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SAL1 Charleston RiverDogs

Torre Tyson Returns For Fourth Season As RiverDogs Manager, Ware Back

January 6, 2010 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston RiverDogs News Release


CHARLESTON, SC - The New York Yankees have announced that Torre Tyson will return for his fourth season as manager of the Charleston RiverDogs and pitching coach Jeff Ware will also be back for the 2010 campaign.

Tyson, who was named the RiverDogs manager by the Yankees initially in December 2006, returns for his sixth season in Charleston having also spent the 2005 and '06 seasons as the team's hitting coach.

The Yankees also announced that former major leaguer Carlos Mendoza will serve as the team's first-base coach.

"Starting with Torre Tyson we think that the Charleston RiverDogs will again have an exceptional on-field staff of quality coaches and teachers," said Mark Newman, the Yankees' Senior Vice President for Baseball Operations. "They will have a lot of support from guys like Pat Roessler (Director of Player Development) and our minor league coordinators."

"Returning for a sixth season gives my staff and me a chance to continue to develop young players in the Yankees organization while enjoying the familiar perks that come with the Charleston RiverDogs," said Tyson, a St. Louis native. "There isn't a better situation in Minor League Baseball, and it is going to be tough to pry my returning staff and me from continuing to coach here."

Tyson directed the RiverDogs to a seventh straight winning season in 2009 with a 74-65 record while notching his 200th victory as RiverDogs manager on June 29. In his three years as skipper, Tyson has posted an overall record of 232-186 (.555 winning percentage) and is already the winningest manager in RiverDogs history. Two of the Top-10 prospects in the Yankees system played under Tyson in 2009 (No. 6 LHP Manny Banuelos and No. 10 RHP Andrew Brackman), while he also managed three others on the list (No. 1 C Jesus Montero, No. 2 C Austin Romine, and No. 5 RHP Zach McAllister).

In 2008, Tyson guided the RiverDogs to an 80-59 overall record tying the franchise record for victories in a single season, when the 2005 RiverDogs posted an 80-58 mark. Charleston also set new standards with a 20-6 record in the month of April, which set a franchise record for victories in a single month, and a 45-25 record in the first half, setting another franchise mark for wins in a single half.

"I am lucky to have another year with the same staff and look forward to trying to improve from last year," Tyson added. "The fans keep getting better each year at The Joe, and we can't wait to get back on the field."

"We are extremely excited to have Torre back as our manager," said RiverDogs General Manager Dave Echols. "He has proven himself to be one of the best young managers in all of Minor League Baseball and has done a fine job getting players ready for the next level."

A former University of Missouri standout, Tyson led the RiverDogs to a 78-62 overall record in 2007 that included a second-half mark of 41-29, the same number of wins that Southern Division winner Columbus had. The RiverDogs missed the playoffs by virtue of winning percentage, in which the Catfish bested in the RiverDogs thanks to five fewer losses in the second half.

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Tyson spent three seasons as a player in the Red Sox organization before joining the Yankees, where he played for three minor league seasons and reached the AA level. After his playing career, Tyson spent time with the Yankees' squad at short-season Class-A Staten Island and with the Gulf Coast League Yankees before coming to Charleston.

As the RiverDogs' hitting coach, Tyson helped groom 1B/DH Ben Jones into the Charleston professional baseball all-time leader in home runs (35) and RBI (165).

Ware, who enters his fifth full season as a professional coach, will again serve as the RiverDogs' pitching coach in 2009. Ware had the benefit of working with some of the top young arms in the Yankees organization, as 12 RiverDog pitchers were promoted during the season. The highest statistical accomplishment came at the end of August, with the RiverDogs staff combining to toss 33 consecutive scoreless innings over three straight shutouts, both firsts in RiverDogs history.

Leading the charge among the hurlers was RHP David Phelps, who posted an impressive 10-3 record in 19 starts before a mid-season promotion to High-A Tampa. The former Notre Dame standout still finished tied for fourth in the SAL in wins, tied for sixth in the loop with a 2.80 ERA and led the league with a.769 winning percentage in being named to the SAL Postseason All-Star Team.

Switch-pitching dynamo Pat Venditte saved 20 games in the first half of the '09 season to lead the league and earn a spot on the SAL Midseason All-Star Team. Venditte, whose unique pitching prowess was profiled on E:60, *The CBS Evening News* and by ESPN columnist Rick Reilly, permitted a miniscule five earned runs in 30.2 innings while fanning 40 batters. The Creighton University product finished with a 2-2 record and a 1.47 ERA in 28 games.

Charleston fans also received a very pleasing look into the past, as record-breaking closer Jonathan Ortiz returned to Charleston after a 2008 season in which the Dominican Republic native posted 33 saves to pace the circuit. This time around, the crafty 5-10 hummer allowed only four earned runs in 28.2 innings of work over 24 appearances, while converting all nine save opportunities. In the process, Ortiz set a Charleston professional baseball record with 42 career saves.

Not to be outdone, however, were the two aforementioned players who are now ranked in the Top-10 among all Yankees prospects, according to *Baseball America,* in Manny Banuelos and Andrew Brackman. The 18-year-old Banuelos registered a 9-5 record in his first full season of pro ball, while his 2.67 ERA in 25 games (19 starts) would have ranked fourth-best in the league, but the Mexico native fell just shy of the innings requirement. Brackman, a two-sport star at N.C. State, tied for the team lead in starts with Banuelos and Phelps, and also finished second in innings pitched (106.2) and strikeouts (103).

Prior to coming to Charleston, Ware spent the '07 season in the same position with the Staten Island Yankees, and was with the North Shore Spirit of the independent Can-Am League in '06. There, he guided the team's pitching staff to a league-best 58 wins and a 2.78 combined ERA.

Ware, who spent the fall of 2009 coaching in Hawaii, was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round of the 1991 Draft (35th overall) out of Old Dominion University, where he went 22-9 in three seasons. His professional career was highlighted by a two-year stint with the Blue Jays during the 1995 and '96 seasons.

The Virginia Beach, Va., native also made stops in the Milwaukee Brewers, Anaheim Angels and Chicago White Sox organizations, and was also a member of Team USA in the Pan-American Games, where he won a bronze medal in 1991.

Mendoza joins the RiverDogs for his first season as first-base coach. After retiring as a player early in 2009 with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (AAA), the Venezuela native joined the coaching staff for the Staten Island Yankees of the short-season New York-Penn League (NYPL) and promptly helped them to a league title for the first time since 2006.

Originally signed by San Francisco as a non-drafted free agent in 1996, the utility infielder played a combined 28 games in majors with the Mets and Rockies.

Also returning for the RiverDogs are Vinnie Colangelo as clubhouse manager and Scott DiFrancesco as trainer. The Yankees are expected to name the hitting coach next week.

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