Pete Incaviglia Named Field Manager Former Major League Spent 12 Seasons in the Major Leagues
Written by admin, Apr 20, 2011, 0 Comments
Courtesy Xochitl Mora,
Laredo, TX—Ventura Sports Group, the partnership bringing independent baseball to a new state of the art $18MM baseball and multi-use stadium in Laredo, TX in May, 2012 has announced the hiring of former Texas Ranger Pete Incaviglia as the team’s first Field Manager.
“We are so fortunate to have Inky come aboard as the team’s first Field Manager,” said Mark Schuster, Managing Partner of Ventura Sports Group. “Inky knows how to build a winning franchise from the ground up and is widely regarded as one of the good guys of baseball. Pete can often be seen signing autographs and teaching the game to young fans everywhere through his camps and clinics,” Schuster added.
“Laredo has always had a long and proud history with baseball, and I am confident that this new chapter in our city’s venture with this storied sport will be as exciting and fulfilling as in the past; especially, with someone whose Texas roots run deep,” said City of Laredo Mayor Raul G. Salinas.
A California native, Incaviglia is widely regarded as the best college player of all time due to his record-setting career at Oklahoma State University. In three seasons with the Cowboys, Incaviglia recorded 100 home runs in 213 games, and had a career slugging percentage of .915. He still holds the NCAA records for career home runs and for home runs and RBIs in a season.
In 1985 (his junior year at Oklahoma State University), Incaviglia was selected Baseball America’s NCAA Player of the Year, establishing NCAA single-season records in homers (48), RBIs (143), slugging percentage and total bases all in just 75 games. In January of 1999, he was named the College Baseball Player of the Century by an assortment of fans and a panel of baseball experts that included George Will, Bob Costas, and Steve Wulf. In 2007, he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame and in August 2010, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
Incaviglia was the eighth overall pick in the 1986 Major League Baseball draft, but was immediately traded to the Texas Rangers where he became only the 15th player in draft history to debut in the majors without playing minor league ball. Pete hit at least 20 home runs in each of his first five seasons in the big leagues and made stops in several places including Philadelphia, Houston, Detroit, Baltimore, and Japan. Incaviglia played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1986 through 1998. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series in 1993 before retiring in 1998 with lifetime totals of 206 home runs, 655 RBIs and a .246 average.
Following his playing career, Incaviglia also spent three seasons coaching in the Detroit Tigers farm system before becoming the Field Manager for the Grand Prairie AirHogs of the American Association from 2008 thru the 2010 season.
“I am so excited to be part of the Laredo community as we build this ballpark to open in May, 2012,” stated Incaviglia. “The excitement surrounding this new ballpark is unlike anywhere I have been and my staff and I have already begun working on putting together a winning team for our inaugural season.”
