Astros Announce Greeneville Field Staff

GREENEVILLE - The Houston Astros announced that Rodney Linares will be returning for his third season as the manager for the Rookie League Greeneville Astros. He will be joined by some familiar faces. Travis Driskill returns for his second season as a coach in the Houston system serving as Greeneville's pitching coach. Stubby Clapp, who was the hitting coach for Greeneville in 2007 and served the same role for the Lexington Legends in 2008, returns as Greeneville's hitting coach as he enters his third season in the Houston organization. Finally, Grant Hufford will return for his second season in the organization as Greeneville's athletic trainer.

"We are very excited to have Rodney return to manage our team in 2009 after they showed such promise last year. It is also great to have Travis, Stubby, and Grant return as they all do a tremendous job and are easy to work with," said Greeneville Astros General Manager David Lane.

Rodney Linares, with forty-seven wins, has the most wins all-time by a Greeneville Astros manager. Prior to arriving in Greeneville, he spent two seasons as hitting coach for Lexington after working for six seasons with the Astros Dominican Republic operations as a scout and hitting coach. He joined the organization in 1999 after a three-year minor league playing career.

"I really enjoy working in Greeneville and I look forward to building on what we accomplished last season," said Linares. "It is a tremendous baseball community, and the fans in Greeneville really understand the game so that makes it a lot of fun."

Travis Driskill began his coaching career in 2008 after a long and successful playing career that he concluded in 2007 with a 4-3 record with a 3.72 ERA in 44 games for Triple A Round Rock, as well as 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two games for Houston. Driskill owned an 11-14 career record with a 5.23 ERA in parts of five Major League seasons. In his first season as Greeneville's pitching coach, his pitching staff led the league in shutouts with seven and finished with a 4.07 ERA that was third best in the Appalachian League.

Stubby Clapp spent two seasons as a player/coach for the Edmonton Cracker-Cats prior to joining the Astros' organization in 2007. He was originally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 36th round of 1996 draft and went on to play 23 games in 2001 for the St. Louis Cardinals. In 911 minor league games, Clapp had a .270 batting average, 48 home runs, 50 triples, 196 doubles, 365 RBI, and 83 steals. He was part of Team Canada in the 2004 and the 2008 Summer Olympics. He also played for Canada in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Grant Hufford joined the Astros organization in 2008 from the Lawrence Orthopedic Surgery Clinic in Lawrence, Kansas. While in Lawrence, he served as the Athletic Trainer at Baldwin High School. He received his bachelor's degree from Benedictine College, and recently finished his Massage Therapy degree from High-Tech Institute in Kansas City.

Several other members of previous field staffs in Greeneville are also still in the Astros organization. D.J. Boston, Greeneville's hitting coach in 2008, will have the same role as he joins the new Rookie Gulf Coast League Astros that will be based at the club's Spring Training facility in Kissimmee, FL. Bryan Baca, Greeneville's 2007 athletic trainer, will begin his second season in the same role with the Tri-City ValleyCats. Pete Rancont, who coached for Greeneville from 2004-06, is moving on to be the hitting coach in Lexington after managing the Tri-City ValleyCats for the past two seasons.