Miracle Coaching Staff Gets Complete Makeover

By Sean Aronson
Fort Myers Miracle

FORT MYERS, FL – The Minnesota Twins make sure they draft quality players, move them through the organization and hope one day they will make an impact at the Major League level. They take the same approach to their coaches and managers as the Twins announced their coaching staffs for their Minor League affiliates and the Fort Myers Miracle will have a brand new manager and coaching staff when the 2006 season begins.

Kevin Boles takes over as manager, with Gary Lucas as the pitching coach and Jim Dwyer as coach.

The 30-year-old Boles will spend his first season with the Miracle in 2006 after spending the last two seasons with the Class-A affiliate of the Twins, the Beloit Snappers. He guided the Snappers to a playoff berth in 2005. During his five year managerial career he is 236-228 (.509) and 137-139 (.496) with the Twins. He spent one season playing minor league baseball and was a 42nd round pick of the Chicago Cubs in 1998. His father John is the former manager of the Florida Marlins.

The Miracle say good-bye to pitching coach Eric Rasmussen, who spent the last nine seasons with the Miracle. He will begin his second stint with the GCL Twins. In his place, Lucas will begin his first season with the Miracle after spending the past six seasons as pitching coach for the Twins’ Midwest League affiliate. His staff had the fifth best ERA (4.11) in the 14 team league in 2005. Lucas spent eight years in the Major League’s with San Diego (1980-83), Montreal (84-85) and California (86-87). He was 29-44, 3.01 with 63 saves in his career.

Dwyer, spent the last nine seasons as minor league hitting coordinator and will spend his first season as the Miracle hitting coach. Dwyer was an 11th round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1971 and played 18 seasons with seven different teams. He is one of 13 players in Major League history with 100-plus pinch-hits.

Trainer Larry Bennese is the only holdover from the 2005 staff, returning for his seventh season. He was named the FSL Trainer of the Year in 1995 (St. Lucie), 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003, all with the Miracle. He was a rehabilitation coordinator for the Twins minor league complex in 1996 and is a graduate of Penn State University.

Former Miracle manager Riccardo Ingram was promoted to Double-A New Britain and will spend his first year as manager of the Rock Cats in 2006. He was their hitting coach in 2003.

The Miracle begin their 2006 season on the road against the Sarasota Reds on Thursday, April 6. The Miracle home opener is Saturday, April 8 against the Reds at 7:05 p.m. For more information call the Miracle office at 239-768-4210 or go on line to www.miraclebaseball.com.