Marty Brown Named Manager of the 51s
The 51s coaching staff was also announced as Tom Signore will serve as pitching coach and Chad Mottola will return as hitting coach. Signore served the past two seasons as pitching coach for Double-A New Hampshire. Voon Chong will also return as Athletic Trainer of the 51s.
Brown, 47, has an extensive managerial career which began in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization in 1997. He was a manager in the Japanese Pacific League over the past five seasons with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp (2006-09, four seasons) and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2010.
He has compiled a nine-year minor league managerial record of 633-582 (.521) and a five-year Triple-A record of 374-341 (.523). Brown managed on the Triple-A level with the Nashville Sounds of the Pacific Coast League from 2001-02 and the Buffalo Bisons of the International League from 2003-05. He compiled a three-year mark of 238-193 (.552) with Buffalo. He led the team to the IL title in 2004 after a regular season record of 83-61 (.576) and also managed the club to a first place finish in their division in 2005 with an 82-62 (.569) record. He was named the 2004 IL Manager of the Year and was also named Minor League Manager of the Year by Baseball America.
"We're very excited to bring Marty into our organization," Toronto's Director of Minor League Operations Charlie Wilson, said. "He has enjoyed excellent success as a manager on the minor league level and is a very good teacher of the game. He's a veteran baseball man with a great background."
He began his professional career in 1985 when selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 12th round of the Major League Baseball Draft. He made his Major League debut in 1988 and appeared in 35 games over two seasons with the Reds (1988-89) and one with Baltimore (1990), who selected him in the Rule 5 Draft in winter of 1989. He recorded his first Major League hit on Sept. 25, 1988 against Atlanta.
He then played in Japan for three seasons with Hiroshima Toyo Carp (1992-94) before playing for Triple-A Oklahoma City in 1995. He played eight seasons in the minor leagues and appeared in 814 career games and batted .274 (778-for-2,840) with 85 home runs and 409 RBI.
Brown played two years at the University of Georgia (1984-85) where he batted .343 with 13 home runs and 46 RBI in 44 games as a junior and .373 with 15 home runs and 62 RBI in 65 games as a senior. He was named team co-captain and MVP during his senior season. Prior to enrolling at Georgia, he played at Crowder (MO) College, where he received an associate degree in liberal arts. During his high school career, he was captain of his baseball and football teams at Rolla (MO) High School, where he also played basketball.
MARTY BROWN'S MANAGERIAL RECORD
1997, Erie (A), New York-Penn, 50-26, .658
1998, Augusta (A), South Atlantic, 68-74, .479
1999, Altoona (AA), Eastern, 67-73, .479
2000, Altoona (AA), Eastern, 74-68, .521
2001, Nashville (AAA), Pacific Coast, 64-77, .454
2002, Nashville (AAA), Pacific Coast, 72-71, .503
2003, Buffalo (AAA), International, 73-70, .510
2004, Buffalo (AAA)*+, International, 83-61, .576
2005, Buffalo (AAA), International,82-62, .569
TOTALS (9 years), 633-582, .521
2006-09, Hiroshima Toyo Carp, Japan Pacific League 2010, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Japan Pacific League
*IL Manager of the Year; +IL Champions
Las Vegas Franchise All-Time Managers List:
1983, Harry Dunlop (83-60, .580)
1984-85, Bob Cluck (136-144, .486)
1986, Larry Bowa (80-62, .563, PCL Champions)
1987, Jack Krol (69-73, .486)
1988-89, Steve Smith (148-135, .523, '88 PCL Champions)
1990, Pat Kelly (58-86, .403)
1991-92, Jim Riggleman (139-145, .489)
1993-94, Russ Nixon (114-172, .399)
1995, Tim Flannery (61-83, .424)
1996-98, 2005-06, Jerry Royster (323-387, .455)
1999, Mike Ramsey (67-75, .472)
2000, Duane Espy (30-20, .600)
2000, Tony Franklin (43-50, .462)
2001, Rick Sofield (68-76, .472)
2002, Brad Mills (85-59, .590, PCL Manager of the Year)
2003, John Shoemaker (76-66, .535)
2004, Terry Kennedy (67-76, .469)
2007-08, Lorenzo Bundy (141-146, .491)
2009, Mike Basso (71-73, .493)
2010, Dan Rohn (66-78, .458)
Mottola enters his second season as the hitting instructor for the 51s. In 2010, the 51s offense established franchise records in total bases (2,414), doubles (352), extra-base hits (557) and most consecutive games with a home run (15). In 2009, he served as the Roving Minor League Hitting Coach for the Blue Jays. He served two seasons (2007-08) as the hitting coach for the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. In 2007, he joined the ranks of coaching assisting with the Blue Jays Extended Spring Training program.
He played 16 seasons in professional baseball from 1992-2007. He made his Major League debut with Cincinnati on April 23, 1996 against New York and recorded his first Major League hit against Montreal off Jeff Fassero on April 24.
Mottola played in the Cincinnati (1992-98), Texas (1998), Chicago White Sox (1999), Toronto (2000, 2002, 2005-07), Florida (2001), Boston (2003) and Baltimore (2004) organizations.
He appeared in 59 career Major League games and appeared in 1,801 career minor league games. He was originally selected by Baltimore in the 10th round of the 1989 June draft but did not sign. He was then selected by Cincinnati in the first round (5th overall) of the 1992 draft.
Signore enters his first season as the pitching coach on the Triple-A level. He has spent a total of six seasons in the Blue Jays organization (2005-10). He served the previous two seasons as pitching coach at Double-A New Hampshire (2009-10); Single-A Lansing of the Midwest League for three seasons (2006-08) and Single-A Lansing of the New York-Penn League in 2005.
He began his coaching career at Onondaga Community College and also coached at the college level at Flagler College, his alma mater Quinnipac College and Western Connecticut State. In 1997, he began his professional coaching career in the Montreal Expos organization with Vermont of the New York-Penn League. He then served three seasons (1998-2000) with Single-A Cape Fear of the South Atlantic League; two seasons in the Eastern League with Double-A Harrisburg in 2001 (Expos) and Portland (Marlins) in 2002 and Single-A Carolina of the Southern League in 2003.
Signore was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers and spent one season (1985) with the club's Pioneer League affiliate. He also spent one season overseas pitching for a team in Rotterdam, the Netherlands before beginning his coaching career. He is a graduate of North Haven High School and Quinnipac College, both in Connecticut. During his career at Quinnipac, he helped his team qualify for the 1982 Division II College World Series in Riverside, Calif. He was inducted in to the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 and earned his master's degree in history from Western Connecticut State University.
Chong has been in the Blue Jays organization as Athletic Trainer for nine seasons (2002-10). Before joining Las Vegas in 2010, he was the athletic trainer at Double-A New Hampshire for six seasons (2004-09) and was named the 2007 Eastern League Athletic Trainer of the Year. He serves as Assistant Minor League Athletic Trainer and Rehab Coordinator for the Blue Jays. He attended Simon Fraser University in Canada and earned his degree in Kinesiology.
The 51s open their 29th season in the Silver State on Thursday, April 7 against the Fresno Grizzlies, Triple-A affiliate of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants, at Fresno, Calif. Las Vegas' home opener is Friday, April 15 against Fresno at 7:05 p.m. at Cashman Field.
Season tickets and mini-plan packages (10, 20, 33-game plans) are available by calling the 51s office at (702) 798-7825.