Leyland Names Coaching Staff

Colorado Rockies manager Jim Leyland on Monday named his 1999 coaching staff, bringing five colleagues with him from the Florida Marlins.

Leyland, who agreed to a record three-year, $6 million deal with the Rockies earlier this month, will keep Colorado hitting coach Clint Hurdle.

Bullpen coach Lorenzo Bundy, third base coach Rich Donnelly, bench coach Bruce Kimm, pitching coach Milt May and first base coach Tommy Sandt will join Hurdle on the staff.

Donnelly, who managed the American Association's Denver Bears in 1982, has worked with Leyland during all 13 of his seasons as a major-league manager, as has Sandt.

May, a former major-league catcher, was a hitting instructor under Leyland for 12 seasons.

Kimm rejoined Leyland's staff in 1997. He was a coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1990, when Leyland guided the team to the first of three consecutive division championships.

Bundy was named manager of Brevard of the Florida State League in 1996 and became outfield and base running coach for the Marlins the following year.

The five former Marlins coaches replace pitching coach Frank Funk, third base coach Gene Glynn, bullpen coach Bill Hayes and bench coach Jackie Moore.

Hurdle will return for his third season as the Rockies' hitting instructor. Last season, he also served as first base coach.

The Rockies set a National League record with 239 home runs in 1997. In 1998, the team broke its franchise record by batting .291, the highest average by an NL team since the 1939 St. Louis Cardinals.

Leyland, a former NL manager of the year, replaced Don Baylor, the only manager the Rockies had in their first six years of existence. Baylor was fired after a 77-85 season.

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