Twins Name Doug Mientkiewicz Manager Of 2015 Lookouts

The Minnesota Twins have announced the 2015 coaching staff for the Chattanooga Lookouts. Former Minnesota Twin Doug Mientkiewicz will manage the team alongside hitting coach Chad Allen and pitching coach Stu Cliburn.

An article in The Chattanoogan on November 20 revealed that Mientkiewicz was being considered for the position of Chattanooga's manager.

Mientkiewicz attended Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay, Florida, where he was a teammate of Alex Rodriguez. Upon graduation, he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the twelfth round of the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft, but chose instead to play at Florida State University.

This upcoming season will mark Mientkiewicz’s first season at the Double-A level after spending the last two years at the helm of the Single-A Advanced Fort Myers Miracle.  As the Miracle’s skipper the 12-year Major League Veteran led the team to their first Florida State League Championship in team history. 

A promotion from High Single-A to Double-A means Mientkiewicz will manage a part of the contingent of prospects in the Twins pipeline, which could include names like Byron Buxton (the top prospect in baseball according to MLB.com), Miguel Sano, J.O. Berrios and others. From that perspective, Mientkiewicz could be an important component of development.

Before embarking on his coaching career, Mientkiewicz appeared in 1,087 games at the Major League level from 1998-2009 and spent time with seven organizations including the Twins, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Dodgers.

Mientkiewicz made his coaching debut in 2012 in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization as the hitting coach of the rookie league Ogden Raptors in the Pioneer League. He was hired by the Minnesota Twins organization as the Manager of the high-Class A Fort Myers Miracle, the team he played for in 1995–96 to start his baseball career. Mientikiewicz got the Miracle off to a fast start in 2013 as the team tied a franchise record by winning their first 14 games of the season (equaling the mark set in 1995 and tied in 2007) and ended April with a Minor League best 21 wins (21-4).

In October 2014, Mientkiewicz was a finalist to become the manager of the Minnesota Twins. He had been interviewed by the Twins organization about the job, and there was no clear front-runner for the position. Ultimately, Paul Molitor was selected as Twins manager.

Best remembered for

The former infielder won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox. When St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Edgar Rentería grounded back to pitcher Keith Foulke, who trotted toward first base and underhanded the ball to Mientkiewicz to complete Boston's four game sweep of the 2004 World Series, Mientkiewicz kept the ball, as dictated by baseball tradition.  

Controversy resulted when the Red Sox asked for the ball's return, and Mientkiewicz refused to give it back. Shortly after his January 27 trade to the New York Mets, Mientkiewicz and the Red Sox reached an agreement that the Red Sox would hold the ball temporarily and could display it across New England, along with the World Series trophy. The agreement called for Mientkiewicz to get the ball back at the end of 2005 unless the ultimate issue of ownership has been otherwise resolved.

On November 30, 2005, lawyers for the Red Sox filed suit in Suffolk Superior Court asking the court to place the ball in a secure location until ownership was decided. The club's legal team said that Mientkiewicz had gained possession of the ball only because he was a Red Sox employee and that the ball remained the team's property. On April 23, 2006, it was announced that he had reached an agreement with the Red Sox, and the ball would go to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2015 Lookouts' Staff

In 2015, Chad Allen will be beginning his third season as a professional coach and third at the Double-A level.  Allen is also a former Major League player and from 1999-2001 spent time with the Twins where he was Mientkiewicz’s teammate.  In 2014 under Allen’s guidance the New Britain Rock Cats had a team batting average of .254 and led the Eastern League in doubles with 283.

Rounding out the Lookouts’ 2015 staff is Stu Cliburn.  Cliburn has been with the Twins for 24 years and has spent 14 of those years coaching at the Double-A level.  Another former major leaguer, the right-handed pitcher was 9-3 with a 2.09 ERA in 1985 and finished fifth in American League Rookie of the Year voting that same season.

Chris Johnson returns for his third season as trainer for the Twins Double-A affiliate. He has been with the Twins since 2006 and spent two seasons with Ft. Myers from 2011-12. Dax Fiore will continue as the Double-A strength and conditioning coach, his second year with Twins Double-A affiliate.

“We are excited to welcome Doug, Chad and Stu to Chattanooga and show them what the Scenic City has to offer,” said Lookouts’ President and General Manager Rich Mozingo.  “Next year begins a new chapter for the team and we are pleased to have this coaching staff be the one to help usher in this new era of Lookouts’ baseball.”

Mientkiewicz and his staff will make their home debut on April 15 when the Lookouts faceoff against the Birmingham Barons at 7:15 p.m at AT&T Field.  Information about the team’s upcoming season can be found on our website atwww.lookouts.com, or by following us on Facebook (@Chattanooga Lookouts), Twitter (@ChattLookouts) and Instagram (@ChattLookouts).