Lovullo To Manage Bisons in 2008

The Cleveland Indians and the AAA Buffalo Bisons today announced that the entire 2007 coaching staff will again return to Buffalo for the 2008 season. TOREY LOVULLO, 42, returns as the teams Manager for the third consecutive season. Last year Lovullo guided the Herd to a record of 75-67 (.528) and a third place finish in the International League North Division. In two seasons with the Bisons, he owns a record of 148-135 (.523) and has led the Herd to a winning record each season. SCOTT RADINSKY returns as the team’s Pitching Coach and DAVE MYERS returns as a coach for the Bisons. JEFF DESJARDINS will also return to serve as Buffalo’s Athletic Trainer.

The Indians will announce the rest of the 2008 Indians Player Development staff assignments at a later date.

Prior to joining the Herd, Lovullo won league championships and manager of the year honors at Single-A Kinston of the Carolina League in 2004 and Double-A Akron of the Eastern League in 2005. Lovullo has posted a winning record in each of his six years as a skipper, compiling a career mark of 472-369 (.561 winning percentage). Lovullo also played 13 seasons of professional baseball from 1987-1999. He spent three of those seasons with the Bisons, and won back-to-back championships with Buffalo in 1997 and 1998. A strong supporter of the Western New York community, Lovullo earned the Bisons’ Frank J. “Fremo” Vallone Community Service Award in each of his three seasons as a player on the team.

Radinsky, 39, is back for his second season with the team. Last year, his Bisons’ pitching staff finished 2nd in the International League in complete games (8) and 6th in shutouts (10). Radinsky helped groom young pitchers such as Sean Smith and Aaron Laffey as the team was hit hard by injuries to Adam Miller and Brian Slocum. Radinsky spent the 2006 season as the pitching coach at Akron. His Aeros staff won a league-best 87 games and finished 5th with a 3.74ERA. Radinsky pitched professionally for 15 seasons from 1986-2002, including parts of 11 years at the Major League level. He had a career record of 42-25 with a 3.44ERA, 52 saves and 358 strikeouts in 557 games with the White Sox, Dodgers, Cardinals and Indians. He also pitched in 16 games with the Bisons in 2001 and went 0-1 with a 4.11ERA.

Myers, 48, is also back for his second season with the team. In 2007, he helped the Bisons’ offense finish 2nd in the IL in walks (511), 3rd in batting average (.266) and runs scored (664) and T3rd in home runs (129). The 2007 season also produced the Bisons’ first league batting champion since 1990 as Ben Francisco posted an IL-best .318 average. Prior to joining the Herd, Myers spent 18 seasons in the Seattle Mariners organization. He began his coaching career as a player/coach for the Mariners’ Double-A Vermont team in 1988. He then spent the next 12 years as a skipper in the Mariners’ farm system (732-645, .532 winning percentage) and won four division titles, a league championship with short-season Bellingham in 1992, and the Arizona League Co-Manager of the Year in 1989. From 2001-2004, he was Seattle’s third base coach and infield coach before spending the 2005 season as a special assignment coach. Myers also played eight seasons in Seattle’s minor league system from 1981-1988 and hit .272 with 26 home runs and 438RBI in 795 career games. He led the Southern League with a .328 batting average in 1987 and was invited to the Mariners’ Major League spring training camp in 1988.

Desjardins will also be spending his second seasons with the Buffalo Bisons. This will be Desjardins’ eighth season in Minor League Baseball, all of which have been in the Cleveland Indians organization.

Lovullo’s Managerial Statistics
2002 Columbus 79-60
2003 Kinston 73-66
2004 Kinston 88-50
2005 Akron 84-58
2006 Buffalo 73-68
2007 Buffalo 75-67
Total 472-369 (.561)


Bisons Managers during Cleveland Affiliation
1995 Brian Graham 82-62
1996 Brian Graham 84-60
1997 Brian Graham 87-57
1998 Jeff Datz 81-62
1999 Jeff Datz 72-72
2000 Joel Skinner 86-59
2001 Eric Wedge 91-51
2002 Eric Wedge 84-54
2003 Marty Brown 73-70
2004 Marty Brown 83-61
2005 Marty Brown 82-62
2006 Torey Lovullo 73-68
2007 Torey Lovullo 75-67
Total 1,053-805 (.567)

Posted in: Buffalo Bisons,Torey Lovullo