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ApL Princeton WhistlePigs

P-Rays Announce 2016 Coaching Staff

January 5, 2016 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Princeton WhistlePigs News Release


Princeton Rays Manager Danny Sheaffer
Princeton Rays Manager Danny Sheaffer
(Princeton WhistlePigs)

Danny Sheaffer, who has led the Princeton Rays to consecutive Appalachian League playoff appearances over the past two seasons, will return to manage the team for a fourth straight year in 2016. He will be joined on his 2016 coaching staff by two familiar faces in Jose Gonzalez as pitching coach and Wuarnner Rincones filling the role of hitting coach. They will be joined by Athletic Trainer Jeremy Spencer, who is receiving his first assignment to Princeton.

The 54-year old Sheaffer enters Appalachian League play this summer as the second winningest manager in Princeton's 29-year franchise history with 105 career managerial victories for the P-Rays, trailing only the 141 wins accumulated by Jamie Nelson, who piloted the local squad from 2003-2007. Following up on his team's 2014 Appalachian League Eastern Division title, Sheaffer guided the team this past summer beyond the semi-final round before falling to the Greeneville Astros in the 2015 league championship series. He also won his first Mercer Cup last year as the Princeton skipper by capturing the 2015 regular season series versus the Bluefield Blue Jays, the cross-county rival of the P-Rays.

As a player, Sheaffer, played parts of seven seasons in the majors primarily as a catcher for Boston, Cleveland, Colorado, and St. Louis during a ten-year span from 1987-1997. He was the number one selection of the Boston Red Sox (20th overall) in the 1981 Major League Baseball amateur draft. He began his coaching career in 1999 and managed at all levels in the minors before joining the Rays organization in 2013.

Gonzalez, 37, will return to Princeton in 2016 for a third consecutive season as pitching coach. The P-Rays' mound staffs over the past two seasons under his instruction have been among the league's best and played an integral role in Princeton's consecutive appearances in postseason play over the past two summers. His professional playing career consisted of pitching three seasons (2000-2002) in the farm system of the Boston Red Sox.

Rincones, returns for his second tour of duty at Princeton as hitting coach after spending the previous four seasons in the same capacity for Tampa Bay's entry in the Gulf Coast League. His first tenure with the P-Rays (2010-2011) saw him tutor many Princeton hitters that are still rising stars in the Tampa Bay farm system, including two, Kevin Kiermaier and Ryan Brett, who have already played at the major league level. As a player, Rincones played five seasons (1991-1995) as an infielder He in the farm system of the Chicago White Sox. He spent the 15 seasons prior to his 2010 arrival in Princeton in various coaching and managerial assignments for the White Sox, Reds, and Rays. The 42-year old Rincones capped off his 2009 season by being the manager for the Venezuelan Summer League champion VSL Rays.

Athletic Trainer Jeremy Spencer will be receiving his first assignment to Princeton this coming summer as part of his sixth season in the Rays organization and his ninth in professional baseball. His previous stops over the past five seasons include two years at Hudson Valley (2011 & 2013), one at Bowling Green (2012), and most recently with the GCL Rays (2014-2015). The 34-year old Spencer is a 2004 graduate of Saginaw State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in athletic training and a minor in Biology.

The Princeton Rays will enter the 2016 season as the Appalachian League affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays for the 20th consecutive year. The team is already accepting reservations for box seats and selling tickets for the 2016 season. Persons needing more information can contact the team either by e-mail at princetonrays@frontier.com or by calling the team office at 304-487-2000.

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Princeton Rays Manager Danny Sheaffer
Princeton Rays Manager Danny Sheaffer
   

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