“Watch out, American Association. These Hounds are gonna be well trained.”-DockHounds social media team
A fitting line as the DockHounds announced an experienced coaching staff to run the ballclub for their inaugural season.
The Skipper
2019 AA manager of the year Jim Bennett will take the helm for Lake Country ballclub. Bennett’s career spans 30 years in different coaching opportunities including pitching/bench coach for the Brisbane Bandits (Australian baseball team).
In his lone season with the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks, he led the team to a 63-37 record and would reach the postseason. Following the campaign, an agreement was not able to be made to stay with the RedHawks. Their loss is the DockHounds gain as Bennett will be given the reigns with his staff & General Manager Trish Rasberry to build the team from the ground up.
His Staff
Joining Bennett are a couple of former Brewers.
Dave Nilsson spent eight seasons with Milwaukee from 1992-1999 and had himself a solid career on some challenging Brewer teams. An Australian native, he was named an all-star in 1999 and competed for Australia in the Olympics in 2000 and 2004. His skills at the plate translated well to the coaching level as he led the Brisbane Bandits to four titles. He will serve on the team as the bench/hitting coach.
For two seasons Paul Wagner pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers but will not serve as the bullpen coach. Of his career accolades, he was one out away from a no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies. He also owns a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage after handling 137 total chances (50 putouts, 87 assists) without an error. You can hear him on the airwaves for 97.3 The Game.
Competitive already?
While the American Association season draws near to the end, the DockHounds are just getting started to build their team for their inaugural season. Given the caliber of staff acquired, perhaps the Hounds are well on their way to being unleashed for a competitive first season in the Association.
Numbers and Statistics courtesy of the LakeCountry Dockhounds, Baseball Reference, & the American Association.
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