Colborn, Lett named Pirates coaches

11/01/2005
The three Jims will stay together and take their act to PNC Park.
Manager Jim Tracy has made the trek from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh, and he's bringing two of his top hands with him.
Tracy has tapped Jim Colborn to be his pitching coach and Jim Lett to be his bench coach for the Pirates in 2006, general manager Dave Littlefield announced Tuesday. Both men served in the same roles for Tracy while with the Dodgers this past season.
Colborn, 59, spent the last five seasons as the Dodgers' pitching coach. He guided that club's pitching staff to a ranking in the top four in ERA among National League clubs in three of the last four seasons, including a Major League-best 3.16 mark and 17 shutouts in 2003.
Now, he'll get the chance to put together similar success with a young Pirates staff with plenty of promise.
"[Tracy] and I feel we have unfinished business," Colborn had told the Los Angeles Daily News last month. "Jim and I work together very well, and pitchers look good sometimes because a manager agrees with his pitching coach on how to use them."
Colborn was a big-league pitcher for 10 years, compiling a career record of 83-88 with 60 complete games and a 3.80 ERA while with the Cubs, Brewers, Royals and Mariners. He was a 20-game winner and an All-Star with Milwaukee in 1973, setting a club record by pitching 314 1/3 innings that season.
Colborn is also well known for pitching a no-hitter against the Rangers while pitching for the Royals in 1977. In that game, he faced just one batter over the minimum.
Lett, 54, was Tracy's bench coach in Los Angeles this year after serving four years as the Dodgers' bullpen coach. A Charleston, W.Va., native, Lett has been involved in the game of baseball for 32 years as a player, coach, manager and front-office executive. He spent 23 of those years in the Reds organization.
Lett played three seasons as an infielder in the Minor Leagues for Cincinnati, followed by 10 seasons as a Minor League manager in the club's system, where he compiled a 646-667 record and guided his teams to a first- or second-place finish six times.
Before joining the Dodgers, Lett also spent time as a Major League coach with the Blue Jays (1997-99) and the Reds (1986-89, 1996).
Bringing Colborn and Lett aboard was the first move made by Tracy toward filling out his coaching staff. He's also expected to bring along former Dodgers first-base coach John Shelby in some capacity.

Source: http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/