The credentials are good on these two: Jay Gibbons, former Blue Jays manager, is the new bench coach (Dave Owen moves off the bench to fill Luis Silverio's vacated position as third base coach), and Kevin Seitzer, former Royals third baseman, is now the hitting coach.
Story here.
With Dayton Moore's emphasis on getting on base, you may wonder what sort of practical, real-world experience Seitzer brings. In his four full seasons in Kansas City -- including his excellent 1987 rookie season, when he made the All-Star team and finished runner-up to Mark McGwire for Rookie of the Year -- he posted OBPs of .399, .388, .387 and .346. If we throw in his 115 plate appearances in 1986 and 263 PAs in '91, his final season in Kansas City, we'd get an OBP of .378. Over 12 seasons, he got on base at a .375 clip, or better than anyone from the 2008 Royals with the exception of Kila Ka'aihue, who posted a .375 OBP in 24 plate appearances. (David DeJesus's .366 OBP led the team among qualified players.) In other words, it looks like Moore's serious about this on-base business.
As for Gibbons, far from being remembered for leading the Blue Jays to a second-place finish in the ultra-competitive AL East in 2006, he's probably known as the guy who got into publicized phsyical confrontations with two of his players, Shea Hillenbrand and Ted Lilly. For the record, Gibbons calls himself "easy-going, fun guy," and we're not worried about those past skirmishes. As we all know, the Royals don't employ thugs like those baby seal-killers out north.
And if I may squeeze this in: Mac-n-Seitz -- Seitzer's baseball company in Kansas City -- sounds an awful lot like a promotion for a monster truck rally, does it not? Mac-n-Seitz: Monday! Monday! Monday!
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