Over the next 28 days Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) will be doing a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012. Day 2 in our series is on the most unrecognized position in all of sports the Assistant Coaches. These men spend endless hours behind the scenes working with the players as groups and individually either at home or on the road. These are thankless jobs that are held by baseball lifers. Here is a look at the 2012 Phillies staff.
The staff consists of Greg Gross, batting coach, Rich Dubee, pitching coach, Sam Perlozzo, 1st Base coach, Juan Samuel, 3rd base coach, Pete Mackanin, bench coach and Mick Billmeyer, bullpen coach.
Greg Gross – “GG” has spent nearly every year of his adult life in a baseball uniform beginning as a player in 1970. He reached the big leagues in 1973 and played for 17 seasons with the Astros, Cubs and Phillies. Of course GG was a member of the 1980 World Champion Phillies. When his playing career ended Gross started back at the bottom and worked his way through the coaching ranks. He began his coaching career at the high school level, moved to the Colorado Rockies organization and then back home to the Phillies in 2001. He is presently in his second stint with the Phillies at the big league level as the hitting coach after spending time at Batavia (A), Clearwater (A), Reading (AA) and Lehigh Valley (AAA).
Rich Dubee – Rich is probably the most well recognized of the Phils coaching staff due to his visibility during mound visits but also because he is the caretaker of what many consider the best pitching staff in baseball. Dubee is beginning his 30th season coaching in professional baseball almost exclusively as a pitching coach. He coached in the Kansas City, Montreal and Florida organizations before joining the Phillies in 2002. He worked at Clearwater (A) and Wilkes Barre (AAA) before being promoted to the Phillies in 2004 as pitching coach. He has held that position since.
Sam Perlozzo – Perlozzo is another baseball lifer. He begins his 40th season in professional baseball. He was drafted out of high school in 1972 and has never left. Sam was a player, mostly in the minor leagues, from 1973-1981. In 1982 he began his coaching career and has never left. He began his coaching career in the Mets minor league system serving from 1982-86. He was promoted to the big league level in 1987 working for the Mets, Reds, Mariners and Orioles before joining the Phillies for the 2009 season. He was the manager of the Orioles for parts of three seasons. Sam is presently the 1st base coach and is also responsible for baserunning.
Juan Samuel – Sammy is a Phillie fan favorite after spending the first 6 ½ seasons of his 16 year playing career, that included 7 teams, with the Phillies. As a Phillies player Juan was named The Sporting News Rookie of the Year in 1984. He became the first player in NL history to reach a quadruple double in each of his first 4 major league seasons. He holds the Phillies record for most SB in a season (72 in 1984) in the modern era (post-1900). For the decade of the 1980s, Sammy ranks 3rd among all Phillies in AVG (.263), OBP (.310), SLG % (.439), at-bats (3503), runs (523), hits (921), doubles (176), HR (100), RBI (413) and total bases (1539), trailing Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt and Von Hayes in each category. Sammy was inducted in to the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2008.
Sammy began his coaching career in 1999 with the Detroit Tigers before moving on to the OriolesHe returned to the Phillies for the 2011 season. He served as interim manager of the Orioles in 2010 and posted a 17-34 record. As well as being the 3rd base coach Sammy is also responsible for the outfielders.
Pete Mackanin – When it comes to coaching experience Pete has done it all. He has been a minor league instructor, a minor league coordinator, a minor league manager, a manager in the Dominican, Puerto Rican and Venezuelan Winter Leagues, a pro scout, a major league advanced scout and a major league coach with the Expos and Pirates and an interim manager of both the Pirates and Reds before joining the Phillies as bench coach for the 2009 season.
Mick Billmeyer – Mick is another coach who started his career as a minor league player and never left. Mick played in the minor leagues for 9 seasons but never made it to the big leagues. He learned the catching trade well and immediately moved in to a coaching position with the Angles organization in 1994 as the bullpen/workout coordinator. Mick joined the Phillies organization in 2000 as the minor league catching coordinator. He was promoted to minor league catching instructor in 2004 and again to bullpen coach in 2008.
Tomorrow we will start our player previews with Roy “Doc” Halladay.
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