Barons Announce 2012 Coaching Staff
The Chicago White Sox announced Monday that Bobby Magallanes will return for his second season as manager of the Birmingham Barons. Joining Magallanes on the coaching staff will be pitching coach Bobby Thigpen and hitting coach Brandon Moore.
Magallanes, the 66th manager in Barons history, returns for his second season at the helm after leading the Barons to a 71-69 record and a Southern League first half South Division championship in 2010. A native of Los Angeles, CA. and current resident of Phoenix, AZ., Magallanes, 42, began his coaching career in 2002 with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's rookie-level Arizona League affiliate in Tempe. In 2004 he was named manager of the Angels' Class-A Affiliate in Cedar Rapids and enjoyed a three-year campaign with the Kernels, posting a 205-214 record. In 2007 he joined the Northwest Arkansas Naturals compiling a record of 243-317 in four years before joining the Barons in 2011.
The Barons pitching staff will be led by Bobby Thigpen, who enters his sixth season of coaching in the White Sox organization. Thigpen spent the past three seasons as the pitching coach for Class-A Winston-Salem and previously served as the manager of Advanced Rookie Bristol from 2007-2008 compiling a record of 59-73.
Thigpen, 48, played for two seasons at Mississippi State University before being drafted by the White Sox in the fourth round of the 1985 First Year Player draft. He pitched for the Barons during the 1986 season, compiling a record of 8-11 with a 4.68 ERA (83 ER/159.2 IP) in 25 starts. Thigpen is the White Sox all-time leader with 201 saves. His 57 saves in 1990 are the second-highest total in Major-League history, surpassed only by Francisco Rodriguez's 62 in 2008. In 1990, Thigpen was named to the American League All-Star Team, finished fourth in the AL Cy Young balloting and fifth in the Most Valuable Player voting, and was named the AL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year.
Leading the Barons offense will be Brandon Moore. Moore, 39, has spent the last seven seasons in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization as the hitting coach for Altoona (2006-'08, '11) and State College (2009-'10). He started his coaching career in the White Sox organization in 2001 after an eight-year playing career.
Moore is a native of Birmingham and played collegiately at Auburn University. He was drafted by the White Sox in the 17th round of the 1994 First Year Player draft and played eight seasons in the organization including 161 games with the Barons over parts of two seasons in 1997 and 1999.
"The Birmingham Barons are excited to welcome two former players to the 2012 coaching staff," said Barons President and General Manager Jonathan Nelson. "Brandon Moore and Bobby Thigpen are names our fans will remember fondly from their time with the Barons and both have local connections to the Birmingham area. We look forward to them providing great guidance and coaching to our players this season."
Josh Fallin, 36, returns for his second year as the Barons head athletic trainer and 14th within the White Sox system after spending the previous nine seasons at Winston-Salem. The Abilene, TX. native is a two-time recipient of the Carolina League's Athletic Trainer of the Year in 2005 and 2007.
Raymond Smith, 33, will return for his fifth season as the strength and conditioning coach for the Barons. It will mark the eighth season for the Winston-Salem, N.C. native with the White Sox. He earned back-to-back Southern League Strength Coach of the Year Honors in 2010 and 2011
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