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Masse to Manage Missions in '08

January 3, 2008
SAN ANTONIO - San Diego Padres Vice President/Scouting and Player Development, Grady Fuson, announced that Bill Masse will be the new San Antonio Missions Manager for the 2008 season. Joining Masse on the field staff will be, Hitting Coach Terry Kennedy, Pitching Coach Steve Webber and Athletic Trainer Wade Yamasaki.

Bill Masse joins the Missions after serving last season as the manager of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Double-A Affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Masse led the Fisher Cats to a 70-73 record to finish third in the Northern Division of the Eastern League. Before joining the Blue Jays organization in 2007, Masse spent six seasons (2001-2006) as a coach and manager in the New York Yankees organization and four years (1997-2000) as a coach and manager in the Montreal Expos organization.

Masse was a 7th round pick by the New York Yankees in the 1988 Amateur Draft out of Wake Forest University. Prior to joining the Yankees, Masse was a member of the 1988 Olympic Gold Medal team in Seoul. Bill played eight seasons (1989-1995) in the Yankee organization, the last four in Triple-A Columbus. Masse also portrayed Mike Robinson in the 1999 Movie, For Love of the Game, with Kevin Costner.

Former catcher and four-time Major League All-Star, Terry Kennedy, will take the reigns in 2008 as the Missions Hitting Coach. Kennedy most recently was the manager for the Independent San Diego Surf Dawgs of the Golden Baseball League in 2005, where he earned Manager of the Year honors in their inaugural season. Before the Surf Dawgs, Kennedy spent six seasons as a manager in the Minor Leagues with four organizations, Los Angeles Dodgers (2004), Chicago Cubs (1997-1999), Montreal Expos (1994) and St. Louis Cardinals (1993). He was named Baseball America's Manager of the Year in 1998 with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs.

Kennedy was a 1st round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1977 out of Florida State University. Kennedy played 14 seasons in the Major Leagues with four different clubs, St. Louis Cardinals (1978-1980), San Diego Padres (1981-1986), Baltimore Orioles (1987-1988) and the San Francisco Giants from (1989-1991). He was named to Major League All-Star Team in 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1987 and was awarded the 1983 Silver Slugger Award as the best hitting catcher in the National League.

The Missions new Pitching Coach for the 2008 season will be Steve Webber. Webber is entering his fifth season in the Padres organization. He served as the Pitching Coach for Lake Elsinore (Advanced Single-A) in 2006-2007 and for the Fort Wayne Wizards from (2004-2005). Prior to joining the Padres organization Webber spent eight years in the New York Yankees Organization, (1996-2003) spending the final four seasons as the Yankees Coordinator of Minor League Instruction.

Before joining the Yankees organization, Steve was the Head Baseball Coach for the Georgia Bulldogs from 1981-1996. In 1990, Webber lead Georgia to their only National Championship in Baseball as they defeated Oklahoma State 2-1 in the College World Series. He was also named the NCAA Coach of the Year in that season. Webber is the winningest coach in history at the University of Georgia with a 500-403-1 record.

The only returning member of the 2007 field staff with the Missions will be Athletic Trainer Wade Yamasaki. Wade is entering his 8th season as a trainer in the Padres system. Before joining the Missions in '07, he served as Athletic Trainer for Eugene Emeralds (Short-A) from 2004-2006. Wade has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Athletic Training from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.