Dayton's Pitching Coach fired

[dabvu2498]

Reds fire 'negative' Dragons pitching coach
Larry Pierson's staff ranked 11th among Midwest League's 14 teams in ERA; new coach takes over tonight.
By Marc Katz

Staff Writer

DAYTON | When the Dayton Dragons boarded their bus to West Michigan on Thursday morning, pitching coach Larry Pierson wasn't with them.

Wednesday night, Pierson was fired by Reds farm director Johnny Almaraz.

"Johnny told me I was too negative," Pierson said.

Almaraz said Thursday that he had been thinking about the move for a while.

"We're committed to making the players the best they can be," he said. "We want to develop major leaguers, and we felt a change was needed."

Roving pitching instructor Mike LaCoss, a former Reds player, was acting pitching coach for the Dragons on Thursday night. New pitching coach Pete Magre, a recent hire by the organization, is expected to be in place tonight.

Magre, from San Antonio, was pitching coach at Division II Incarnate Ward College before signing with the Reds to help pitchers at the organization's rookie Gulf Coast League club in Sarasota, Fla.

"He pitched for the Reds in the minor leagues 10-12 years ago and he's got a lot of energy," Reds minor-league pitching coordinator Mack Jenkins said. "It was a tough decision because Larry's (Pierson) a good guy. But you've got a new farm director and a new pitching coordinator (Jenkins) and everyone is being evaluated, including myself."

Dragons manager Billy Gardner Jr. said he thought Pierson, "did a good job," and "helped the pitchers get better," but was not consulted on the move.

Using an organization-mandated tandem pitching system with strict pitch-count limits his first two years with the Dragons, Pierson's pitching staffs finished last in Midwest League team ERA at 5.03 in 2004 and 4.92 last season.

This summer, the Dragons rank 11th (out of 14) in team ERA at 3.92. Four pitchers from this year's staff were promoted after working with Pierson, including Johnny Cueto, Blake Hendley, Justin Mallett and Zac Stott.

Pierson picked up the last of his gear Thursday morning at Fifth Third Field and headed home near St. Louis.

"I get paid through November," he said. "I get a nice vacation."


Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@daytondailynews.com


Find this article at:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/daily/072106fired.html

[EX BRAVEDAD]

Now all he has to do is fire Mack Jenkins and the pitching in the minors will get even better

[StillFunkyB]

Now all he has to do is fire Mack Jenkins and the pitching in the minors will get even better

Hope Ken is doing well these days! :)

[Tony Cloninger]

What does Mack do that is so bad?

Can anyone be more specific.....is it his attitude/ideas/hair style?

[Team Clark]

What does Mack do that is so bad?

Can anyone be more specific.....is it his attitude/ideas/hair style?

He is by far the worst instructor the Reds have. That's saying a lot since they also have Jeff Young in Billings. Jenkins is another, least qualified, lowest bidder from the Naehring Administration. Hopefully all that will change soon.

[Tony Cloninger]

He must be a really nice guy to be able to be as bad as not just you....but a lot of other people say.

I think i would rather it be that he is disliked personally...but he gets results in what he has to do.

[EX BRAVEDAD]

Gets results are you kidding this is the same guy that when my son went to AAA when he first got there and I am talking about 4 starts later. Bubba asked this so called coach for some help and this coaches response was put some Ws on the board and you will get some help. Bubba was 22 at the time and I know for a fact that this never would have happened in the Braves org. Then he started screwing whith his mechs. and his mental approach to the game. My opinion this guy is trash. I have no doudt he will be weeded out.

[Team Clark]

Gets results are you kidding this is the same guy that when my son went to AAA when he first got there and I am talking about 4 starts later. Bubba asked this so called coach for some help and this coaches response was put some Ws on the board and you will get some help. Bubba was 22 at the time and I know for a fact that this never would have happened in the Braves org. Then he started screwing whith his mechs. and his mental approach to the game. My opinion this guy is trash. I have no doudt he will be weeded out.

He'll be weeded out when the budget gets an increase. Jenkins contract is for 19K. :laugh: Like I said earlier, most unqualified, LOWEST BIDDER.

[cincyinco]

Gets results are you kidding this is the same guy that when my son went to AAA when he first got there and I am talking about 4 starts later. Bubba asked this so called coach for some help and this coaches response was put some Ws on the board and you will get some help. Bubba was 22 at the time and I know for a fact that this never would have happened in the Braves org. Then he started screwing whith his mechs. and his mental approach to the game. My opinion this guy is trash. I have no doudt he will be weeded out.

