Sakata back to lead San Jose
Sakata returns for his eighth year in the Giants organization and his fifth season at the helm of the San Jose Giants. Lenn has guided San Jose to the playoffs in all four seasons as manager in San Jose, including a California League Championship in 2005. The team posted an 85-55 regular season record in 2005, the third best in all of Minor League Baseball (full-season teams only). Sakata was named California League Manager of the Year in 2005 as the Giants won the North Division First Half Championship and defeated Lake Elsinore in five games in the California League Finals.
Jim Bennett will serve as pitching coach after spending the 2005 season at Rookie-Level Peoria (San Diego Padres). Bennett spent the previous four seasons with the Colorado Rockies, all as a minor league pitching coach. He began his coaching career in 1992 with Lethbridge of the Rookie-level Pioneer League and began a six-year stint as pitching coach in the California/Anaheim system in 1993.
Garrett Nago will serve as the club's hitting coach after spending the previous seven years managing coaching clinics and summer baseball programs in Hawaii. The former switch-hitting catcher played nine seasons in the minor leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers (1981-87), Montreal Expos (1988) and Houston Astros (1988-89).
Outfielder Brian Horwitz headlines the list of returning players that will call Municipal Stadium home. Horwitz, the MVP of the 2005 California League Championship Series, enters the season with two consecutive batting titles in the Northwest and South Atlantic Leagues after signing with San Francisco as a non-drafted free agent in June of 2004. Horwitz owns an impressive .348 average in 194 minor league contests and compiled the most hits among San Francisco minor leaguers in 2005, while ranking second in doubles, third for average and RBI, and fourth for on base percentage. The outfielder went 6 for 12 in the Championship Series, including a key RBI single that tied Game Five at 1-1, with San Jose eventually capturing the title in a 3-1 victory.
The Giants also return eight other high caliber players that served key roles in San Jose's 2005 Championship run. Catchers Todd Jennings and Guillermo Rodriguez, infielder Pat Dobson, outfielder John Bowker, starters Jesus Reina, Brooks McNiven, Juan Serrato, and reliever Ben Cox anxiously return to San Jose to begin the 2006 season.
Newcomer Marcus Sanders is considered the top prospect on the San Jose roster after finishing sixth in the minor leagues with 57 steals in 2005 and is expected to anchor the top of the order in 2006. The second baseman was selected to represent the United States Team in the Futures Game during the 2005 All Star festivities in Detroit. Sanders was also named to the South Atlantic League's in-season and post-season All Star teams during the 2005 campaign.
Hurlers Nick Pereira and Craig Whitaker lead a young pitching staff into the hitter friendly California League. Pereira recorded 5-3 mark with impressive 3.04 ERA in nine starts for Salem-Keizer of the Northwest League in 2005. The right-hander starred at nearby University of San Francisco where he established new school records for wins (38) and West Coast Conference wins (20), and was selected in the 10th round of the 2005 First Year Player Draft. Whitaker, the 34th overall pick in the 2004 draft, registered an impressive 72 strikeouts in just 58 innings of work at Low Class-A Augusta in 2005.
Individual tickets for the 2006 season are on sale now, including seats for the Opening Day Extravaganza Thursday, April 6th at 7:00 P.M. in a night that is sure to be filled with fun and excitement. The festivities will include a spectacular Fireworks Show and the unveiling of the first mascot in team history.