Giants Name Alguacil First Base Coach

In addition to naming veteran and former manager of the Reno Aces Phil Nevin third-base coach, the San Francisco Giants have announced that Jose Alguacil will become the team’s new first-base coach, according to Senior Vice President and General Manager Bobby Evans.

Alguacil has spent the past two seasons at the helm of the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels and the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, both minor league affiliates of the Giants. Before his managerial career with the team, Alguacil spent six years in San Francisco’s farm system from 1993 to 1998, then returned to the club in 2007 as a roving instructor, where he has since stayed within the organization.

In Alguacil’s one and only season as the manager of the Flying Squirrels, his ballclub kicked off the season with a brutal 3-17 start, including a 15-game losing streak. Instead of throwing in the towel, Alguacil helped the team find their stride and Richmond finished with a 72-68 record, just missing the playoffs by one game.

Richmond’s losing streak certainly tested Alguacil’s character and patience, but he never failed to have the backs of his players through the good and the bad. In the midst of the losing streak, an umpire ejected Alguacil from the game, and in response, he pulled first base out of the ground before walking off the field.

Alguacil earned them much deserved reputation of a player’s coach in his time with Richmond and Sacramento. The former infielder experienced plenty of frustrations in a career spent toiling in the minors, but it was these shortcomings which allowed him to relate to his players as they went through their personal adversities.

A mentor of Alguacil is Joe Amalfitano, an infielder for the 1954 World Champion New York Giants and third-base coach for Tommy Lasorda’s Los Angeles Dodgers from 1983 - 1998. While coaching for Richmond and Sacramento, Alguacil turned to Amalfitano for guidance, sometimes several times a week. As Alguacil prepares for a new chapter in his coaching career, he may seek out his old mentor a couple more times down the road.

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