Thats too bad.. I always did like Bubba, wish he could have gotten a good chance here. It seems like he wasn't given the proper support and development/instruction in the organization and thats a shame. Best wishes to your son.

[Tony Cloninger]

I never said he got results.

I said it would be BETTER or NICER ...if he was a jerk of a person BUT got results.

As opposed to being horrible as an instructor.......and maybe being a decent person.

Either way....cheap or not......and man 19K is pretty cheap.... if this guy is that putrid, why wait?

[Team Clark]

I never said he got results.

I said it would be BETTER or NICER ...if he was a jerk of a person BUT got results.

As opposed to being horrible as an instructor.......and maybe being a decent person.

Either way....cheap or not......and man 19K is pretty cheap.... if this guy is that putrid, why wait?


I know what you are saying. Really does boggle the mind. I have NO DOUBT that this area will be addressed in the off-season. If it is not, then shame on the Reds.

[Jpup]

It's a shame that a minor league pitching coordinator is only making 19k a year. Who can live on that?

[dougdirt]

Jpup, he probably has a job in the offseason...I also wonder if he has to pay for housing or food while on the job? If he doesnt, then that 19k is a lot more than it seems.

[StillFunkyB]

Jpup, he probably has a job in the offseason...I also wonder if he has to pay for housing or food while on the job? If he doesnt, then that 19k is a lot more than it seems.

I think this is the part where spending more on "development" comes into play.

[Jpup]

Jpup, he probably has a job in the offseason...I also wonder if he has to pay for housing or food while on the job? If he doesnt, then that 19k is a lot more than it seems.

When you are training kids who will eventually and hopefully make millions of dollars, 19k is never much. If the guy is being paid for his players pitching well at the big league level, well, he's overpaid. :lol:

[dabvu2498]

Follow-up article:


Pitching coach's unexpected firing nothing new in baseball
By Marc Katz

Staff Writer

DAYTON | In baseball — probably other sports as well — you learn to deal with personnel changes on the fly.

Last Wednesday night, on an off day, Dayton Dragons pitching coach Larry Pierson was fired, called on the telephone by Johnny Almaraz, the Cincinnati Reds director of player personnel.

"You have to feel bad," Dragons pitcher Carlos Fisher said. "It's just like when a guy is released or sent down. This is the first time it's happened to me with a coach."

Most of the pitchers commiserated with Pierson in the parking lot of their Dayton apartment complex, continuing the discussion the next morning when the team headed by bus to West Michigan, and Pierson headed — alone — to his home near St. Louis.

"I didn't see it coming," Dragons closer Bo Lanier said. "He was a great guy. But this new guy (Pete Magre) is a very nice guy. It's just the nature of the business."

This is the nature of the business.

Lanier, who was drafted in the 10th round last summer, said just about everybody who dressed in his locker-room row (it's not exactly a clubhouse) at spring training is already gone from the organization.

"Jeff Stevens is a very good friend of mine," Lanier said. "When he was traded (as the player-to-be-named-later in the Brandon Phillips trade with Cleveland), I was very upset. You can't get too close."

Almaraz, the farm director, watched the Dragons on Monday and would offer nothing new on the firing except to say he wanted the pitching staff in Dayton run differently than it was run.

Pierson oversaw four starters — Johnny Cueto (since promoted to Sarasota), Zachary Ward, Travis Wood and Fisher, who were a combined 30-8 entering Monday's game, which the 7-2 Wood started. Yet the Dragons were 48-51 overall, meaning the rest of the staff was 18-43. Pierson, obviously, was blamed for some of that.

"I gave Johnny an earful when I was let go," Pierson said. "But I really thank the Reds for giving me the chance to coach with them over four years. I enjoyed the organization. I enjoyed the Dragons. I enjoyed Dayton."

Magre pitched in the Reds organization 10 years ago, reaching Class AA Chattanooga. He then pitched a year in Mexico before taking a job at the University of Incarnate Word in Texas. He has wanted to be a pro coach ever since.

"I finally got my chance," Magre said. "When I was pitching, Mack Jenkins (who was Magre's manager at one time and now is the Reds' minor-league pitching coordinator) asked me if I wanted to be a coach. I told him I wasn't finished playing."

He's way past finishing playing now and was hired only recently to help the Reds with their rehab players in Sarasota. He was there three days when the call came from Almaraz. There was an opening in Dayton. That's baseball.


Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.


Find this article at:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/daily/072506inside.html