Single-A Baseball on The Show? Un-Flocking-Believable! Go Myrtle Beach Pelicans!

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Cubs Announce 2015 Pelicans Coaching Staff; Massey Won't Return as Manager
Eight-year big leaguer Mark Johnson to serve as the team's sixth manager
By Nathan Barnett / Myrtle Beach Pelicans

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MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - In conjunction with the Chicago Cubs, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, are pleased to announce the field staff for the Pelicans for the upcoming 2015 season. Mark Johnson leads the coaching staff as the manager in the team's first year as a Cubs affiliate. Most recently, Johnson was named the Manager of the Year in the Midwest League for his work the Cubs' Class-A Kane County Cougars in 2014. He is joined by David Rosario (pitching coach), Mariano Duncan (hitting coach), Chris Gutierrez (assistant coach), and Peter Fagan (athletic trainer). Rosario and Gutierrez both served with Johnson in Kane County in 2014.

Johnson, 39, enters his fifth season with the Cubs and will be the sixth Pelicans manager in team history. The former big league catcher spent the last two seasons as the manager at Class-A Kane County, where he led the Cougars last season to a minor league best 91-49 record and a Midwest League championship after sweeping through the playoffs with a 7-0 record. He was named Baseball America's Minor League Manager of the Year and Midwest League Manager of the Year for his efforts. Johnson began his managerial career in 2011 with Class A-Short Season Boise where he took the Hawks to back-to-back postseason appearances, their first playoff berths since 2006. In his four seasons as a manger, Johnson has taken his team the playoffs three times.

The new Pelicans skipper immediately joined the coaching ranks after retiring as a player in 2010, the conclusion of a 17-year professional playing career. He played in parts of eight major league seasons with four clubs: the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers, and St. Louis Cardinals. In 332 big league games, Johnson hit .218, 16 home runs, and knocked in 83 runs. The White Sox first round pick from 1994 has Carolina League experience, having played for Prince William in 1996 and Winston-Salem in 1997 while a member of the White Sox organization. He also played in the Cubs system for Triple-A Iowa (2005, 2009-2010). Originally from Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Johnson makes his offseason home in Perry, Georgia and graduated from Warner Robins High School in Warner Robins, Georgia.

The Pelicans return to TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark in 2015, as they look to defend their Southern Division Championship Title. The 2015 season marks the 17th season for the franchise and first as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For information on tickets to see the Pelicans in 2015, please call (843) 918-6000, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.
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Pelicans shortstop Hanser Alberto wins Rawlings Gold Glove
Dominican infielder one of nine honored
By Nathan Barnett / Myrtle Beach Pelicans

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MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Myrtle Beach Pelicans shortstop Hanser Alberto was named one of nine recipients of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® for his defensive excellence on Monday. Alberto spent the first half of 2014 with the Pelicans and parts of the 2012 and 2013 seasons as well. Alberto is the only Pelican to win the award during the four-year Rangers era and only the second Texas Rangers minor league to win it.

Alberto posted a career-best .979 fielding percentage over a 119-game span between Myrtle Beach and the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders, with 192 putouts and 356 assists. Alberto began the 2014 season with the Pelicans where he split time between shortstop and third base. After 70 games with the Pelicans, Alberto has logged 50 with the RoughRiders, all of them coming at shortstop. He was particularly effective at shortstop, where he has played primarily in his career, posting a .980 fielding percentage across 114 games with just 11 errors in 547 chances.

"Congratulations to the nine outstanding Minor League Baseball players who deservedly won the 2014 Rawlings Gold Glove Award," said Mike Thompson, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Baseball for St. Louis-based Rawlings in a press release issued from the Minor League Baseball Office. "Minor League Baseball is and will always continue to be a great partner of Rawlings, and we knew the Rawlings Gold Glove Award would be a popular goal for many young players when we decided to rekindle this award platform in 2011."

"Each year, it is a privilege to join in the announcement of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® and help recognize the top defensive players in Minor League Baseball," added Pat O'Conner, President & CEO of Minor League Baseball. "All nine of these players displayed extraordinary skills at their positions this season, and on behalf of Minor League Baseball, I congratulate them on this outstanding accomplishment."

