DRAGONS TALES
March 5: Reds minor leaguers report to spring training at Goodyear, Ariz.
April 7: First workout at Fifth Third Field.
April 9: Season opener at West Michigan Whitecaps.
April 12: Home opener vs. South Bend Cubs, 4 p.m.
Tom Browning had rarefied success as a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. But he took several steps down to the lower levels of minor league baseball to learn how to coach.
Browning will make his second tour as a Dayton Dragons pitching coach this coming season. He reflected on that and more during Friday’s State of the Dragons address at Field Third Field along with hitting coach Luis Bolivar and Reds Director of Player Development Jeff Graupe.
A lefty with a sharp-breaking curveball and uncanny control, Browning won a World Series in 1990 with the Reds and is the only Reds pitcher to toss a perfect game. But it was in rookie ball at Billings, Mont., where he started to climb a steep learning curve to be an effective coach.
“Those kids made me a better coach,” said Browning, whose final season in the big leagues was 1995.
“I learned how to coach by staying down at the lower levels. That’s where most of the coaching really takes place. In Class AA and AAA, you’ve pretty much got polished pictures. They’re a phone call away if they get into a nice grove and get some confidence. Down here, you’re dealing with everything.”
That’s what manager Jose Nieves, Browning, Bolivar and an additional instructor — former Reds fan favorite Corky Miller — will do as the Dragons gear up for their 16th season at Dayton. Under new ownership, the team remains a low Class A affiliate of the Reds.
Nieves is the veteran of the coaching staff and will be the Dragons skipper for the third straight season. Browning previously was the Dragons pitching coach in 2012. Last season he was at Bakersfield, Calif., with the high Class A team. That program has since relocated to Daytona Beach, Fla., as the Daytona Tortugas.
Bolivar, in his second straight season at Dayton, remains the only coach to have also been a Dragons player. Miller, a serial minor-leaguer catcher who spent parts of 11 seasons in the majors, is in his first season as a coach after retiring as a player last year. He’ll be at most Dragons home games and also serve as a roving instructor.
The Dragons roster won’t be known until late in spring training. Like last season, there will be some holdovers. But most of the team will be made up of players from Billings. The Mustangs won the Pioneer League championship in 2014 for the first time in 10 years. The Dragons have never won a Midwest League title.
“This is one of our strongest teams in terms of depth,” Graupe said. “The college guys who are coming (to Dayton) have a much more advanced approach than we’ve had in the past. We may have had some more raw, talented kids before, but these guys know how to play the game.”
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