CarL1 Wilmington Blue Rocks

Royals Name Rocks Manager

Published on November 17, 2006 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Wilmington Blue Rocks News Release


KANSAS CITY, MO - The Kansas City Royals announced that former Blue Rocks manager John Mizerock will return to Wilmington to serve as Blue Rocks manager for the 2007 season. Former major leaguer Nelson Liriano was named hitting coach and Mark Stubblefield was named the trainer. The Royals will announce Wilmington's pitching coach at a later date.

As Wilmington welcomes the return of the Royals for the 2007 season, the Blue Rocks have a familiar face at the helm. Mizerock was the manager of the Blue Rocks from 1995-97, compiling a record of 225-193 (.538). His previous three seasons included three half championships, two Northern Division titles and one Carolina League Mills Cup championship in 1996.

The Punxsutawney, PA native spent nine seasons as a manager in the Royals minor league system with stops in Eugene (1993; SS-Northwest), Rockford (1994; A-Midwest), Wilmington, Wichita (1998-99; AA-Texas) and Omaha (2000-01; AAA-Pacific Coast).

In 2002, Mizerock joined the Royals' major league staff as the bullpen coach. He reached the pinnacle of his profession when he was named interim manager of the Royals from April 30-May 14, replacing Tony Muser. He went 5-8 in 13 games before returning to the bullpen as part of Tony Pena's coaching staff. Mizerock served as third base coach for the Royals in 2003-04 and returned to the minor league operations staff as the catching instructor for the past two seasons.

Selected by the Houston Astros in the first round of the 1979 draft, Mizerock was a catcher for parts of five seasons at the major league level (1983-89). He homered in his major league debut on August 16, 1983 at Cincinnati. After the 1986 season, he signed with Montreal in December, before signing with Atlanta in April 1987. He played for both Richmond (AAA-International) and Atlanta for the next three seasons and retired following the 1990 season at Richmond.

The skipper was named Manager of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. In 1996, he garnered the Dick Howser Award for outstanding contributions to the Royals organization for player development.

Liriano will join the Blue Rocks staff as hitting coach in 2007. The Puerto Plata, D.R. resident spent 11 seasons at the major league level, including Toronto (1987-90); Minnesota (1990); Kansas City (1991); Colorado (1993-94); Pittsburgh (1995-96); Los Angeles Dodgers (1997); and Colorado (1998). He played in Japan and Mexico in 1999 before retiring.

Liriano managed in the Colorado Rockies system for the Dominican Summer League from 2000-01. He joined the Royals in 2002, serving as the Wichita (AA-Texas) hitting coach for the next four seasons. Last year, he served in the same position for the Arizona Royals (R-Arizona).

Stubblefield enters his fifth season with the Royals as a minor league trainer. The St. Petersburg, FL resident served as trainer for Low-A Burlington (MID) for four seasons. Stubblefield joined the Royals organization as a trainer at Spokane in 2002 after spending the 2001 season as the athletic trainer for the Cincinnati Reds Gulf Coast League club in Sarasota. Stubblefield earned a B.S. in athletic training from Indiana State University in 2000 and an M.S. in athletic training from California University of Pennsylvania in 2001.

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Carolina League Stories from November 17, 2006


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