Championship coaching staff returns to Rattlers dugout for 2013
GRAND CHUTE, WI - The coaching staff that led the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to the 2012 Midwest League Championship will return for 2013. The Milwaukee Brewers announced today that manager Matt Erickson, pitching coach Dave Chavarria, hitting coach Dusty Rhodes, and athletic trainer Jeff Paxson, and strength & conditioning specialist Christian Polega will be back in the Rattlers dugout for next season.
Erickson, an
Appleton native, will enter his third season as the manager of the Rattlers. Wisconsin
went 78-61 in the 2012 regular season and claimed its first playoff spot since
2005 by winning the first half Western Division title.
The Rattlers went 7-2 in their playoff run to claim the first Midwest
League pennant by a team from the Fox Cities since 1984.
In two seasons - including the playoffs, Erickson is 152-135 as the
Rattlers manager.
"I am excited
to be back with the Rattlers," said Erickson.
"Last year was a fantastic season and with all of the changes to the
stadium for 2013 I can't wait to get to work with a great staff.
I can't guarantee a repeat, but I can promise that we will work to make
the players on the team improve every day."
Chavarria
returns for his second season as the pitching coach of the Timber Rattlers.
The native of Burnaby, British Columbia is in his second season in the
Brewers minor league system after spending eleven years as a coach and
coordinator in the Texas Rangers organization.
Wisconsin's pitchers compiled a 3.83ERA during the regular season.
Over the 81 innings of their nine playoff games, Wisconsin pitchers had
an ERA of 2.00 and struck out 71 while walking 17 on the way to the
championship.
Rhodes, a
member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, will tutor
Wisconsin's hitters for the third straight season.
Rhodes returned to the Brewers organization in 2011 after 23 seasons as
the head coach at the University of North Florida.
The 2012 Timber Rattlers set a franchise record for home runs in a season
by clubbing 107 long balls in 139 games. Five
different Wisconsin players reached double digits in home runs last season.
Paxson is back
for his fourth season as the athletic trainer for the Rattlers.
He was named the Midwest League Trainer of the Year by the Professional
Baseball Athletic Trainers Association in both 2010 and 2011.
PBATA named him their National Trainer of the Year in 2011. Paxson enters
his twentieth season with the Brewers organization.
Wisconsin's
2013 season begins with a road game against the Peoria Chiefs on Thursday, April
4. The Rattlers will open newly
renovated Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium on Monday, April 8 when
they host the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Opening Night at 6:35pm.
Full and partial season ticket packages and group events are available by
contacting the Time Warner Cable Field ticket office at (920) 733-4152 or (800)
WI-TIMBER.