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Friday, November 12
 
Apodaca among 4 coaches hired by Brewers

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE -- Former New York Mets pitching coach Bob Apodaca was among four coaches named to new Milwaukee Brewers manager Davey Lopes' staff on Friday.

Lopes and general manager Dean Taylor hired Apodaca as pitching coach, Chris Speier as third-base coach and Jerry Royster as bench coach, while announcing Bill Castro will return as bullpen coach.

Lopes, who has no major league managing experience, has surrounded himself with four experienced coaches. The team expects to hire a hitting coach and a first-base coach by the end of the month, Taylor said.

Lopes was hired by Taylor on Nov. 3 after five seasons as the San Diego Padres' first-base coach. He and Taylor attended the general managers' meetings in California this week.

The Brewers' announcement seems to indicate that interim manager Jim Lefebvre, who was Phil Garner's hitting coach for the final year of Garner's tenure in Milwaukee, won't be back with the organization. Lefebvre, who went 22-27 after replacing Garner, had expressed interest in returning as hitting coach.

Beginning in 1971, Apodaca spent 28 seasons in the Mets' organization as a player and coach, becoming the team's pitching coach in August 1996, when Bobby Valentine was named manager. The team's 1999 season began poorly, and Apodaca and two other coaches were fired June 5 by Mets general manager Steve Phillips after New York lost eight straight games to fall to 27-28.

Phillips' power play angered Valentine, but the move may have worked. The Mets rallied to a 96-66 record, a playoff berth and a divisional series win over Arizona before losing the NLCS to the Atlanta Braves.

Speier played 19 seasons in the major leagues with San Francisco, Montreal, St. Louis, Minnesota and the Chicago Cubs. Last season, he managed the Diamondbacks' Triple-A affiliate in Tucson.

Royster was a 16-year veteran who played with Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Diego, the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees. He was the Expos' minor league infield and baserunning coordinator last season, and he has managed in the minor leagues and the Arizona Fall League.

Castro was former Brewers manager Garner's bullpen coach for eight seasons, and he will be the lone holdover from the staffs of Garner and Lefebvre. Castro played 10 seasons with the Brewers, Yankees and Royals.






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