Results tagged ‘ Stu Cole ’
Sky Sox 8/15 Notebook
STARTING OFF RIGHT AT HOME: With last night’s win the Sky Sox collected their 11th straight home series opener win, setting a new franchise record for consecutive home series opener wins. The previous record was set in the 1994 season at ten games (the Sox also won their home opener in the playoffs that season) and had a streak of ten wins during the 1996 and 1997 seasons combined. The streak began on June 2 against Tucson, with their last series opening loss at Security Service Field coming against the Oklahoma City RedHawks. During the 11-game streak, the Sky Sox have outscored their opponent 115-43, and have scored double digit runs in five of their last six home series openers.
SOX SIMILAR SLAM HISTORY: With his grand slam yesterday, Brandon Wood became the 14th player in Sky Sox history to hit multiple grand slams in one season as he has hit two grand slams in last six home games and the 17th player with multiple slams in their Sky Sox career. The Sky Sox have now hit 101 grand slams in their 25-year history (including one playoff grand slam), and have also allowed exactly 101 grand slams. More strange is that the Sky Sox have hit 57 grand slams at Security Service Field all time and allowed 44 on the road, and have also allowed 57 grand slams at home and 44 on the road.
NEW STU RECORD: The Sky Sox notched their 65th win last night on the season, and with the win Sky Sox manager Stu Cole has now won the most games in one season as a Triple-A manager in his three seasons solely at the helm of the Sky Sox. Cole took over for former Sox manager and current Rockies coach Tom Runnels during the 2009 season with the Sox winning 73 games during that year (44-50). Cole moved in to second place all time in manager wins earlier this season (passing Runnels) and his 237 wins trails only Brad Mills’ 276 total wins for most all time in Sky Sox history.
Sky Sox 8/15 Lineup vs Albuquerque (1st in American Southern Division):
1 – Tim Wheeler – LF
2 – Charlie Blackmon – CF
3 – Michael Cuddyer – 1B
4 – Andrew Brown – RF
5 – Brendan Harris – SS
6 – Brandon Wood – 3B
7 – Charlie Culberson – 2B
8 – Omir Santos – C
9 – Cory Riordan – RHP
Sky Sox 8/11 Notebook
CARRER YEAR FOR BROWN: Sky Sox outfielder Andrew Brown hit his team-leading 23rd homer of the season in last night’s win, and his third in the last six games since rejoining the Sky Sox on August 4. The 23 homers is a career high for Brown in his six professional seasons, one of many career highs Brown has posted already this season. Brown moved in to the league lead with 91 RBI on the season (18 more than he has ever posted in his career), has 55 extra-base hits (ten more than he has ever posted), 111 hits (nine more than his previous career high), 76 runs scored (nine more than the previous high) and 29 doubles (12 more than the previous high). Brown has 43 homers in his two career Triple-A seasons to go along with 164 RBI in 199 total games.
CHACIN’S RETURN TO COLORADO SPRINGS: Sky Sox starter Jhoulys Chacin will be making his first appearance with Colorado Springs in more than two years tonight, with his last start for the Sox coming on August 10, 2010. In his last season with the Sox in 2010, Chacin posted a 1.51 ERA (35.2 ip, 6 er) while totaling 34 strikeouts, and allowed one earned run or less in six of his seven starts that season. Chacin pitched for the Sox in the 2009 season as well, and is the starter for the last Sky Sox no-hitter on August 18, 2009 at Oklahoma City (Chacin went 5.1 innings in the combined no-hitter with Joel Peralta, Juan Rincon and Randy Flores), one of two no-hitters the Sox tossed that season (Brandon Hynick’s perfect game being the other).
ONE MORE WIN: Last night’s serie opening win for the Sox gave them 64 wins on the season, matching the most wins for the Sky Sox under Stu Cole in seasons he has managed the entire year (Cole took over for Tom Runnels during the 2009 season after Runnels became a coach for the Rockies) and with a win tonight set a new record for wins with Stu solely at the helm. Cole earlier this season moved in to second place all time in managerial wins, trailing only Brad Mills in career Sky Sox manager wins.
SOX THE PCL BEST SINCE JULY: WIth their win last night, the Sky Sox have won the most games in the Pacific Coast League since the start of July at 24 wins. Unfortunately the team the Sky Sox are chasing down for the Pacific Northern Division crown, the Reno Aces, ranks second in the league in wins during that time frame with 23. Reno holds the best winning percentage at .622 (23-14) since July, barely edging out the Sox at .615 (24-15).
