Mister Baseball

by USA Baseball, www.usabaseball.com

USAB names 2009 World Cup coaches

Rodriguez veteran of 2000 gold medal-winning Olympic staff

CARY, N.C. – USA Baseball announced Eddie Rodriguez as manager of its 2009 World Cup Team on Thursday. Rodriguez and his staff will lead a U.S. team made up of players not currently on 25-man big league rosters in the 38th installment of the International Baseball Federation’s (IBAF) biennial world championships.

Joining Rodriguez on the defending World Cup champion U.S. squad are pitching coach Kirk Champion, hitting coach Ernie Young, 3rd base/bench coach Jamie Quirk, and bullpen coach Rolando “Roly” de Armas. Rodriguez, Champion, Young, and de Armas are all veterans of past USA Baseball teams.

“We couldn’t be happier with the staff we have put together for the 2009 World Cup,” said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO. “Having won our first title in 33 years in 2007, we wanted to put together a staff that we felt confident would continue our momentum and keep the World Cup trophy in the United States.”

Eddie Rodriguez is a former minor league shortstop and manager, and is also a former first base coach with the Seattle Mariners and third base coach with the Toronto Blue Jays. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 1978, spending five years in the minors with the Orioles and California Angels. He was also the third base coach with the gold medal-winning 2000 U.S. Olympic Team. Rodriguez is currently a special-assignment coach in the Kansas City Royals organization.

Kirk Champion’s resume includes collegiate head coach and assistant coaching jobs, and he currently serves as the minor league pitching coordinator for the Chicago White Sox. He also has USA Baseball experience, having been the Team USA pitching coach in the 2001 Baseball World Cup (silver) and 2006 COPABE Olympic Qualifying Tournament (gold).

A veteran of eight major league seasons with five different clubs, Ernie Young also won a gold medal as an outfielder with the U.S. Olympic Team in the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia. He also played for the 2003 Olympic Qualifying Team. After serving a season as the hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox’s rookie-level team, he was named manager of Class A Kannapolis for the 2009 season.

Jamie Quirk spent 18 seasons in the major leagues with eight teams, including three different stints with the Kansas City Royals. He also played in three World Series – winning a title as a member of the 1985 Royals – and he coached in one as well with the 2007 Colorado Rockies. He played all field positions except pitcher at some point during his career, and added DH as well.

A former minor league catcher who served as manager at several stops in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, and most recently was a bullpen coach for the 2008 World Champion Phillies club, Roly de Armas has been with USA Baseball since 2006, serving as a coach on the 2006 Olympic Qualifying Team, 2007 World Cup Team and the 2008 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team.

The World Cup Team will first gather in Cary, N.C. at the USA Baseball National Training Complex where it will train from Sept. 2-6. It will work out on Sept. 2 and square-off against the Canadian World Cup Team Sept. 3-6. The U.S. will begin World Cup competition on Sept. 10 against Venezuela as a member of Pool E in Regensburg, Germany. China and Germany are the other two teams in the opening-round pool. The second round of the World Cup will be held across the Netherlands and Italy, with the final rounds being held exclusively in Italy.

The gold-medal winning 2007 World Cup Team finished with a 9-1 record, including a 6-3 win over rival Cuba in the final. The 2007 club was made up of some of the best minor league players in baseball that have since advanced to the big leagues, including Tampa Bay Rays All-Star 3B Evan Longoria; OF Colby Rasmus of the St. Louis Cardinals; 2007 World Cup MVP and Chicago White Sox 2B Jayson Nix; and IF/OF Brian Bixler, C Jason Jaramillo, RHP Jeff Karstens, 3B Andy LaRoche, IF/OF Steve Pearce, and IF/OF Delwyn Young, all of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In addition to Regensburg, the 2009 IBAF World Cup will also feature first round pool play in Barcelona; Prague; Sundbyberg, Sweden; and Zagreb, Croatia. The tournament will be held from Sept. 9-27.

The 24-man roster for the U.S. World Cup Team will be announced on Aug. 30.