Dave Joppie and Kevin Walker Named Coaches
Portland, Maine - The Boston Red Sox have announced the Portland Sea Dogs coaching staff for the 2015 season. Eastern League Manager of the Year Billy McMillon will return to manage the Sea Dogs for a second season. McMillon will be joined by hitting coach Dave Joppie, pitching coach Kevin Walker and athletic trainer Brandon Henry. Ben Crockett, Boston's Director of Player Development, made the announcement.
In his first season managing the Sea Dogs, Billy McMillon led the Sea Dogs to a franchise-high 88 wins (previous best: 86 in 1995) for an 88-73 record in the Eastern League's Northern Division and their first playoff appearance since 2008. The Sea Dogs fell to the Binghamton Mets in the Eastern League Semifinals, 3-2, in the best-of-five series. McMillon was named the 2014 Eastern League Manager of the Year, the second Sea Dogs manager to receive the honor in the club's 21-year history (Carlos Tosca, 1996).
The 2015 season will be McMillon's sixth as a minor league manager and eighth coaching in the Red
Sox organization. The 43 year-old, has a career managerial record of 387-330 (.540). He led the Salem Red Sox to the 2013 Carolina League Championship. In 2010 and 2011, he managed the Low-A Greenville Drive and led the Drive to a South Atlantic League Championship Series in his managerial debut in 2010. Prior to managing the Drive, he served two seasons as the Drive's hitting coach from 2008-2009.
McMillon spent parts of six seasons in the Major Leagues with the Florida Marlins (1996-1997), Philadelphia Phillies (1997), Detroit Tigers (2000-2001), and Oakland Athletics (2001-2004) hitting .248 in 269 career games.
The Florida Marlins drafted McMillon in the eighth round of the June 1993 draft. The outfielder spent the 1995 season with the Portland Sea Dogs where he appeared in 141 of the Sea Dogs 142 games that season. He hit .313 with 29 doubles, 14 home runs, 93 RBI, 15 stolen bases and walked a franchise record 96 times, earning a selection to the Eastern League Year-End All-Star squad. His .423 career on base percentage with the Sea Dogs ranks second in franchise history behind Kevin Youkilis' .487 mark. He collected 162 hits in 1995, which ranks second in franchise history for most hits in a single season, behind Kevin Millar's record of 175 in 1997.
McMillon earned a B.A. from Clemson University and a MBA from the University of Phoenix. He lives in Columbia, South Carolina with his wife and two children.
Dave Joppie returns to Portland for his sixth season as the Sea Dogs' hitting coach after spending the 2013 and 2014 seasons in the same role at Triple-A Pawtucket. Joppie replaces Rich Gedman in Portland, who will serve as the hitting coach in Triple-A Pawtucket in 2015. Joppie, 49, enters his 21st season in professional baseball and his 10th with the Red Sox organization. He helped guide the 2014 Pawtucket Red Sox to the International League Championship. In 2012, he spent the off-season coaching in the Arizona Fall League. Prior to joining the Sea Dogs in 2008, he was the hitting coach for High-A Lancaster in 2007, where the JetHawks established California League records with 1,081 runs scored and 217 home runs. The club also paced the league in average (.296), hits (1,493), and walks (672) under Joppie's instruction. Joppie first joined the red Sox organization in 2006 as the hitting coach for High-A Wilmington. He coached in the Oakland athletics system from 1995 to 2005, where he managed the Single-A Kane County Cougars in 2004 and 2005. He led the Cougars to the Western Division Championship with an 83-56 record in 2004 and was named the Midwest League Manager of the Year and Baseball America's Class Low-A Manager of the Year.
Kevin Walker, 49, joins the Sea Dogs as the pitching coach. replacing Bob Kipper. who will move up to serve in the same capacity with the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox in 2015. Walker spent the past four seasons as the pitching coach for the High-A Salem Red Sox. He has also been the pitching coach for Low-A Greenville in 2010 and Short-Season A Lowell in 2009. A left-handed pitcher, Walker pitched six seasons in the Major Leagues with the San Diego Padres (2000-2003), San Francisco Giants (2004) and Chicago White Sox (2005). In 211 big league games, Walker notched a 7-3 record with a 4.76 ERA.
Brandon Henry returns for his fourth season as the team's athletic trainer. The 2015 season will be Henry's ninth in the Red Sox organization. Previously. he spent two seasons as the athletic trainer for the Salem Red Sox (2010-2011). He has also spent a season with the Greenville Drive (2010) and two seasons with the Lowell Spinners 2008-2009). With Lowell in 2008, he was named the New York-Penn League Athletic Trainer of the Year. He holds a bachelor's degree from Xavier (OH) University and a master's degree from West Virginia University. Previously, he has held athletic training positions with the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians and the University of Cincinnati men's soccer and baseball teams. Henry was born in Beckley, West Virginia and resides in Hollywood, Florida.
The Sea Dogs open the 2015 season on Thursday, April 9th at 6:00 PM at Hadlock Field against the Reading Fightin Phils. Tickets for the 2015 season and the Eastern League All-Star Game are now on sale. Book your nine inning vacation by calling the Sea Dogs ticket office at 207-879-9500 or order online at www.seadogs.com.
Managerial Career- Billy McMillon
YEAR
|
CLUB (ORG)
|
LEAGUE (Level)
|
W
|
L
|
PCT.
|
2010
|
Greenville (BOS)
|
South Atlantic (A)
|
77
|
62
|
.554
|
2011
|
Greenville (BOS)
|
South Atlantic (A)
|
78
|
62
|
.557
|
2012
|
Salem (BOS)
|
Carolina (A)
|
68
|
69
|
.496
|
2013
|
Salem (BOS)
|
Carolina (A)
|
76
|
64
|
.543
|
2014
|
Portland (BOS)
|
Eastern (AA)
|
88
|
54
|
.620
|
Totals
|
387
|
311
|
.554
|
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