Greg Colbrunn Named Red Sox Hitting Coach
BOSTON (CBS) - The Boston Red Sox finally have their hitting coach.
The team named Greg Colbrunn as the their Major League hitting coach on Wednesday, giving him his first job on a Major League staff.
Colbrunn, who played 13 seasons in the Majors and won the World Series while with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001, spent the last six years with the New York Yankees' Single-A affiliate in Charleston. He served as the Charlestown RiverDogs hitting coach for five seasons and one as their manager.
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"Greg's success as a hitting coach and his experiences as a Major League player make him a strong addition to the Red Sox coaching staff," Red Sox manager John Farrell said in a release.
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Under Colbrunn's guidance, Charleston finished second in the South Atlantic League in average (.265), on-base percentage (.334), hits (1,254) and runs (705) in 2008, and led the league in triples (46) and walks (495) while placing second in hits (1,228), and third in average (.260) and on-base percentage (.337) in 2009.
In his only season as the RiverDogs manager in 2010, Colbrunn led the club to a 65-74 (.468) record.
In 13 seasons, Colbrunn hit .289 with 98 home runs, 422 RBI, 337 runs and 170 walks over 992 career big league games with the Expos (1992-93), Marlins (1994-96), Twins (1997), Braves (1997-98), Rockies (1998), Diamondbacks (1999-2002, '04) and Mariners (2003).
Colbrunn replaces Dave Magadan, who was hired by the Texas Rangers to become their hitting coach in October after serving a Boston's hitting coach for the last six years.
