2010 HUNTSVILLE STARS

2010 Southern League Managers/Coaches

Huntsville native Chad Anderson is the new voice of the Huntsville Stars.

The Stars will be back on the air in 2010 after a year's absence because of budget cuts. At least 85 contests will be aired (what isn't heard will be on the www.milb.com), so some home games will be heard on 1450-WTKI, 92.9 FM, in Decatur on 1490-WEKI, 94.9 FM and 1050-WWIC in Scottsboro. 1450 was the Stars flagship station for many years, but it has been bought by area businessman Fred Holland........ Anderson. Chad will also do the broadcast for the SL All-Star Game which is at the Joe this year...... Chad began broadcasting for Bob Jones HS, handling baseball and football, graduated to events at the Crimson Tide's campus stadium as a student, and did a morning show for WUMP, which aired the Stars in 2007-08....... As of February 4, there was one intern position open with Chad.  Broadcasting opportunities, include play-by-play, analyst, and pre and post-game hosting. Additional responsiblities includes writing the daily game notes, broadcast and commercial production and digital recording. Some travel is possible. Sales opportunites will be optional at a 30% commission..... Brett Pollock left after the season to pursue other opportunities.

The Nashville Sounds will also have a new radio voice as well.

Stu Cole was hired away from his long-time job as voice of the Texas League San Antonio Missions. Chuck Valenches, who was the voice of the Sounds for 10 years, has left. Don't know the circumstances. The Sounds accepted over 100 applications back in November.

Now, what's the status on the scoreboard? From GM Buck Rogers:  As everybody knows last season the video board finally blew out and all our efforts to get it repaired failed. We had four separate companies try to determine and correct what was wrong. This Tuesday the company that produced the scoreboard is coming to the stadium to attempt to repair it. They have shipped us a crate of parts for just about anything that they think could be wrong. We'll have an 80' lift awaiting them and then, rain or shine or cold weather, they're going to take one last shot to repair it. Hopefully by Tuesday night we'll have a photo of it lit up on our video board. I would like to thank the people that helped eliminate some of the problems and narrow down the main issues; we've had some engineers and techno-freaks working on this thing for months, from the folks at NetwoRx of Huntsville to the City of Huntsville's IT Department. We can't thank them enough for trying to sort it all out and repairing as they went thru the system. Most of you know that this has been a frustrating issue with us and the company that installed the scoreboard, TS Sports, is sending their crew and parts at no cost to the city or the team to attempt to get this monster rebooted! Keep your fingers crossed for good weather and good news on Tuesday.

Corey Kemp has announced his retirement....... Kemp made his debut as a Huntsville Star in an August 22 loss to Montgomery. He finished with the Stars 0-for-16 after hitting .282 in 108 games for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers....... According to a poster on brewerfan.com, "he was upset that he wasn't given more catching time than some of the younger guys that struggled all year defensively. He was promised more catching opportunities and was not very happy  that some of the younger catchers that did not catch or throw very well were getting so much time behind the plate. He was promised some catching time after the season in instructional league and never received any. You must remember that this kid was relegated to catching in the bullpen early in the season and only started playing when the other catchers struggled with the bat."

The Pirates have signed infielder Kevin Melillo as a free agent. Melillo was picked up by the Stars just before the 2009 season got underway. He got off to a .270+ start the first two months of the season, went into a dive in the final two months of the season, hitting .203, finishing at .249...... The Oakland A's traded pitcher Dana Eveland to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named/cash. The former Stars lefty had cleared waivers before the deal was struck.  He had a terrible '09 season (2-4, 7.16) and stunk up Class AAA-Sacramento as well (8-6, 4.94 ERA in 21 starts). Eveland, in his 2nd pro season, was 10-4 with a 2.72 ERA for the 2004 Stars.

Outfielder Freddie Parejo, who set a Stars record in 2008 with a .421 April batting average, was signed by the Houston Astros to a free agent contract.  Parejo hit .275 for the 2008 Stars, then slumped to .229 in 92 games last year, but did win a promotion to Nashville, where he hit .262 in 16 games........ Vinny Rottino has earned an invititation to the Florida Marlins' spring camp......... J.C. Boscan and Vince Perkins have been re-signed by the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs respectively to minor league deals........ Cole Gillespie was added to the 40-man roster of the Arizona Diamondbacks........ Charlie Fermaint, who started the 2009 season with the Stars, went 0-for-10 and was released, signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals.

Vineland, New Jersey product Darren Ford, who never got higher than Brevard County and was traded to the Giants in the Ray Durham deal, was a victim of an armed robbery in Vineland, but was uninjured. The robber, brandishing a double-barreled shotgun, fled with a bank deposit of $300, his cell phone, and fled. Ford works for a Chevy dealership (think about that one) during the off-season. Ford was an 18th round pick by the Brewers in 2004.