Sky Sox 8/11 Lineup vs Round Rock Express:
1 – Tim Wheeler – LF
2 – Tommy Field – SS
3 – Charlie Blackmon – CF
4 – Andrew Brown – RF
5 – Brendan Harris – 3B
6 – Charlie Culberson – 2B
7 – Chad Tracy – DH
8 – Brandon Wood – 1B
9 – Omir Santos – C
SP – Jhoulys Chacin – RHP
Stu Cole 2nd in All-Time Manager Wins
With the two wins in yesterday’s doubleheader, Sky Sox manager Stu Cole moved in to second place all-time in managerial wins at 225 in his nearly four seasons at the helm of Colorado Springs. Cole passed former Sox manager Tom Runnels for second on the list, the man who Cole replaced halfway through the 2009 season.
Stu Cole now trails only Sky Sox Hall of Famer Brad Mills, the last manager to win a PCL Championship for the Sky Sox, who totaled 271 regular season wins and 276 total wins for the Sky Sox. Cole is one of only three Colorado Springs managers with 200 regular season wins in the 25-year history of the team (Mills and Runnels the others) and one of four managers with at least 200 total wins (Charlie Manuel is the fourth).
Cole has spent 17 years in the Rockies organization and 11 seasons as manager. Before arriving at the Springs, Cole managed the Rockies Double-A team in Tulsa for three and a half seasons.
Other Notes:
STREAKING AT SECURITY SERVICE VS TACOMA: The Sky Sox are riding a seven-game home winning streak against the Rainiers, their longest streak against Tacoma at Security Service Field. The previous record had been five games, which the Sox had accomplished three times, and this current home streak is the longest in team history against one opponent all in the same season, passing the six game streak against Tucson in 1995.
3-4 THREAT: Sky Sox centerfielder Charlie Blackmon and utility player Matt McBride are tied for the second most hits in the month of July in the PCL at 29, trailing Albuquerque’s Josh Fields who has 32 hits. Both players are batting .403 during the month, two of only seven players to post an above .400 average. Blackmon ranks tied for third in the PCL with 18 runs during the month with McBride only one run behind at 17 in July.
HITS AT YOUR SECURITY SERVICE: Colorado Springs totaled double-digit hits in both wins yesterday, and in the last 23 games played at Security Service Field the Sky Sox have top double-digit hits in 18 of those games. This season the Sox are batting .319 at home, the third best home batting average of any team in the PCL behind Albuquerque’s .333 average and Reno’s .323 average.
What To Expect of the New Skipper
By Andrew Woerpel
In the wake of its manager Tom Runnells being promoted to t he Colorado Rockies, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox have turned to a familiar face in Stu Cole to lead the team.
Cole steps in as manager of the Sky Sox after spending the past three seasons, and the first part of this season, as the Tulsa Drillers skipper. Before joining the Sky Sox this season, Cole had the Drillers in second place of the Texas League North Division. In 2006, Cole won the North Division and led the Drillers to a 41-29 record claiming a playoff birth.
Stepping in to the managerial job with the Sky Sox is a reunion of sorts for Cole as he played for the Sky Sox from 1993-1995, winning a PCL championship in the process.
“I haven’t been here in quite a while and know there has been a lot of changes in the city,” Cole said. “It feels good to come back and have people recognize you from when you played and appreciate everything that you did. That’s what makes this game so special whenever you give your all, because people notice that and they never forget you.”
Cole is no stranger to the players he has inherited either, as he has managed many of them on their way up through the Rockies farm system.
“We try to preach to these guys down at the lower level to try and get better to the point where you can be consistent at the higher level,” Cole said. “To see these guys like Miller, Frey and Colonel; they look like stronger and better men because of it, so it’s a joy to see the way these guys develop year in and year out.”
Cole admits he is a very aggressive type of manager, which fits right in with the way the Sky Sox have played this season.
“I like to make guys run and steal bases and hit and run when you have to, just kind of put pressure on the defense,” Cole said.
As far as the players are concerned, they don’t have to worry about being second guessed when making plays on the field as Cole is a very confident and enthusiastic manager.
“I want to let the guys know that they have my support on everything they are going to do out there on the field, and there is not going to be anything that is going to be second guessed,” Cole explained.
When asked what Cole wanted to achieve this season as he inherits a first place club, he was quick to focus on the development of the players.
