By JEFF FISHBEIN
Sentinel sports editor
jfishbein@lewistownsentinel.com
UNIVERSITY PARK — Brad Fischer, the third manager in the brief history of the State College Spikes, made a preseason visit to Medlar Field at Lubrano Park Tuesday, and used the opportunity to offer his take on the future of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
The Spikes, in a sense the ninth batter in the Bucs’ organizational hierarchy, have struggled along with the parent club since their inception — something that Fischer said is going to change.
“I know it’s hard to see that right now seeing the games on TV,” he quipped. But he insisted that improvement is a high priority for ownership, which he said is committed to fielding winning teams.
Fischer comes to State College — and to the Pirates in general; he’s serving double duty as the team’s minor-league catching coordinator until the short A season opens — after spending three decades in various capacities with the Oakland A’s, including a dozen years at the top level.
A management change has been an annual rite of spring for the Spikes, but that may change with Fischer, who isn’t seeking the same thing as his peers.
“I guess people have to understand that in most cases, the managers come here with the idea that they want to go to the major leagues, too. Moving up is part of their goals and desires,” he said. “I’m in a little bit different situation because I spent 12 years in the major leagues and I’ve been fortunate to be in that situation.
“Hopefully I can be stable here. I think it probably would be nice for this organization if they can have the same guy for a few years,” he said.
Fischer’s 11 years as a minor-league skipper include nine winning seasons, plenty of postseason experience and a nod as manager of the year in the Northwest League in 1981 after winning a league title.
He collected two more league titles at successively higher levels, and finished his first stint in the minors at Triple-A Tacoma, making the playoffs his final year.
He was a bullpen coach and first-base coach for the A’s, then served as a minor-league instructor and assistant director of player development for that organization after leaving the ranks of management.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in a player development situation with the Oakland A’s and have to develop our players throughout the years. I was so fortunate to have some great players along the way so I think I have a pretty good grip on the situation. I almost feel like everything I’ve done up to this point has prepared me to do what I’m going to do in the next few years,” Fischer said.
His focus is not limited to balls and strikes, bats and gloves, but to baseball itself.
If he’s worried about anything, it’s the risk of putting a group of young men into an idyllic setting — he said the park here spoils the young players, who advance to lesser facilities within the organization — not to mention the distraction of Penn State, the setting for the team.
“My main concern is taking a group of young kids and putting them into a college atmosphere, with all the freedoms you have in professional baseball, where baseball is all you do. I want to make sure our guys exist in this setting in a very professional manner,” he said. “What we’re going to try to do with the players as far as teaching them about professional baseball is the most important thing.”
Fischer compares his return to the minors to parenting, and the things adults learn with a first child that get applied to the second.
“I think that the experiences I’ve had prepared me to do this job. This is like my chance to go back and redo what I did the first time,” he said. “I’m sure I made a ton of mistakes the first time around. I have confidence, I’ve learned, I’ve grown up as a person.”
Notes: One of the Penn State baseball coaches asked Fischer if the stadium would be tied up for playoffs when fall ball would begin, drawing a laugh. The university shares the facility with the team. … Fischer will be joined in the dugout by former Pirate Sid Bream, who will be the team’s hitting instructor, and Brian Tracy as pitching coach. Tracy is the youngest in that position in all the minors; he was a relief hurler for the Spikes last season. … Single-game tickets are on sale for the Spikes, whose home opener is June 19.
