Pirates hire Cox as third-base coach

11/30/2005
PITTSBURGH -- Following a search that lasted nearly two months, the Pittsburgh Pirates finalized their big league coaching staff Wednesday by hiring Jeff Cox as the club's third-base coach.
The Pirates' Triple-A Indianapolis affiliate also announced Wednesday that manager Trent Jewett would be returning to lead the Indians again during the 2006 season.
Cox, 50, spent the past four years as a coach with the Florida Marlins, first working as a bench coach and bullpen coach before taking over the third-base coaching duties in 2004 and 2005. Cox also had big league coaching experience with the Kansas City Royals (1995) and Montreal Expos (2000-01) before joining the Florida staff.
Cox, who appeared in 61 games as an infielder with the Oakland A's in 1980 and 1981, amassed a 736-863 record in 13 seasons as a Minor League manager in the Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Atlanta and Montreal farm systems. He led the Bucs' Class A Watertown affiliate to a division title in 1987.
"Jeff Cox has a lot of experience at the Major League level as a coach and he's done a variety of things," said Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield. "He loves baseball, has a lot of passion for the game and puts a lot of energy towards helping players improve."
With the addition of Cox, new manager Jim Tracy's coaching staff will include bench coach Jim Lett, pitching coach Jim Colburn, hitting coach Jeff Manto, first-base coach John Shelby and bullpen coach Bobby Cuellar. Lett, Colburn and Shelby were members of Tracy's coaching staff with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Manto, who had served as the Pirates' roving Minor League hitting instructor, was promoted from within the organization.
"I'm pleased to have the staff together, particularly with the people that we have," said Littlefield. "The timing of it was really not an issue. We spent some time trying to fit what Jim Tracy was looking for. We're happy with that."
Jewett, 41, has spent 14 seasons in the Pirates organization, including eight as a Triple-A manager. He led Indianapolis to a 78-66 record and a birth in the International League Championship in 2005 before being swept in three games by Toledo.
"I'm looking forward to another great season in Indianapolis," Jewett said. "We had a really nice run in 2005 and I hope we can take that a step further in 2006. With all the good things that happened to us last season, we still ended up short of where I wanted us to be. I really think this organization has enough talent to win an International League championship, and that's what we'll be shooting for this time around."

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