Scooter Tucker to lead Captains 2013 Field Staff

(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains and the Cleveland Indians announced the 2013 Captains field staff today which is led by first time manager and former Indian Scooter Tucker. Tucker's coaching staff will consist of Pitching Coach Steve Karsay, Hitting Coach Tony Mansolino and Trainer Bobby Ruiz.

Tucker, 46, who's given name is Eddie, served as the Hitting Coach for the Carolina Mudcats last season in his first year as a coach in the Cleveland organization. Prior to joining the Indians, he was an associate scout with the New York Mets in 2010 and 2011. In 2007 and 2008, he was the Bench Coach for the Pensacola Pelicans of the independent American Association.

Scooter played professionally for nine seasons from 1988-1996 and spent five seasons at the Triple-A level from 1992-96 in the San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta, Cleveland and Kansas City organizations He was drafted by the Giants in 1988 (5th round out of Delta State University) and later selected off waivers in 1991 by the Astros. He was a California League All-Star in 1990 at A San Jose and a Texas League All-Star at AA Shreveport the following season. He was a career .276 hitter in the minor leagues.

Tucker appeared in 51 games over three Major League seasons with Houston (1992-93, 1995) and Cleveland (1995). Tucker concluded his playing career in 1996 at AAA Omaha in the Royals system. He was elected to the Delta State University Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and had his jersey retired. He lives in Pace Florida and is married to Teresa and has four daughters, Courtney, Torey, Hailey, and Anna Grace.

Karsay, 40, will handle the Captains pitching staff after spending the 2012 season as the Pitching Coach of the Arizona League Indians. This is his second year season in the professional coaching ranks. Steve spent four seasons in the Cleveland bullpen from 1998- 2001 where he was 15-14 with a 3.23 ERA in 164 games (4GS, 223.0IP, 210H, 80ER, 191K). Overall, he spent 11 seasons in the big leagues from 1993-2006 with Oakland, Cleveland, Atlanta, New York (AL) and Texas. He had signed a letter of intent to play at LSU prior to being drafted by Toronto in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1990 draft. During his career, Karsay was traded to Oakland in 1993 for Rickey Henderson and in 2001 to Atlanta for John Rocker. Steve lives in Scottsdale, AZ and has a son Kingston. He graduated from Christ the King High School in Queens, NY in 1990.

Mansolino, 30, joins the Captains after being the Hitting Coach at Mahoning Valley the last two seasons. He retired as a player in 2010 after playing professionally for six seasons as an infielder from 2005-10. He was selected in the 26th round of the 2005 Draft by Pittsburgh out of Vanderbilt, finishing with a career minor league average of .231 with 19 HR and 173 RBI in 457 games He was in the Pittsburgh system from 2005-08 and briefly in the Phillies system in 2008 before playing independent ball in 2009-10. Tony resides in Nashville, TN and is married to Adrianna. He graduated with a degree in Human and Organizational Development while playing 4 years of baseball at Vanderbilt.

Ruiz returns to Lake County for his third season as the Athletic Trainer with the Cleveland Indians and professional baseball. Previously he was the Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer with University of Connecticut Baseball. He is a Corona, California native and graduated from the University of La Verne (La Verne, CA) in 2008, with a B.S. in Athletic Training. He received his Master's degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis on heat and hydration from the University of Connecticut, Storrs in 2010. Bobby lives in Goodyear, AZ and is married to Alex.

Full season tickets plans, 7-, 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2013 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.

The Lake County Captains are a Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians and play their home games at Classic Park in Eastlake, at the corners of State Route 91 and Vine Street. For more information on the Captains, please visit the team's official website at www.CaptainsBaseball.com.