Nine awards are handed out on an annual basis, one for each position to a player from one of the ten domestic-based, full-season MiLB leagues, and Alberto took the honors for the shortstop spot. Each player will receive his own Rawlings Gold Glove Award®, modeled after the iconic award given to Major League Baseball's top defensive players, during the 2015 season.

The Pelicans return to TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark in 2015 as they look to defend their Southern Division Championship Title. 2015 marks 17th season for the franchise and first as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. For information on tickets to see the Pelicans in 2015, please call (843) 918-6000, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.
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The Myrtle Beach Pelicans, Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Texas Rangers would have to learn to play in the surprisingly cool whether of August after a hot month of July, starting with a 4 game set at home, in Myrtle Beach against the Lake Elsinore Storm. The Birds took the first two games of the series, lost game 3, and then won game 4 behind the left arm of Victor Payano.

The Pelicans then traveled to sunny Palm Beach, Florida for a 3 game stent and The Battle Of The Beach Part III. Myrtle Beach won the first two series' against Palm Beach, and wouldn't disappoint in the third. The Pelicans fell 4-6 in game one, before stealing the next two away from the Cardinals.

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This is what a home run looks like before contact is made, courtesy of RF Royce Bolinger

Myrtle Beach wouldn't stop winning. The next victim of the C.Massey managed Pelicans was the Modesto Nuts. Myrtle Beach drove the Nuts nutty, sweeping a 3 game set on the road before returning home to South Carolina where the Pelicans would cool off their winning ways, just as the temperature cooled off on the Carolina coast.

Palm Beach would be the first team to get a crack at Myrtle Beach, to kick off the 6 game home stand on the grand strand. After Palm Beach had been controlled by Myrtle Beach all season, they finally broke through and took games one and three, winning their first series of the year against Myrtle Beach, including an 8-0 shutout in which Myrtle Beach only got 3 hits. "That series in Myrtle Beach was big for our guys", said Palm Beach Manager Dann Bilardello. "Myrtle Beach had owned us this season, and taking 2-3 from them on their home field helps take the sting off a little."

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This is what a home run looks like AFTER contact is made, courtesy of LF Chris Grayson

The Modesto Nuts were the next team to get their revenge at the hands of the Pelicans. The Nuts took 2 out of 3, which meant the Pelicans went 2-4 on the home stand, the first time Myrtle Beach had lost a home stand since the middle of May.

Back on the road at Lake Elsinore, the Birds dropped 3 out of 4, including a 6-13 whooping in which right-hander Ryan Bores took a tough loss and a big hit to his ERA. The cold streak would continue as the Stockton Ports took 2 out of 3 in the very next series. The Pelicans were 3-7 in their previous 10 games at the end of August before a very important series against Lancaster.

The Lancaster JetHawks entered the 4 game series 4 games behind behind Myrtle Beach for the 2nd-half division title. The 'Hawks won game 1 in blowout fashion, 4-14, narrowing down the chase for the 2nd-half division title to just three games. Lancaster would need to win the next three to tie Myrtle Beach in the division. Safe to say, it wouldn't happen. The Myrtle Beach Pelicans stopped the skid and won the final three games of the series to seal up the division, outscoring the JetHawks 25-10 in those final three games of the series.

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JUST IN SIDE THE LINE, BIRDS WIN! The Myrtle Beach Pelicans would go on to win 3 out of 4 games against the Lancaster JetHawks to clinch the 2nd half championship

The final day of the month of August, the Pelicans would begin the final series of the year with an 8-2 victory, with Sam Wolff advancing his record to 11-10. Wolff and the bullpen combined for a pretty good outing, allowing 7 hits and just the two runs.


The Pelicans return to TicketReturn.Com Field at Pelicans Ballpark in 2015 for their 17th season, looking to defend their Southern Division Championship. For information on tickets to see the Pelicans in 2015, please call (843) 918-6002, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.MyrtleBeachPelicans.com.


SEASON WRAP-UP NEXT!!!