Intimidators name field staff for 2013
Tommy Thompson, who managed Kannapolis within a game of the playoffs in 2011, will return to the Intimidators as manager for the 2013 season after spending last year managing Class A Advanced Winston-Salem. Thompson will be reunited with pitching coach Jose Bautista, while Andy Tomblerlin will serve as hitting coach.
Cory Barton has been named the team's head trainer and Chad Efron will be the team's strength and conditioning coach.
Thompson, 55, earned Manager of the Year honors in the Carolina League in 2012 while guiding the Winston-Salem Dash to the best record in full-season Minor League baseball (87-51). In his six seasons as a manager, including the last two with the White Sox, he has a career record of 390-380 (.506). He began his managerial career with the White Sox in 1990 at the helm of Utica (NYPL) and in 1991 with South Bend (Midwest League) before serving as the Sox catching coordinator from 1992-2005. Thompson spent two seasons with the Orioles as manager of the Frederick Keys (Carolina League), winning a CL title in 2007, before rejoining the White Sox in 2010 as a roving instructor.
Bautista, 48, returns for his third season as the Intimidators' pitching coach and his sixth in the White Sox organization. He served as the Sox Latin roving instructor from 2009-10, before joining Kannapolis in 2011. In 312 Major League appearances (49 starts), Bautista went 32-42 with a 4.62 ERA with Baltimore, the Cubs, San Francisco, Detroit and St. Louis from 1988 to 1997.
Tomberlin, 46, will open his 10th season in the White Sox organization, returning to Kannapolis for the first time since serving as the Intimidators' hitting coach in 2007-08. He spent last season as hitting coach with Triple-A Charlotte. Across 15 professional seasons, from 1986-2000, Tomberlin hit .233 with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs in 192 Major League games with Pittsburgh (1993), Boston (1994), Oakland (1995), New York Mets (1996-97) and Detroit (1998). Tomberlin has local ties, residing in Monroe, N.C., and having graduated in 1985 from Piedmont (N.C.) High School.
Cory Barton will enter his ninth season with the White Sox in 2013. He served as the trainer of Winston-Salem for the last two years and was with Rookie-level Bristol from 2005-10, earning Appalachian League Athletic Trainer of the Year in 2007.
Chad Efron will open his 10th season in the Sox organization. He spent the last seven years as the conditioning coach at Triple-A Charlotte. This will be the first season with Kannapolis for both Barton and Efron.
The Kannapolis Intimidators are preparing for the team's 19th season of professional baseball in the community and 13th as an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. The 2013 season home opener is on April 11 at CMC-NorthEast Stadium, located off I-85 at exit 63. Season tickets for the 2013 season are now available by calling the F&M Bank Box Office at (704) 932-3267, or by visiting our website at www.IntimidatorsBaseball.com online.