Former MLB Manager John McLaren named Chanclas Skipper

San Antonio, TX – The Flying Chanclas de San Antonio are excited to announce today that John McLaren will be its manager for the upcoming 2020 Texas Collegiate League season.

A Texas native, McLaren brings 50 years of professional playing and coaching experience to the position. McLaren served as a big league manager on two occasions, first in Seattle, where he guided the Mariners to a 68-88 record from July 2007 to June of 2008. In 2011, McLaren was interim manager for the Washington Nationals for three games (2-1 record) in between the transition from Jim Riggleman to Davey Johnson.

“I’m very excited to take part in the TCL,” said McLaren. “I’ve experienced a lot things as a baseball coach in my career and look forward to starting a new chapter. It’s great to be back in Texas, where I can’t wait to see a lot of old friends. I’ve always loved my time in San Antonio. It’s a great city and was a pleasure to come to Wolff Stadium during my scouting days. Burl and the staff always made me feel at home. It’s a great venue to watch baseball.”

“It’s an honor to have a manager of John McLaren’s credentials come to San Antonio and lead the Flying Chanclas,” said Chanclas President Burl Yarbrough. “The players will benefit greatly from the wealth of experience John and his staff will provide. I’ve known John for a long time and it’s a privilege to get to work with him and his extremely talented staff here in San Antonio.”

McLaren was selected in the 7th round of the 1970 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Westbury High School in Houston, TX. The former catcher/infielder played all seven of his professional seasons (1970-76) in the Houston organization. His first managerial position came in 1979 for the Utica Blue Jays, a Toronto Blue Jays short-season affiliate. McLaren would go on to manage at two other levels of the Toronto system, Single-A Kinston from 1981-1982 and Double-A Knoxville from 1983-1985. He piloted Knoxville to back-to-back Southern League championships in 1984 and 1985. From there, McLaren joined Toronto’s big league staff, where he coached through the 1990 season.

After spending the 1991 season with the Boston Red Sox as bullpen coach, McLaren joined Lou Pinella’s staff with the Cincinnati Reds in 1992. McLaren would hold various positions on Pinella’s coaching staffs with the Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1993-2005.

In addition to his MLB managerial experience, McLaren also managed Team China in both the 2013 and 2017 World Baseball Classics. He also was the third base coach for Team USA during the 2006 WBC.

Joining McLaren’s Chanclas staff as pitching coach is former University of Texas legend and eight-year big league hurler, Calvin Schiraldi. The Austin product (Westlake HS) was the MVP of the 1983 College World Series, where he led the Longhorns to its then fourth national title with future seven-time Cy Young award winner, Roger Clemens.

Schiraldi was drafted by the New York Mets with the 27th overall selection of the 1983 MLB June Amateur Draft.

After being traded to Boston in November of 1985, Schiraldi had his best season in 1986 for the eventual American League Champions, going 4-2 with a 1.41 ERA in 25 games. Schiraldi also pitched for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers.

Schiraldi has been the Head Baseball Coach at St. Michael’s Catholic Academy in Austin, TX since 1997.

Rounding out the Flying Chanclas’ field staff will be hitting coach, Bryan Aughney. Since 2017, Aughney has been the Head Baseball Coach at Our Lady of the Lake University here in San Antonio. Prior to arriving at OLLU, Aughney was the Head Baseball Coach at Harlingen High School and the University of Texas at Brownsville (now University of Texas Rio Grande Valley).

Details about the Chanclas’ roster will be released later this week.

San Antonio opens TCL play on June 30 in Amarillo. The club’s first home contest is slated for Friday, July 3.

Social distancing protocols will be in effect during all games at The Wolff. For more information on Wolff Stadium’s COVID-19 Readiness Plan and protocols, click https://bit.ly/2BRnd40.

Fans can purchase tickets on Thursday, June 18 beginning at 11:00 a.m. at www.samissions.com. For TCL questions or more information, please call 210-675-7275.

ABOUT THE TEXAS COLLEGIATE LEAGUE

The TCL is currently represented by 250-plus players from 91 different colleges and universities. Some of the more nationally-recognized schools sending their standouts to the TCL include Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Cal State Fullerton, Dallas Baptist, Houston, Long Beach State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts, Pacific, Rice, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas-Arlington, Texas State, Texas Tech, and Wichita State, among others.

The formation of the Texas Collegiate League was announced on September 24, 2003. The league is owned and operated by the Haddock Foundation, a section 501(c)3 organization. Gerald Haddock, a minority owner and General Counsel of the Texas Rangers from 1989-98 and a passionate baseball fan, became the league's Chair and CEO. Since the league was established, 88 alumni with ties to the Texas Collegiate League have been drafted by Major League teams or signed by professional independent baseball squads. Notable alumni include Paul Goldschmidt, Hunter Pence, Jake Arrieta, Matt Carpenter, Chris Davis and Brandon Belt.

The Texas Collegiate League exists to provide the best summer league experience for the best professional prospects from colleges throughout the country. The league will allow those players with eligibility remaining to showcase and improve their skills in a wholesome, minor league-type atmosphere using wooden bats.

The league is committed to providing quality, inexpensive entertainment in a small-town, intimate atmosphere that is distinctively Texan, while helping promote the game of baseball in the communities involved.

For more information, visit www.texascollegiateleague.com.

The league comprises 10 total teams made up of active college players (rising sophomores to seniors) from different colleges and universities across the nation. Four teams already affiliated with the TCL include the Acadiana Cane Cutters (Lafayette, LA), Brazos Valley Bombers (Bryan-College Station, TX), Texarkana (TX) Twins and Victoria (TX) Generals. Joining the league in 2020 are five MiLB organizations, including Double-A Amarillo (two teams), Frisco and Tulsa, and Triple-A Round Rock and San Antonio.

The teams will be divided into two divisions (North and South). The North Division will include Amarillo’s two teams, Frisco, Tulsa and Texarkana. San Antonio, Round Rock, Acadiana, Brazos Valley and Victoria will make up the South.

Each team will have a roster of about 30 players and play a total of 30 regular season games (15/15 home/road split) from June 30 to August 2 followed by a postseason. The postseason format will begin with a best-of-three divisional series played by the top two seeds from each division. The winner of each division will then face off in a winner-take-all championship game for the Gerald Haddock Trophy.