Shelley Duncan Named Manager of the Hillsboro Hops
Former major leaguer Shelley Duncan has been named manager of the Hillsboro Hops, the Class-A Short Season affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, for the 2015 season. The defending Northwest League champions were in search of a new bench boss after J.R. House was promoted to the Diamondbacks Advanced-A affiliate in Visalia, CA.
Duncan is a former major league outfielder, having played for the Yankees, Indians, and Rays over parts of seven seasons from 2007-2013. It took him until his age-27 season, but Shelley came on the scene in a memorable way in his rookie debut with the Yankees, smashing three home runs in his first four games in the bigs. He hit 43 home runs and drove in 144 runs with an OPS of .724 over his 330 game career.
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Duncan is the son of legendary St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan. It just so happens that his father was Tony LaRussa’s right hand man in St. Louis and LaRussa is now the the Chief Baseball Officer out in the desert. Duncan is no stranger to what it takes to become a professional baseball player having been around the game his entire life.
Duncan comes to the Hops without having any managerial experience. In fact he is only two years removed from baseball as he was last playing in the major leagues in 2013. Last season he was coaching with the University of Arizona. In an interview with MiLB.com he credits time spent with Mark McGwire as a youngster, and having played with three outstanding managers (Joe Maddon, Joe Torre, and Joe Girardi) with instilling the work ethic and clubhouse presence needed to become a successful manager.
The 2009 Triple-A All Star’s debut as manager will come on June 18 on the road versus Spokane. His eagerly anticipated home debut will be on June 23 against Salem-Keizer.