truebluefan

M-Braves Coaching Staff Set for 2007

The Mississippi Braves announce that the 2007 Mississippi Braves coaching staff has been released by the Atlanta Braves. Phillip Wellman will serve as Manager while Derek Botelho will serve as Pitching Coach and Franklin Stubbs will serve as Coach. Drew Van Dam returns as the M-Braves trainer.

Botelho takes the place of Mississippi native Kent Willis who was named Pitching Coordinator for the Braves' minor league system. Botelho makes the move to Mississippi after a stint in AAA Richmond in '06. He served as pitching coach in Danville in '05 and for the Gulf Coast League Braves in '03 and '04.

Prior to joining the Braves' organization, Botelho spent 12 years as a pitching coach in the Reds' organization. The former hurler pitched professionally from 1976-1989, including Major League stints with Kansas City (1982) and Chicago-NL (1985). He attended Miami Dade South Junior College and was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1976, combining over 100 wins in his minor league career. Botelho, 48, resides in Burlington, IA.

With the promotion of Wellman to manager, Franklin Stubbs takes over as coach for Mississippi after two successful seasons in High-A Myrtle Beach. Before taking the position in Myrtle Beach, Stubbs served as a Roving Instructor in the Braves' organization during the '03-'04 seasons. Prior to the 2003 season Stubbs was the Minor League Hitting Instructor from '99-'02 and during the 1998 season he managed the Danville 97's, the Braves A Carolina League affiliate. Stubbs originally joined the Braves' organization as a coach for the Danville Braves in 1997.

His professional career began as a first round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1982. Stubbs enjoyed 10 years in the majors with the Dodgers ('84-'89), Houston ('90), Milwaukee ('91-'92), and Detroit ('95), and was a World Series Champion with the Dodgers in 1988. He attended Virginia Tech University and was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992. Stubbs, 45, and his wife LaTanya reside in Prospect, KY, with their four children, Paige, Blaine, Michael, and Celeste.

OswaldTheOsprey

'The Birmingham Barons set a Class AA record \r\nin 2006 with their 19th straight season with\r\nover 250,000 attendance.\r\n\r\nOswaldTheOsprey'

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