Jim Hickey (baseball, born 1961)
Jim Hickey | |
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Chicago, Illinois , U.S. | |
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James Joseph Hickey (born October 12, 1961) is an American professional baseball pitching coach for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Hickey was the previously the pitching coach for the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, and Houston Astros.
Career
Playing career
After graduating from Kennedy High School in Chicago, Illinois, Hickey played college baseball for the University of Texas–Pan American. He was a first-team All-American in 1983. He went 16–2 in 19 starts with a 1.66 earned run average (ERA) and helped his team win 64 games, a school record. That season, his senior year, his 16 victories led all NCAA baseball.[1] In that season, of his 19 starts he recorded 16 complete games; those 16 complete games were the third largest single season total in NCAA history at the time, and still rank 4th all-time.[2] While at Pan American he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.[3]
The
Coaching career
Starting in 1996, Hickey became the pitching coach for two seasons at the Houston Astros' Double-A affiliate, the Jackson Generals, where his staff led the Texas League with 939 strikeouts in 1997.
In
Hickey was announced as the interim pitching coach for Houston on July 14, 2004, and was named the full-time pitching coach in October 2004 after 14 seasons as a pitching coach in their minor leagues and seven with the Zephyrs.
In his first year with Houston, he helped the pitching staff which included Roger Clemens, Brad Lidge, Roy Oswalt and Brandon Backe advance to the 2004 National League Championship Series. In 2005, the Astros advanced to the World Series, with Clemens (1st), Andy Pettitte (2nd), and Roy Oswalt (7th) in the National League in ERA. Houston was also second overall in the NL with a 3.51 ERA in 2005, and led the league with the fewest runs and walks allowed.
On November 18, 2006, Hickey was announced as the new pitching coach for the Tampa Bay Rays, replacing Mike Butcher. After the 2017 regular season, the Tampa Bay Rays and Hickey parted ways.[4]
In the 2017 offseason, Hickey joined the Chicago Cubs as their pitching coach, coming along with two new coaches.[5] Hickey reunited with manager Joe Maddon as the two were together at Tampa Bay until 2014. Hickey replaced Chris Bosio, who had been with the Cubs the past six seasons. Hickey did not return to the Cubs after the 2018 season.[6] In May 2019, Hickey joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as a special assistant in player development.[7]
In October 2020 it was announced that Hickey would join the Washington Nationals as their pitching coach for the 2021 season.[6]
References
- NCAA. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
- NCAA. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
- ^ Langhammer, Jay (Spring 1985). Brett A. Champion (ed.). "Phi Sigs in Baseball". The Signet, A Magazine for Members of Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity. LXXVII (1): 12.
- ^ Topkin, Marc (October 3, 2017). "Jim Hickey won't be back as Rays pitching coach, Kyle Snyder to take over". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on October 5, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
- Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
- ^ a b Zencka, TC (October 20, 2020). "Nationals hire Jim Hickey". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
- ^ "Former Rays and Cubs pitching coach Jim Hickey back in the game, now working for Dodgers".
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Baseball Cube
- MLB Profile