Mitchell hints he may look for new challenge
ALTOONA, PA. » Could the manager with the best two-year record in Thunder history be ready to move on?
Bobby Mitchell hinted that he may be up for a new challenge after the team’s season ended with a 4-2 loss to Altoona in Game 3 of the Eastern League Championship Series on Thursday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field.
“I’m not looking to stay here forever,” Mitchell said. “I love it here, but I’m also looking to possibly advance, to do Triple-A or something like that. And who knows what comes up in the winter or how the Yankees feel. If they want me to come back here, and that’s what they want me to do, I won’t mind at all, but I’m also looking to go to a higher level if I can.”
Mitchell, 62, guided the Thunder to a 92-48 regular-season record, a win total that matched the franchise record set in 1999 when the team played 142 games. His side’s .657 winning percentage is the highest in club history.
Over a two-year period, Mitchell has led the Thunder to a 179-103 mark (.634).
He’s proud of both that accomplishment as well as the player development. Houston 88 Los Angeles 74 Seattle 74 Texas 72 Oakland 64 z-clinched playoff berth
Thursday’s games
Chicago White Sox 17, Detroit 7 Boston 6, Oakland 2
N.Y. Yankees 13, Baltimore 5 Cleveland 3, Kansas City 2, 10 innings Seattle 10, Texas 4 Minnesota 3, Toronto 2, 10 innings Houston 5, L.A. Angels 2
Friday’s games
“I’ve enjoyed it here,” Mitchell said. “I’ve learned a lot over the years as a manger and I enjoy the managing part of it. It can be a little frustrating at times because you can’t go out there and play for them. You got to try and get them prepared and up to speed on what they need to do when they’re out there and get them better and move them up.
“We’ve done that, so when you consider what we’ve done with a lot of the players moving up and not down, it’s a real good year.”
W L
58 72 73 74 82 Baltimore at N.Y. Yankees Oakland at Philadelphia Boston at Tampa Bay Chicago White Sox at Detroit
Pct GB
.603 _ .507 14 .503 141⁄2 .493 16 .438 24
Kansas City at Cleveland Seattle at Houston Toronto at Minnesota Texas at L.A. Angels
Saturday’s games
Seattle (Ramirez 5-5) at Houston (Keuchel 12-4), 1:05 p.m. Baltimore (Hellickson 8-9) at N.Y. Yankees (Montgomery 7-7), 4:05 p.m. Kansas City (Hammel 8-11) at Cleveland (Carrasco 15-6), 4:10 p.m.
Boston (Porcello 9-17) at Tampa Bay (Cobb 11-9), 6:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Lopez 1-3) at Detroit (Jaye 1-1), 6:10 p.m.
Oakland (Graveman 5-4) at Philadelphia (Lively 3-6), 7:05 p.m.
Toronto (Estrada 8-8) at Minnesota (Mejia 4-5), 7:10 p.m.
Texas (Hamels 10-3) at L.A. Angels (Bridwell 7-2), 9:07 p.m. x-Washington Miami Atlanta New York Philadelphia Chicago Milwaukee St. Louis Pittsburgh Cincinnati