The latest from Don Mincher Drive.
If you're a season-ticket holder, you will get a promotional windbreaker this season. The Stars office is placing the order February 15, so if you want one, come to Don Mincher Drive and get your season tickets before that date. Additiional windbreakers will not be ordered after the 15th. Speaking of season tickets, the package includes the 2010 All-Star game and all home playoff games......... Joe Davis Stadium will no longer be the home of the UAH Chargers, who have their own on-campus field now, but a pre-season exhibition game is still a possibility....... No clean-up day at the stadium this year. The tasks will be confined to the staff and a new 10th Man Club that will be formed later this month.

Pitcher Mark Holliman, who once pitched a no-hitter for the Smokies against the Stars, and wound up as a starter for Huntsville last year, was released by the Brewers. Holliman was 7-10 with a 4.64 ERA in 26 starts last season....... Josh Wahpepah, who was released after the 2009 season ended, will pitch independent ball this year for the Kansas City T-Bones of the Northern League. (Thanx to brewerfan.net)......Pitcher Bobby Bramhall is doing well after undergoing Tommy John surgery in November. Bramhall will miss the 2010 season. Bramhall had some success last season, winning three games for the Stars in June and going 2-1 with a 3.14 ERA in 8 appearances for the Stars in August. He finished the season 6-7 with a 5.29 ERA.

The Brewers announced their organizational shifts at the start of the year. As most of you know, Mike Guerrero will be the new manager of the Stars in 2010. John Curtis remains as pitching coach and Al LeBoeuf, who spent last season with the Blue Jays as a coach at Class A-Dunedin (Fla. St.), is on as hitting coach. Le Boeuf has 15 years of minor league coaching experience behind him with the Phillies (as a manager), the Mets and Royals as well. LeBoeuf was a .270-hitting 1st baseman in the Phillies organization from 1981-88....... Bob Miscik, who led the Stars to a first-half title, will manage at Brevard County this coming season. Joining him as the Manatees' hitting coach will be former Huntsville Stars outfielder Dwayne Hosey and former Stars pitching coach Fred Dabney...... Hosey played in 28 games for the 1991 Stars and hit .245. He went on to the majors and played for the Red Sox in 1995-96, hitting .338 in 24 games in '95. Dabney was 2-8 for the Barons in 1992, later pitched for the Orlando Cubs, and was part of the Stars' staff in 2004....... Don Money and Sandy Guerrero return for the second season at Nashville. Rich Gale, who was the pitching coach for Class A-Hagerstown (SAL), and a former pitching coach for the Carolina Mudcats, will serve in that capacity for the Sounds. Gale was a 14-game winner as a rookie for the Kansas City Royals in 1978. David Yeager, who was the Stars' athletic trainer since 2005, and Southern League Trainer of the Year in 2007, moves up to join the staff.  Aaron Hoback will be the Stars' new trainer, joining the team from a season with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers last year.

The Timber Rattlers will be managed again by Jeff Isom. Wisconsin finished last in the 2nd half of the West Division of the Midwest League last year and 7th among the 8 teams in the division overall. Former Stars pitching coach Chris Hook (2008 Stars) will be their pitching coach, joining Matt Erickson on the baselines. Jeff Paxson, who was the Sounds' athletic trainer for the last five seasons, will serve in that capacity for the Timber Rattlers.

The Helena Brewers will be managed by  former minor leauge catcher Joe Ayrault, who managed the Reds' Class A farm club at Sarasota (Fla. St.). Ayrault played in the Southern League for the Greenville Braves in 1994-95 and managed to make it to Atlanta, getting 5 at-bats for the Braves in 1996. Elvin Nina, who pitched in the Southern League for Jacksonville in 2003 and Tennessee in 2005, will be their pitching coach.

Tony Diggs returns for his 3rd season as manager for the Brewers' Arizona League rookie team. Steve Cline returns as the pitching coach, and Kenny Dominguez as hitting coach.

Former Stars catcher Nestor Corrredor (2004) will manage the Dominican Summer League Brewers.

In other moves, the Brewers hired Reggie Williams as roving outfield instructor and Darnell Coles as hitting coordinator. Both played in the majors -- Williams with the Dodgers (1985-87) and Coles with the Seattle Mariners and several other clubs from 1983-1997, ending with the Colorado Rockies. Charlie Greene, who caught a few games for the Brewers in 1999, returns as catching instructor, Lee Tunnell (1982-84 Pirates) as pitching instructor, and Garth Iorg (1978-87 Blue Jays) as a roving infield instructor.