Colorado Rockies’ hire local favourite Dante Bichette as hitting coach - MLB News
The Colorado Rockies appointed their former player Dante Bichette as their hitting coach. Dante has a seven season long association with the Rockies during his playing days and is well respected in the ballclub. He replaces Carney Lansford who was let go
at the end of the 2012 season.
Bichette was a team-mate of recently appointed manager Walt Weiss in the 90’s. The right-hander has been one of the better hitters the Rockies have had. He is in the top five lists in several offensive categories for the club and made four All-Star appearances
while representing the Rockies.
He has been a hitting coach for several years now with his sons’ school and youth teams in Orlando, Florida. His oldest son is a first round pick by the New York Yankees in 2011. Dante Jr. was also a part of the Little League World Series in 2005.
The soon-to-turn 49-year-old maintains that hitting has been his love all through the years and nothing has changed after he retired. "People ask me what I've been doing since I retired, and I tell them almost nothing has changed. I've been throwing batting
practice and working with hitters. It's something I love to do, and would love to have the chance to do it at the Major League level," he said.
Dante’s career numbers as a hitter are quite impressive. In a career that’s spanned over 14 seasons, he had a batting average of .299 with 1141 RBI’s and 274 home-runs. His numbers got better for the Rockies though.
He managed a .316 batting average in his seven year stay with Colorado. During this period, he hit 201 home-runs, 826 RBI’s, managed a .540 slugging percentage and had a .892 on-base percentage plus slugging. He was certainly their power house in the 90’s
and will be looking to help the Rockies’ hitters find form like his to help the team.
Rockies had been interested in hiring Dante as a hitting coach but he himself was uncertain. Once Walt Weiss became the manager, he was able to seal the matter with the new hitting coach. Weiss regards Bichette highly as an excellent choice and someone fit
for the job.
"We felt Dante was a top-notch hitting guy," Weiss said. "And once he showed renewed interest, we went after him full-bore."
Dante’s last association with professional baseball was in 2004 when he represented the Nashua Pride in the Minor League as first baseman and pitcher in the Atlantic League. He was Player of the Month in August of 2004, the first full month he played.
A coach like Dante Bichette will bring a lot of positives with him. He is liked in the Colorado ranks and has the passion to perform and take his team to the next level. That is exactly what the Rockies will require in the next season and beyond.
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