ApL Princeton WhistlePigs

P-Rays Announce 2005 Coaching Staff

December 15, 2004 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Princeton WhistlePigs News Release


Jamie Nelson will return to Princeton in the summer of 2005 for a third consecutive Appalachian League season as manager of the Princeton Devil Rays baseball team and headlines a staff of names familiar to local baseball fans. Joining him will be hitting coach Manny Castillo, and pitching coach Rafael Montalvo while newcomer Kris Russell will assume the duties of athletic trainer.

"We are happy to again see Jamie here and I know that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays regard him very highly as being the best man for the job here in terms of getting players at this first level introduced correctly to what it will take for them to be a success as a professional baseball player," commented P-Rays General Manager Jim Holland while making the December 15 announcement.

Nelson, 45, is third on the Princeton franchise's all-time managerial victory list with 46 wins and prior to his current three-year stint with the P-Rays, was also the team's hitting coach in 2000. He had a 12-year professional playing career as a catcher in the minor leagues with seven organizations: New York Mets (1978-80), Seattle (1981-83), Milwaukee (1984-85), Kansas City (1987), New York Yankees (1988), Anaheim (1989), and Minnesota (1990). He also appeared in 40 major league games as a member of the Seattle Mariners in 1983.

Castillo, 47, also will be returning to Princeton for a third consecutive year in his role as hitting coach. The summer of 2005 will mark his 30th year in professional baseball, including the last 14 years on the coaching side of the business. Immediately prior to the beginning of his Princeton tenure, he was the manager for Tampa Bay's Dominican Summer League affiliate from 1998-2001. Castillo had a 16-year professional playing career as an infielder with the Mets (1973-75), Cardinals (1976-79), Royals (1980-81), and the Mariners (1982-83). The last three seasons of his playing career were the only ones he spent in the major leagues.

Montalvo, 40, enters his sixth season as a pitching coach by returning to Princeton, where he previously held the same coaching position for two seasons (2000-2001). For the past three seasons, he has instructed the pitchers at Tampa Bay's "short season class A" affiliate, the Hudson Valley (NY) Renegades of the New York-Penn League. He pitched professionally from 1980-1997 with his only major league service time being logged as a member of the 1986 Houston Astros. He also pitched in the Dodgers' and Angels' organizations.

Russell, a graduate of the University of South Florida, joins the P-Rays after working in Tampa Bay's Naimoli Baseball Complex in St. Petersburg, FL as an athletic trainer intern last summer. He assisted in the rehabilitation of injured players who were sent back to Florida during the course of their respective 2004 seasons.

Princeton will begin the 2005 Appalachian League season at home with a three-game series versus the Burlington Indians on June 21 through June 23. The team is already accepting orders for box seats and season ticket books for the 2005 season. For more information, please contact the P-Rays by telephone at (304) 487-2000.

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Appalachian League Stories from December 15, 2004


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