Gene Michael is Inducted Into the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame!

Kinston, NC- Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee Gene Michael and first year K-Tribe manager Aaron Holbert were introduced to the media today at Historic Grainger Stadium.
Gene Michael becomes the 28th member of the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame. Michael was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1959, playing for the Kinston Eagles (at the time a Pirates affiliate) in 1962 and 63. In 1962 Michael helped Kinston win its first ever Carolina League Title as the Eagles went 83-57. In 1963 Michael was a Carolina League All-Star Selection, hitting .304 and pitching in 16 games, as Kinston went 77-66 to win the Eastern Division.

Michael made his Major League debut with Pittsburgh in 1966. After playing 98 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1967, Michael spent the majority of his career (1968-1974) with the New York Yankees. Michael played 789 games in his seven years with the Yankees (mostly at shortstop), before finishing his playing career with Detroit in 1975. Michael was manager of the Yankees for two different stints in both 1981 and 1982. He also managed the Chicago Cubs in 1986 and 1987. Michael was the General Manager of the Yankees from 1990-1995, laying a foundation for future success by keeping together the Yankee nucleus of Andy Petite, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera. Michael is currently a Senior VP - Advisor to the General Manager for the New York Yankees.

New K-Tribe manager Aaron Holbert gets the promotion to Kinston after spending two seasons as the manager of Low A Lake County. In 2008 and 2009 Holbert led Lake County to back-to-back winning seasons. In Holbert's 2008 managerial debut Lake County went 75-65, capturing a first half division title and losing in the South Atlantic League Finals. Last season, Holbert's club went 71-66, just missing the South Atlantic League playoffs.

Holbert was originally selected in the 1st round (18th overall) in the 1990 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. He played professionally for 17 seasons with eight different organizations (St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Boston, Florida, Toronto, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati), making his Major League debut in 1996 with the Cardinals. Holbert returned to the big leagues in 2005, playing in 22 games with the Reds. Holbert owns a career minor league average of .271 with 77 home runs and 559 RBI in 1,542 games. Holbert ranks among the all-time career leaders in nearly every offensive category with the Triple A Louisville Bats.

The K-Tribe opens the 2010 Carolina League Season at Historic Grainger Stadium on Thursday, April 8th at 7pm.

Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame

1983 - Charley "King Kong" Keller, George Suggs, Pat Crawford, Stanley Spence
1984 - Harding "Pete" Peterson
1985 - Lou Gorman
1988 - Sam Narron
1989 - Ray Kuhlman
1990 - Jesse Barfield
1991 - John McLaren
1992 - Mike Hargrove
1993 - Leo Mazzone
1994 - Cecil Fielder
1995 - Jim Price
1996 - Jay Schroeder
1997 - Steve Blass
1998 - Bobby Bragan
1999 - Clyde King
2000 - Grady Little
2002 - Johnny Goryl
2003 - Carl Long
2004 - Charles Nagy
2005 - Gordy MacKenzie
2006 - Rocket Wheeler
2007 - Eric Wedge
2008 - Chad Ogea
2009 - Sean Casey
2010 - Gene Michael