Tom Kotchman

John Thomas Kotchman (born August 14, 1954, at Grafton, North Dakota) is a scout and a manager in the farm system of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball. He is the father of Casey Kotchman, an Atlanta Braves first baseman.

Tom Kotchman attended high school in Seminole, Florida, and played baseball at Chipola Junior College in Florida and Georgia Southern University. He was signed by the Cincinnati Reds in 1977 and played two seasons (1977-78) in their farm system at the Class A level. A third baseman, he threw and batted right-handed, stood 6'1" (185 cm) tall and weighed 180 pounds (82 kg).

The 2008 season marked Kotchman's 30th consecutive year as a minor league manager. He began his career in 1979 at age 24 with the Auburn, New York, club in the Short-Season Class A New York-Penn League. The Auburn franchise — nicknamed the "Red Stars" in 1979 and the "Americans" in 1980 — lacked a Player Development Contract and was designated a "co-op" team, receiving its players on loan from multiple major league organizations. After two seasons there, Kotchman moved to affiliated, full-season assignments in the Detroit Tigers (1981, with the Macon Peaches of the Class A South Atlantic League) and Boston Red Sox (1982-83, with the Winter Haven Red Sox of the Class A Florida State League) organizations.

In 1984, he joined the Angels' farm system. From 1984-86, he was manager of their Class A California League farm clubs, the Redwood Pioneers, based in Rohnert Park, California, and the Palm Springs Angels. Success there led to a promotion to the Angels' Triple-A Edmonton Trappers affiliate in the Pacific Coast League, where he also spent three seasons (1987-89). In 1990, Kotchman assumed his current role, as a Florida-based scout and manager of the Angels' Short-Season Class A or Rookie-level teams in the Northwest League and the Pioneer League. He skippered the Boise Hawks of the NWL for 11 seasons (1990-2000) during which time the Hawks never finished lower than second place and never compiled a losing record. Since 2001, he has managed in the Pioneer League with the Provo Angels (2001-04) and the Orem Owlz (since 2005). Through 2007, he had compiled a career managerial record of 1,481 victories and 1,279 defeats, a winning percentage of .537, with seven league championships. His 2008 Owlz won the Pioneer League's first-half Southern Division championship.

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Tom_Kotchman BR Bullpen]

References

* Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolf, Miles, ed., "The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball," 3rd edition. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 2007.