Ford will be taking over the field manager reigns from another former Cardinal, Jack Clark.  Clark will be moving up in the organization to become the Vice President of Baseball Operations.

Ford was drafted by the Cardinals in 1981 and played for several seasons with both the Redbirds and the Philadelphia Phillies.  Today, he owns Top Notch Athletic Academy in the St. Louis area where he works alongside Clark and another former Cardinal, Ken Reitz.

Pittman, yet another former St. Louis Cardinal, will take on the pitching coach duties.  He is a former left-handed pitcher who spent five seasons in the Cardinals’ organization.  He will be taking over the pitching coach duties from another former Cardinal, Danny Cox.

Brown is currently an assistant baseball coach at Butler University.  He was a four-year letter winner at Butler during his college baseball days and went on to play independent professional baseball for the Traverse City Bums of the Frontier League.  Brown will work primarily with the Sliders’ infielders and hitters.

More information can be found on the Springfield Sliders website.

Steinwagner is currently the public address announcer for the University of Wisconsin-Steven Point basketball program.  He recently completed his 12th season in that position.  In addition, Steinwagner recently retired as an umpire.  He spent 30 years umpiring high school, American Legion and NCAA Div III baseball games.

In addition to his other duties, Steinwagner is the Director of Baseball Operations for the Gary Varsho Youth Baseball League and is Vice-President for the Marshfield American Legion Baseball Corporation.

More information can be found on the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters website.

Walden is currently the head coach at Texas Christian High School in Lubbock, TX.  Prior to taking on the heading coaching duties at Texas Christian, Walden served as the pitching coach at Texas Tech University.  He also has coached at Southwest Texas University, Texas A&M University, Harden Simmons University, and Vernon Junior College.  Walden also previously worked as a coach in the Texas Rangers organization.

Walden played college baseball at Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, TX.  He was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies and spent three seasons in their organization before beginning his coaching career.

For more information, please visit the Dupage Dragons website.

Editor’s Note: We originally reported that Travis Walden was being hired to be the pitching coach for the Dupage Dragons.  He is in fact being hired to be the head coach.  Our apologies for the error.

The Generals were embroiled in a bit of controversy in 2007 when the then-city attorney brought to the city council’s attention that he could find no evidence that the council had ever formally voted to approve the purchase of the team.  An investigation was launched and in August 2009, the city was cleared of any wrong-doing.

However, the report issued following the investigation chastised the city for the lack of transparency they displayed in the manner in which they ran the team.  The city was also brought to task for not having a specfic budget appropriation for expenses related to running the Generals.

The City of Petersburg currently has an enterprise fund set up in anticipation of the sale of the team.  They also have a specific line item in the city budget for team related expenses.

More information can be found on the Petersburg Progress-Index website.

Shepple played college baseball at the University of Washington.  Following his playing career, he was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers and played in the Brewers organization for two years.  A shoulder injury prematurely ended his playing career.

Rodgers played ollege baseball at the University of Portland.  He became a coach for his alma mater following his playing career and currently serves as an assistant baseball coach at Mt. Hood Community College in Oregon.

Additional ionformation can be found on the Willmar Stingers website.

Hipp is a Texas native who was a three-time All-State Baseball honoree in high school.  He then attended McLennan Community College where he played for two years and was a two-time North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference All-Conference selection.  He was also named Best Male Athlete following his sophomore year at McLennan. 

Hipp transferred to Liberty University in Virginia for his junior year and finished up his college career at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio where he lead the team in batting average.

Last summer, Hipp played for the Victoria Generals during their inaugural campaign.   He was a starting outfielder on Coach Clemons squad.

More information can be found on the Victoria Generals website.

Rhea is currently an assistant coach at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.  He played college baseball at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and at Angelina College before being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He pitched in the Pirates organization for four years before a shoulder injury ended his career.

In addition to his coaching duties at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Rhea also owns a baseball academy, Texas Heat Athletics, in Shiner, TX.

More information can be found on the Texas Tomcats website.

Molina was a standout player at Stanford University during his college playing career.  He earned All-NCAA Regional Honors twice and led the Cardinal to the 2008 College World Series by hitting .329 with 43 runs scored and 42 RBI during the season.  During his senior year, Molina was an All-PAC 10 selection.

Following his college career, Molina was drafted by the Seattle Mariners and played in their minor league organization.  He also spent time playing for the Southern Illinois Miners of the independent Frontier League.  He is currently an assistant coach at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN.

Additional information can be found on the Madison Mallards website.

Hutchings is a local product who played baseball at Farmington High School as well as Mineral Area College in nearby Park Hill, MO.  Following his college baseball career, Hutchings played for several seasons in the San Francisco Giants organization.  he currently lives in Farmington with his wife and son.

The Browns will kick off their inaugural season against the Marion Bobcats in Marion, KY on June 4.  They will return home for the season’s home opener on June 9 when they’ll take on the Fulton Railroaders at Wilson-Rozier Park in Farmington.

More information can be found on the Farmington Browns website.

The Ty Cobb Reds will call Emmanuel College’s baseball field in Franklin Springs, GA home.  The team will be led by GM Dr. Aaron Brister and Head Coach Jeff McCall. 

The team is named after the legendary Ty Cobb.  Cobb’s estate was consulted prior to naming the team and they gave their permission for the team to honor cobb by naming themselves after him.  Cobb played for the Reds of nearby Royston, GA before starting his professional career.

More information can be found on the Great South League website.