{"id":9110,"date":"2010-11-04T15:00:58","date_gmt":"2010-11-04T22:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=9110"},"modified":"2010-11-04T15:00:58","modified_gmt":"2010-11-04T22:00:58","slug":"helping-world-series-phenom-buster-posey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/11\/04\/helping-world-series-phenom-buster-posey\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping World Series Phenom Buster Posey"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Ken Joyce <\/strong>was talking mile a minute.\u00c2\u00a0 He had input for any of my questions, many times offering more than I knew to ask.\u00c2\u00a0 How he got started in baseball, his time in the Florida Marlins <\/strong>and Toronto Blue Jays <\/strong>organizations, the big names he has worked with, his years managing and coaching in\u00c2\u00a0 Independent leagues.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 He had every reason to be excited.\u00c2\u00a0 Who wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be?<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Joyce is now part of the San Francisco Giants <\/strong>baseball operation.\u00c2\u00a0 The World Champion <\/strong>Giants.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 To say he had an interesting season as the hitting coach for the Giants\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Triple-A team, the Fresno Grizzlies<\/strong>, would be an understatement.\u00c2\u00a0 Game 4 pitching hero Madison Bumgarner <\/strong>was 7-1 at Fresno, rookie catching phenom Buster Posey <\/strong>played nearly 50 games for the Pacific Coast League <\/strong>team before taking over behind the plate and eventually hitting cleanup for the parent Giants<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 World Series MVP Edgar Renteria, Pat Burrell <\/strong>and standout second baseman Freddy Sanchez <\/strong>all made brief appearances with the top farm club.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 And the capper was that the Giants brought Ken Joyce <\/strong>and his 11-year-old son Tommy, now a very popular sixth grader at home in Portland, ME<\/strong>, to Games 1 and 2 of the Fall Classic.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, and all of this for a man now trusted to help the likes of the 23-year-old Posey, a likely franchise star for the next decade, with their hitting even though Joyce did not play a single game of professional baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 He did play in the NAIA College World Series <\/strong>representing Southern Maine<\/strong>, and he spent time in the Northeast League, <\/strong>which preceded today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Can-Am League<\/strong>. He was a coach at the remote village of Mountaindale, NY <\/strong>for the Catskill Cougars <\/strong>in 2000 <\/strong>and he spent part of the next season managing the Adirondack Lumberjacks <\/strong>in Glens Falls, NY.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Van Schley <\/strong>hired me as the hitting coach in Catskill\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, Joyce recalled, with obvious joy when he returned my telephone call from Portland.\u00c2\u00a0 Schley has been in various ownership roles since the Independent game started in 1993, most recently as primary boss of the Can-Am\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Brockton, MA <\/strong>franchise. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0The Catskill gig took place after Joyce\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s six-year run with the Marlins ended, during his time as a middle school physical education teacher and before his 2002-09 tenure with Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 A year later Adirondack was in turmoil in mid-season, about the time Joyce\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s school year ended, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I agreed I would take the (managing) job as long as Darryl Motley <\/strong>(who had been managing) stayed as designated hitter.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Posey Was Not \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcDriving the Ball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Ken Joyce <\/strong>did not take any special credit in helping to mould Buster Posey<\/strong>, even though he hit a career-high .347 with an on-base percentage of .442 for his 47 games in Fresno.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That young man is way ahead of his time,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the hitting coach praised.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I told him, no offense, but the best hitting coach you will ever have is yourself.\u00c2\u00a0 He knows how to make his own adjustments.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Modesty aside, Joyce said the Giants\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 line when Posey reported to Triple-A after spring training was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not driving the ball; and he needs to cover the inside better\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.\u00c2\u00a0 That became the project.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0* * * *<\/p>\n

www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/a> ADDED TO www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

FOR ADDITIONAL INDEPENDENT BASEBALL COVERAGE?<\/strong><\/p>\n

* * * *<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0Bridgeport Manager Also Remembers Giants Fondly<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 One present day Independent manager also has fond memories of his days as first base coach and as minor league hitting coordinator at San Francisco.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>The onetime major league slugger Willie Upshaw<\/strong>, who manages Bridgeport, CT <\/strong>in the Atlantic League<\/strong>, especially recalls the first time he saw No. 2 starter Matt Cain<\/strong> as one minor league spring training was winding down.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh my, look at his arm and his stuff\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, Upshaw related, with similar enthusiasm a few years later.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0Top \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcProspects\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Getting Jobs<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It almost seems that methodically, one by one major league organizations are purchasing the contracts of prime Independent Baseball players.\u00c2\u00a0 Baseball America <\/em>came out with its list of top 10 prospects, and the first three already have departed.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Boston <\/strong>inked outfielder Matty Johnson (Gateway, Sauget, IL, Frontier League), Atlanta <\/strong>came after right-handed pitcher Wes Alsup (Joliet, IL, Northern League) <\/strong>and the Braves <\/strong>also took first baseman Chris Garcia (Shreveport-Bossier, LA, American Association) <\/strong>which leaves righties Ryan Sheldon <\/strong>and Bobby Pritchett<\/strong>, both with Normal, IL <\/strong>of the Frontier on the bubble as Nos. 4 and 5.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0(This is an excerpt from the column Bob Wirz writes year round on Independent Baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 Fans may subscribe at <\/em><\/a>www.WirzandAssociates.com, enjoy his blogs, <\/em>www.AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>www.IndyBaseballChatter.com<\/em><\/a>, or comment to <\/em>RWirz@aol.com<\/em><\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 The author <\/strong>has 16 years of major league baseball public relations experience with Kansas City and as spokesman for two Commissioners and lives in Stratford, CT.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Ken Joyce was talking mile a minute.\u00c2\u00a0 He had input for any of my questions, many times offering more than I knew to ask.\u00c2\u00a0 How he got started in baseball, his time in the Florida Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays organizations, the big names he has worked with, his years managing and coaching in\u00c2\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,4746],"tags":[12077,10848,542,5396,11192,52,12076,3828,12079,12080,10715,4839,3644,112,61,12078,571,12081,2286,4248],"class_list":["post-9110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-indy-baseball-insider","tag-adirondack-lumberjacks","tag-buster-posey","tag-can-am-league","tag-college-world-series","tag-edgar-renteria","tag-florida-marlins","tag-francisco-giants-baseball","tag-freddy-sanchez","tag-fresno-grizzlies","tag-glens-falls-ny","tag-madison-bumgarner","tag-pacific-coast-league","tag-pat-burrell","tag-professional-baseball","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-san-francisco-giants-baseball","tag-second-baseman","tag-son-tommy","tag-toronto-blue-jays","tag-world-series-mvp"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}