Beasley named Chiefs manager for 2012

Syracuse, NY-The Syracuse Chiefs, Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, are pleased to announce Tony Beasley as the club's manager for the 2012 season. Beasley replaces Randy Knorr, who was hired last week as the Nationals' bench coach.

Last season, his first back with the organization, Beasley steered the Double-A Harrisburg Senators to the Eastern League playoffs. Harrisburg won the league's Western Division and finished the year with a record of 80-62. In qualifying for the playoffs, the Senators' pitching staff finished with an ERA of 3.61, the second-best mark in the circuit.

Beasley spent the three seasons prior to joining the Nationals as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates' major-league staff, including a stint as the team's third base coach.

In his first stint with Washington, Beasley was the third base coach for the Nationals in their second year back in the nation's capital, 2006.

Beasley spent five seasons managing in the Pirates' Minor League system. In each of his five seasons, his team qualified for the playoffs. Overall, his record is 452-320, a winning percentage of .585. In 2002, Beasley's Hickory Crawdads--a team featuring Jose Bautista--won the South Atlantic League title. He has three times been selected as a classification's Manager of the Year by Baseball America (Low-A 2002 & 2003, Double-A 2004).

Beasley was chosen by the Baltimore Orioles in the 19th round of the 1989 entry draft before being traded by the Orioles to the Pittsburgh Pirates in September of 1991.

Beasley played nine years in the Orioles and Pirates organizations. He became a player/coach in 1998 and then retired to become a full-time coach in the Pirates organization in 1999. As a player, he was a 1990 and 1991 Carolina League All-Star and a 1996 Southern League All-Star. Beasley hit .260 in 859 Minor League games with 22 HR and 243 RBI.