July 19, 2007

Honkers face another managerial change

By Donny Henn

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

It has never before taken more than one head coach to get the Rochester Honkers through a long Northwoods League summer college baseball season.

But this year it will take at least three.

Interim field manager Dave Martinez is expected to leave the Honkers at the end of this week for a new job opportunity, after inheriting the job only a week ago from Greg Labbe.

Martinez, 31, is weighing full-time coaching opportunities from two major colleges, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and Loyola Marymount.

Honkers co-owner Dan Litzinger said he expects Martinez to make his decision in the next few days, and Martinez will likely leave Rochester next week.

Martinez is in his first season as a coach with the Honkers. He arrived a few weeks late this season because his college team, Riverside Community College, won the California state community college championship. Martinez has been the pitching coach at Riverside for five seasons.

Labbe, who coached the Honkers for 2 1/2 seasons, left the team on July 12 to be with his expectant wife, Heather, at their home in Florida.

The departure of Labbe and Martinez leaves 24-year-old Brett Lindgren as the only coach who started the season with the team. Lindgren is a facilities manager at Cal State Fullerton.

The Honkers announced that former assistant coach Mike Saddler will return Friday to help Lindgren guide the team for the rest of the regular season and potentially the playoffs, which begin Aug. 13.

"I'm excited to get a chance to lead the team as we try to get back to the playoffs and defend the title we won last season," said Saddler, who is currently the head assistant and pitching coach at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas.

"I thought I wanted to take a summer off from baseball, but the last few weeks I have really been getting the itch to get back on the field."

Saddler pitched for the Honkers in 2004, and he spent the last two seasons as the team's pitching coach.

Player turnover in the Northwoods League is common during the long 68-game regular season. But Rochester took a bigger hit than usual with the departure of five players in the first half -- three to injuries and two to pro baseball.

This is the first time that the 14-year-old Honkers franchise has had a managerial change during the season.