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Fireflies Announce Inaugural Coaching Staff, Uniforms

By Jacob Resnick

January 27, 2016 6 Comments

 

Photo via Wltx.com

Photo via Wltx.com

The Columbia Fireflies, the Low-A affiliate of the New York Mets in the South Atlantic League, announced Thursday that Jose Leger (manager), Joel Fuentes (hitting coach), and Jonathan Hurst (pitching coach) will comprise their 2016 coaching staff. The team also released the four uniforms to be worn on-field this season. The Fireflies were officially announced as the relocated Low-A affiliate of the Mets on August 4, 2015.

Leger, 33, will enter his seventh season in the New York Mets organization, and second as the manager of the Low-A ball club. In 2015, he managed the Savannah Sand Gnats (A) to an 84-53 (.613) record, and an 18 -game winning streak in August, the longest such streak in professional baseball in ten years.

Under Leger, shortstop prospect Luis Guillorme was named the Most Valuable Player of the South Atlantic League, and outfield prospect Wuilmer Becerra was named a postseason All-Star. Leger was rewarded with a call-up to the major leagues on September 22, 2015, serving as a special assistant.

Before joining the Sand Gnats, he managed the Kingsport Mets (R) from 2012-2014, with a record of 97-104 (.483), and the Dominican Summer League Mets 1 (R) from 2010-2011, with a record of 73-68 (.518). Leger, a native of the Dominican Rebublic, played five seasons in the Minnesota Twins organization, making it as high as Double-A as a catcher and third baseman. This offseason, Leger served as the bench coach with Leones del Escogido, who won the Dominican Winter League championship on Tuesday.

Fuentes, 39, will enter his tenth season in the Mets organization, all as a hitting coach. He had been serving on the staffs of Luis Rojas and Ryan Ellis in St. Lucie (A+) from 2014-2015. In 2016, Fuentes, a native Puerto Rican, will return to the league where he coached Savannah from 2012-2013. Previously, he coached in St. Lucie from 2010-2011, the Brooklyn Cyclones (SS-A) from 2008-2009, and in Savannah in 2007. Fuentes began his career in professional baseball as a middle infielder in the San Francisco Giants organization, where he played for three seasons from 1997-1999.

Hurst, 49, will enter his 11th season in the Mets organization, all as a pitching coach. He attended high school and still makes his home in Spartansburg, SC, 93 miles from Spirit Communications Park, the home of the Fireflies. Hurst had spent the last six seasons on the staff of the Kingsport Mets (R). He was a coach for the Gulf Coast League Mets (R) in 2009, after serving as the pitching coach of the Savannah Sand Gnats (A) from 2007-2008.

Hurst will be the lone member of the Fireflies staff with major league experience, as he pitched in three games with the Montreal Expos in 1992, and seven games with the New York Mets in 1994. In those ten games, Hurst allowed 24 runs across 26.1 innings while surrendering six home runs and striking out ten batters. He also spent time in the minor leagues with the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers. The right-hander finished his professional career in 2001 with the Yakult Swallows in Japan.

Additionally, Kiyoshi Tada was named as the team’s athletic trainer. Tada has spent the previous five seasons in the Mets organization, with the Brooklyn Cyclones (SS-A) and Kingsport Mets (R).

Besides announcing the coaching staff, the Fireflies revealed the four jerseys that will be worn on the field in 2016. Four local high school baseball players modeled the home and road jerseys, along with a batting practice and alternate uniform.

Fireflies Jerseys

Via @ColaFireflies on Twitter

The home jersey will be white and will display the Fireflies official word mark across the chest. The sleeve will be embellished with the team’s main logo in the form of a patch. The home jersey will be worn with a midnight blue hat. The road jersey will be grey and have the team’s home city of Columbia scrawled across the chest. The jersey will also feature the Fireflies alternate ‘CF’ logo as a patch on the sleeve.

Here are the new caps that glow in the dark:

Via @ColaFireflies

Via @ColaFireflies

The hat will be similar to the home cap, but will have a grey brim. The Fireflies will also wear an alternate jersey, to be worn during both home and away games. The jersey will be a neon green color, to evoke a firefly’s glow. The uniform will have a firefly on the sleeve, and will be worn with the same hat as the home jersey. A uniform solely for batting practice will be a blue mesh top, and an all silver hat.

The Columbia Fireflies open their season on April 7, against the Charleston River Dogs, and play their first home game at Spirit Communications Park on April 14, against the Greenville Drive.

mmn grain

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