FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 19, 2000
Contact: Bryan Dolgin, Director of Media & Public Relations
843-918-6016
Braves Name Pelicans Staff For 2000 Season
MYRTLE BEACH, SC – – The Atlanta Braves officially announced their minor league coaching staffs for the 2000 season. The Myrtle Beach Pelicans staff has a few returnees and one new coach. Brian Snitker returns as the Manager, Bruce Dal Canton as the Pitching Coach and Mike Graus as the Athletic Trainer. Former Major League outfielder, Sixto Lezcano (pronounced: Six toe Lez con O), will be the Pelicans Hitting/Position Coach during the upcoming season.
Snitker was at the helm of the 1999 Pelicans championship team that finished with an overall record of 83-and-63 (including the playoffs). Last year was the third consecutive season that Snitker managed a Braves farm team to the playoffs. The 2000 season will be Snitker’s 11th as a Manager and his 24th in the Braves organization that has included stints as a minor league player, coach and manager as well as being the Bullpen Coach for the Braves in 1985 and 1988-90. “Snit’s” managerial stops have included Macon, GA (’92, ’97 & ’98), Danville, VA (’96), Durham, NC (’83, ’84 & ’87), Sumter, SC (’86) and Anderson, SC (’82). Brian and his wife, Ronnie, reside in Lilburn, GA with their two children, Erin and Troy.
Dal Canton’s Pelicans pitching staff had a 3.50 ERA in 1999, the lowest in the Carolina League. He brings his vast background as a major league pitcher and coach back to the Grand Strand. “D.C.” has been with the Braves organization since 1982 as a roving instructor and pitching coach from Single-A on up to the major leagues. Dal Canton’s 11-year major league playing career began in 1967 and concluded in 1978 with an overall record of 51-and-49. He played for the Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox. Dal Canton’s championship teams have included the ’99 Pelicans, Greenville, SC (’97, Double-A) and the National League East Division Pirates (’70, as a player). Dal Canton resides with his wife, Helene, in Carnegie, PA. Lezcano was a career .271 hitter through 13 major league seasons. He played for the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates between 1974 and 1985.
Lezcano coached in the Kansas City Royals organization for the past seven seasons which included being a coach for the ’94 Carolina League Champion Wilmington Blue Rocks. He was the Roving Outfielders Coordinator for the Royals minor league system the past three seasons. Lezcano, 46, is from Arecibo, Puerto Rico and resides in Orlando, FL.
Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. is a diversified communications company which owns and/or operates WRAL-TV, WRAL-Digital, WRAL-FM, Microspace, the North Carolina News Network, DTV Plus, Wolfpack Sports Marketing, and Capitol Sports Management in Raleigh, NC; WJZY-TV and WFVT-TV in Charlotte, NC; WILM-TV in Wilmington, NC; WRAZ-TV and the Durham Bulls Baseball Club in Durham, NC; and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans Baseball Club in Myrtle Beach, SC; Capitol Broadcasting Company also founded Local TV on Satellite in Raleigh, NC.
