Braves hire hitting coach Seitzer LakePoint announces partnership with United States Basketball Association

From AP Reports

New hitting coach Kevin Seitzer said he’ll bring an up-the-middle philosophy to an Atlanta Braves team which flopped at the plate this season.

The Braves hired Seitzer from the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday to replace Greg Walker. Atlanta also named Jose Castro as assistant hitting coach.

Seitzer said one of his most important lessons will be convincing hitters they make themselves vulnerable by attempting to pull balls with a “turnand-burn” approach.

“It’s not impossible, and I kind of feel like that’s one of my big strengths, the expertise of being able to show guys how to hit the ball the other way,” Seitzer said in a telephone interview.

Seitzer, 52, was the hitting coach for Arizona during part of the 2007 season, for Kansas City from 2009-12 and for the Blue Jays this past season. The Blue Jays ranked fourth in the American League in runs scored and third in home runs.

“I’m a big fan of the homer, too, maybe the biggest fan on the planet,” Seitzer said, adding home runs come when hitters try to hit balls up the middle and to the opposite field.

Walker was assisted by Scott Fletcher this season as the Braves finished a disappointing 79-83.

Walker resigned after the Braves finished 14th in runs scored among National League teams, ahead of only San Diego. Fletcher and third base coach Doug Dascenzo also are not returning.

The Braves led the National League with 181 homers in 2013 but fell to 11th with 123 in 2014.

A key project for Seitzer will be B.J. Upton, who hit .208 with 12 homers this season after hitting .184 with nine homers in 2013.

“I’ve worked with a lot of guys who have been in the game a long time, and it seems the more guys have struggled later in their careers the more open they are to suggestions,” Seitzer said.

“I feel like God gave me a gift to be a hitting coach more than He gave me a gift to be a player,” he said.

A former All-Star third baseman, Seitzer hit .295 in 12 major league seasons with the Royals, Milwaukee, Oakland and Cleveland.

Seitzer said he didn’t receive a 2015 contract offer from the Blue Jays until “maybe a week ago.” He said he received permission to call the Braves when he couldn’t reach a financial agreement with Toronto.

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said he hopes to utilize Chipper Jones as a hitting consultant. Jones, who retired after the 2012 season, said he wasn’t ready to take on a full-time coaching job when approached by the Braves.

“It’s something that Kevin and Jose are going to have to talk to Chipper about, but I want to see Chipper around this ballpark a lot more than we saw the last two years,” Gonzalez said.

Castro, 52, was the Cubs’ quality assurance coach this season. He was Seattle’s interim hitting coach in 2008 and has worked as a minor league hitting coordinator and coach in the Montreal, Florida, San Diego and Seattle organizations.

The United States Basketball Association has signed a deal with the LakePoint Sporting Community to bring its national championships to courts in Cobb and Bartow counties in 2015 and then to the LakePoint development in 2016.

A huge multi-purpose building is expected to be online at the development in Emerson by mid2016. The event is moving to Georgia from North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The 2015 championships are scheduled for July 7 to 11, 2015. More than 500 youth basketball teams — both boys and girls ages 8 to 18 — participate in the USBA National Championship.

“We need about 40 courts over a five-day period,” said Blake Thompson, USBA vice president and graduate of Woodland High School in Bartow County in a news release.

He said the LakePoint developers have not locked in on a number of courts that will be in the new LakePoint facility, but said even if it were two dozen, the tournament would require additional venues.

“Having a home base like LakePoint is still going to be convenient for the teams,” Thompson said. “We have been playing from South Myrtle all the way up to the North Carolina border so we’re trying to alleviate.”

He said that teams have traveled to the tournament from California and New York over the last nine years.

Thompson said close to 30 facilities have already been chosen for the 2015 event.

During the title tournaments some of the top current and former NCAA coaches and players will participate in a clinic for all participants in the championship event.

Ellen Archer, executive director of the C a r t e r s v i l l e - Bart o w County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the event will bring another opportunity for local hoteliers to put lots of heads in beds.

“I would think it is analogous to one of the weeklong baseball tournaments at Lake Point,” Archer said.

Rachel Rogers, sports sales and service manager for Cobb Travel and Tourism, said the USBA championship would be a great experience for the players, their families and local basketball fans.

The USBA has a strong commitment of community and charitable involvement, having contributed more than $20,000 annually to breast cancer research and awareness.

The organization also sponsors USBA SHOES, a program where “gently used” shoes are collected from coaches, players, parents and the community and donated to needy children and adults.