Whitt Named Bench Coach of Blue Jays
Monday, October 4, 2004
OTTAWA – Baseball Canada is proud to announce Olympic team manager Ernie Whitt has been named bench coach of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Whitt, 52, was named to the post today at a Blue Jays press conference announcing next season’s coaching staff.
“Ernie has served our national association quite well over the years and we are both thankful for his contributions and thrilled for him and his family for this much-deserved opportunity,” said Jim Baba, director general of Baseball Canada.
The native of Detroit, Mich., had three separate stints guiding Baseball Canada’s national senior team, managing the 1999 Pan-American Games club before serving as skipper for last fall’s squad that qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games at a tournament in Panama.
Most recently, he led Baseball Canada to a fourth-place finish at this summer’s Olympics in Athens, losing to Japan in the bronze medal game.
Overall, Whitt has sported a 15-7 record as manager with Baseball Canada’s national team program.
A 15-year veteran in the major leagues, Whitt spent 12 seasons as catcher for the Blue Jays and was named to the American League All-Star team in 1985.
After retiring as a player in 1991, Whitt later took a position with the Toronto organization as a minor-league catching instructor from 1997 to 2002 before being named minor-league roving instructor in 2003.
He also held interim managerial duties with A-Dunedin (Florida State League) and AAA-Syracuse (International League) in 1997.
Whitt joins the staff of manager John Gibbons, who had the interim tag of his managerial duties removed today.
Former Montreal Expos and Florida Marlins pitching coach Brad Arnsberg was also named to the same post with Toronto, being promoted from AAA-Syracuse. Hitting coach Mike Barnett, third base coach Brian Butterfield and bullpen coach Bruce Walton will all return to the Blue Jays in those roles for the 2005 season.
Player of the Week
Kaiden (MB )
Week of May 17, 2010:
Kaiden played his first real game of baseball this year in Rallycap! Kaiden is enthusiastic and excited about coming out to every game and practice. A good first step on his way to his goal of playing with the Blue Jays!
Kaiden participe pour la première fois cette année à de vrais matchs de baseball au sein du programme Rallye Cap. Chaque semaine, lorsqu’il se rend au parc que se soit pour une séance d’entraînement ou pour un match, Kaiden est toujours très excité et enthousiaste. C’est un premier pas dans la poursuite de son rêve de joueur un jour pour les Blue Jays!
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