Huntsville after being chosen the 2003 Southern League Manager of the Year. In his second year as the Stars' skipper, Kremblas led the team to a 75-63 record, the Southern League West first-half title and the Southern League Western Division Championship. In 2002, Kremblas guided the Stars to a 70-69 record, just missing the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. The 2004 season would be his fifth as a manager or coach in the Brewers system. Before joining the Brewers organization, Kremblas was with the Expos chain from 1997 to 1999.

The Stars open play at Joe Davis Stadium versus the league's new entry, the Montgomery Biscuits, on Thursday, April 8, 2004. For further information, call the Stars office at (256) 882-2562.

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Southern League Stories from October 11, 2003


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