“I just want these guys to understand that I am coming in here to help them continue to be consistent and continue to get better every single day,” Cole said, “I just want to see the team continue to get better and progress.”
On May 31, 2009, the first game of the Stu Cole era took place at Security Service Field where the Sky Sox pummeled the Tacoma Rainiers into submission by a score of 12-4. When Cole was asked how it felt to get his first victory at the Triple-A level his response was simple.
“It feels good, I mean it’s better than getting a loss,” Cole admitted.
Stu Cole Era Begins in Colorado Springs
Sunday, May 31st marks the beginning of the Stu Cole managerial era with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Cole becomes the 12th manager in the history of the Sky Sox and the second former Sox player to lead the team. He joins Paul Zuvella who played for the Sox in 1988-89 and then later managed the team in 1997-98. Cole played for the Sox as an infielder for three season from 1993-95 and hit .286 with 13 homers and 97 RBIs in 277 games.
So, with Cole officially here in Colorado Springs and running the show, here’s a look at his first lineup, which looks very similar to yesterday:
Eric Young Jr. – 2B
Jonathan Herrera – SS
Mike McCoy – RF
Carlos Gonzalez – CF
Matt Miller – LF
Kenny Perez – DH
Mark Bellhorn – 1B
Christian Colonel – 3B
Sal Fasano – C
Franklin Morales – SP
Today’s lineup is actually identical to yesterday’s lineup with the only exception being the starting pitcher Morales. Speaking of Morales, this will be his second start of the season with the Sky Sox and first of his Major League rehab assignment as he recovers from a left shoulder strain. He’s expected to throw between 75-80 pitches today.
The Space Between
Today’s contest will be the first game in three and a half years that Tom Runnells will not have some kind of direct impact on. Even yesterday, the day he was promoted to be the Rockies new bench coach, Runnells actually made out the lineup. It sounds odd, but Runnells had actually filled out the day’s lineup the night before and left it on his desk in his office. After Runnells got the call to head up to Denver the lineup was still used that night. So, technically, last night’s lineup was Runnells’ last as the Sky Sox manager. With new manager Stu Cole not arriving in Colorado Springs until Sunday, today’s lineup was put together by interim skipper Rene Lachemann.
So here’s a look at Lachemann’s lineup for today’s match up with the Tacoma Rainiers in game two of the four-game series:
Eric Young Jr. – 2B
Jonathan Herrera – SS
Mike McCoy – RF
Carlos Gonzalez – CF
Matt Miller – LF
Kenny Perez – DH
Mark Bellhorn – 1B
Christian Colonel – 3B
Sal Fasano – C
An interesting move in the lineup today is McCoy playing in right. It’ll be his first start in the outfield this season but McCoy has played the outfield throughout his career having played 60 total games in the outfield before this season. On the season, McCoy has been an ultra utility player for the Sky Sox. Not only has McCoy been raking at the plate but he’s also played games at second, third, shortstop, designated hitter, pitcher and now outfield.
With McCoy in the outfield, that also makes room to get Colonel in the lineup again today at third which is good to see. Colonel, who has been battling a slump for most of the season, had a break out game last night going 2-for-5 with two runs, two RBIs and his first homer since May 5. An All-Star for the Sky Sox last year, Colonel comes into today hitting a very uncharacteristic .214 with just two homers and 15 RBIs.
Runnells Promoted, Cole Joins Sky Sox
What a whirlwind day Friday, May 29th turned out to be! The day started like any other day really. The Sky Sox bused back from Albuquerque after their victory last night and didn’t roll into town until around 6 AM. As the team headed home to get some sleep, the Rockies had a lot action going on up in Denver.
As the day unfolded, reports from the Denver Post and ESPN started to filter in that Clint Hurdle’s tenure with the Rockies might be coming to an end. At that point the speculations began to float around and the phones began to ring. The Rockies announced a 2:30 PM press conference for a major announcement and from there the dominoes began to fall.
Once Jim Tracy was announced as the Rockies new interim manager the announcement that Sky Sox skipper Tom Runnells was going to be the new bench coach soon followed. The Sky Sox family couldn’t be any happier for Runnells and his family. After having him steering the ship here in Colorado Springs for three and a half seasons, we really do consider him a friend and he will be very much missed.
Later on in the evening the Rockies announced the replacement for Runnells in the form of Double-A manager Stu Cole. Cole is expected to be traveling up to Colorado Springs tomorrow morning and be here to take the helm on Sunday. The Stu Cole era officially begins as he becomes the 12th manager in Sky Sox history.
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