Tourists Announce 2010 Coaching Staff
January 6, 2010 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Asheville Tourists News Release
ASHEVILLE - One day after "family" was the prevailing theme at the press conference announcing the purchase of the Asheville Tourists by DeWine Seeds Silver Dollar Baseball, LLC, the South Atlantic League team learned it will welcome back four familiar faces to the 2010 coaching staff, headed by manager Joe Mikulik.
A resident of Candler, Mikulik is slated to return to the Tourists' dugout helm for the 11th consecutive season. The skipper will be joined by hitting coach Kevin Riggs, pitching coach Dave Schuler and trainer Billy Whitehead. The four men served in the same capacity in Asheville during the 2009 campaign.
"It's really a big advantage going into a season knowing the men you'll be working with," Mikulik said. "As with anything in life, whenever you're working with someone for the first time, it takes a while to learn one another. We won't have that challenge this season, which should really help the staff get the most out of the players the Colorado Rockies send to Asheville."
Mikulik has more victories than any other manager in Asheville history, and enters the 2010 season with a 712-668 record as the Tourists' skipper. The Texas native earned South Atlantic League all-star honors while playing for Asheville in 1985 and has since managed in the annual contest on four occasions. Mikulik is a three-time SAL Manager of the Year (2001, 2007, 2008), with 49 of his former players having reached the major leagues.
Riggs enters his second season as the Tourists' hitting coach and his third slate overall with the Rockies. Prior to serving as the hitting coach of the Casper Ghosts in the Pioneer League in 2008, Riggs spent nine seasons playing professional baseball. He toiled in four different major league organizations, including the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians, and posted a.300 batting average in 528 career minor league games. He also played a season in China for the China Trust Whales, where he was named the league's Most Valuable Player.
Schuler also will be in his second season with the Tourists as the team's pitching coach. Schuler, who has more than 18 years of coaching experience, spent the 2008 season as the pitching coach of the Tri-City Dust Devils, while his previous coaching duties came with the Baltimore organization from 2000-2004, serving as the pitching instructor for the Delmarva Shorebirds and Bowie Baysox. Prior to joining the Orioles' organization, Schuler served three seasons as a pitching coach in the Taiwan major leagues. He started his coaching career after playing parts of three seasons in the major leagues, including one year (1985) with the Atlanta Braves.
Whitehead will be the Tourists' trainer once again after spending the 2007 and 2008 seasons as the trainer of the Casper Ghosts in the Pioneer League. Whitehead is a 2005 Athletic Training graduate of Texas Tech University, where he also served as a trainer for the Red Raider baseball team.
The Tourists open their 2010 season at McCormick Field on April 8th against the Lakewood BlueClaws. Season ticket packages are currently available at the McCormick Field box office. For more information, contact the Tourists front office at (828) 258-0428.
South Atlantic League Stories from January 6, 2010
- Aponte Named Legends Pitching Coach - Lexington Legends
- Hall Of Famer Andre Dawson To Appear At July 1st BlueClaws Game - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Tourists Announce 2010 Coaching Staff - Asheville Tourists
- Torre Tyson Returns For Fourth Season As RiverDogs Manager, Ware Back - Charleston RiverDogs
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