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Vipers Name Manager

March 2, 2005 - Northern League (NL)
Calgary Vipers News Release


Peter Young, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Calgary Vipers today announced the signing of former Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Mike Busch as the Northern League expansion team's first Field Manager. The 6'5", 245 pound Busch was a two-sport All-American (football and baseball) at the Iowa State University.

For the past two seasons Busch has tutored under former Toronto Blue Jays skipper Tim Johnson at Lincoln, Nebraska in the Northern League. Prior to that he played in the league for four seasons.

Vipers first baseman Greg Morrison touted the arrival of Busch. "Bushie will command instant respect in our locker room and on the field", said the Calgarian who will finally get a chance to play in his home province. "He's an imposing presence who expects and demands complete effort from his players."

Foothills Stadium is quite familiar to Busch who hit many a towering home run in the park while a member of the Albuquerque Dukes in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

Known as an accomplished recruiter, Busch, from Story City, Iowa will immediately begin assembling the Vipers playing roster for the inaugural season. He will relocate to Calgary in Mid-April.

Also introduced today was Pitching Coach Steve Maddock who will be instrumental in assisting Busch in player personnel decisions. Maddock joins the Vipers staff from the Mid-Missouri Mavericks of the Frontier League where he acted as Pitching Coach and Director of Player Procurement. In 2002 he won the Central League championship as skipper of the San Angelo Colts. He has also been a Manager with the Frontier League's Windy City ThunderBolts. The right-hander pitched for the Duluth-Superior Dukes in the Northern League in 1997.

Busch, an accomplished hitting coach in Lincoln, will name a Bench Coach for the Vipers before heading to the Northern League Free Agent Camp in Arizona April 4-5.

Young and Vipers owner Jeffrey Gidney will also attend the league's Spring Meetings in Phoenix April 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

Also named to the Vipers front office staff today were Assistant General Manager Travis Tinning and Director of Retail Operations Branden Young.

The Vipers will play open training camp at Foothills Stadium on Monday, May 9, 2005.

They will play four pre-season games against the Edmonton Cracker-Cats before starting the season. Their regular season home opener is Friday, May 27th against the Joliet Jackhammers.

The Vipers are pleased to announce that First Calgary will be the first official game sponsor on opening night.

Considered the premier league in Independent baseball, the Northern League has propelled more than 30 players into the majors. Included in that group are Calgary native and former Winnipeg Goldeyes pitcher Jeff Zimmerman (Texas Rangers), St. Paul Saints outfielders Darryl Strawberry (Yankees) and J.D Drew (Cardinals), Winnipeg pitchers Bobby Madritsch (Seattle), Jeff Sparks (Tampa Bay) and George Sherrill (Seattle) and St. Paul infielder Rey Ordonez (Tampa Bay).

Season Tickets and Mini-Packs for all Vipers games are on sale through the Vipers Ticket Hotline (403) 235-BASE (2273).



Northern League Stories from March 2, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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