John Mizerock

John Joseph Mizerock (pronEng|ˈmɪzɚˌɹɑk, born December 8, 1960 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania) was a backup catcher for the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves. He was the eighth overall pick in the 1979 draft. He is currently the bullpen coach for the Kansas City Royals.

Since retiring as a player he has served as an interim manager and coach for the Kansas City Royals, and as a manager in the minor leagues.

Mizerock managed rookie league in Eugene, Oregon (1993), Class A Rockford (1994), Class A Wilmington (1995-97) and Double-AA Wichita (1999). He won league titles at Wilmington in 1996 and at Wichita in 1999, and was Midwest League Manager of the Year in 1994, Carolina League Manager of the Year in 1995 and Minor League Manager of the Year in 1999. He compiled 646 wins and 554 losses in his minor league managerial career.

In 2002, he was named interim manager of the Royals when Tony Muser was fired. He had a 5-8 record in 13 games before being replaced by Tony Peña. 2002 was the first time in franchise history that Kansas City had lost 100 games. He stayed on as third base coach for the Royals until the end of 2005, when he was assigned to be a roving instructor for the organization.

Despite his extensive experience managing at the minor league and major league level, he accepted a position to once again manage at the high level Class A Wilmington Blue Rocks minor league team for the 2007 season. With his leadership, the team led the Carolina League in winning percentage, and returned to the playoffs. During the season, Mizerock was honored with his own Bobblehead Night on June 6, 2007. John Mizerock is a two time winner of the Dick Howser Award, awarded for outstanding contributions to the Royals organization.

On October 23, 2007, Mizerock was named the Royals bullpen coach for the 2008 season.

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* [http://www.bluerocks.com Wilmington Blue Rocks Official Site]