51s' Roger McDowell was named pitching coach of the Atlanta Braves
McDowell spent the past two seasons (2004-05) as pitching coach for the Las Vegas 51s, Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He spent the previous two seasons (2002-03) as the pitching coach for the South Georgia Waves, the Dodgers Single-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League.
Mazzone left the Braves after more than 15 years as pitching coach to take a lucrative three-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. During his tenure, Atlanta won 14 straight division titles and the Braves had six Cy Young Award winners and nine 20-game winners.
McDowell's Playing Career: He enjoyed a successful 12-year Major League baseball career. He played on five different teams: New York Mets (1985-89), Philadelphia Phillies (1989-91), Los Angeles Dodgers (1991-94), Texas Rangers (1995) and Baltimore Orioles (1996). He appeared in 723 career games, pitched in 1,050 innings, compiled a 70-70 record and 159 saves with a 3.30 ERA. McDowell enjoyed his best season in 1986 to help lead the Mets to the World Series Championship. He had a career-high 14 wins, 22 saves and was the winner in game seven of the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. He was originally selected by the Mets in the third round of the free agent draft in 1982.
He attended Bowling Green State University and was inducted into the school's athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.