Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 1, 1992 TAG: 9202010064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN SMALLWOOD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NEW SALEM MANAGER HAPPY BACK IN BASEBALL
After spending more than a quarter of a century in baseball, John Wockenfuss found the last year and a half quite sobering.Out of the game since 1990, Wockenfuss couldn't hide his enthusiasm when he was formally introduced as the new manager of the Salem Buccaneers at a press conference Friday at the Salem Civic Center.
"I'm tickled to death," said Wockenfuss, who has spent 26 years in pro baseball as a player or manager. "I'm really thrilled to be here."
Wockenfuss, 42, comes to the Bucs after spending 12 seasons in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers (1974-83) and Philadelphia Phillies (1984-85). He managed three full seasons in the Tigers' minor league system before being fired 24 games into the 1990 season as manager of the Class AAA Toledo Mud Hens.
He's re-emerged two seasons later with a new appreciation for the business he's been a part of since 1967, when he was a 42nd round draft pick of the Washington Senators out of John Dickinson High School in Wilmington, Del.
"It'll humble you being out of the game," said Wockenfuss, a utility player with a career major league batting average of .262. "Baseball is the only thing I know. It's my first and only love. It's been my whole life. It was very difficult being out of baseball. It makes you learn from your mistakes."
Wockenfuss said he will bring fundamentals and fun to a Salem Buccaneers team that opens the 1992 Carolina League season on April 9 at Peninsula.
"We'll play hard and will be fundamentally sound, and we'll have fun," said Wockenfuss, a native of Welch, W.Va., who resides in Wilmington. "I stress fundamentals in the game. You're going to lose sometimes, but you don't want to beat yourselves. If we're doing something wrong, we'll work on that until they see it their sleep."
After retiring as a player in 1985, Wockenfuss got his first managerial stint in 1987 with the Lakeland Tigers of the Class A Florida State League. The club finished 74-61 and made the playoffs.
In 1988, he managed Class AA Glens Falls to an 80-57 mark and the regular season title of the Eastern League. Wockenfuss moved to Toledo in 1989 and finished 69-76. He was fired in 1990 after the Mud Hens started 10-14.
"I think it was a situation where it was a lack of communication down [the Tigers' organization] line," said Wockenfuss, who has 233-208 record as a manager. "They were calling up players without letting me know. Maybe I said some things that I shouldn't have. I didn't feel like I was a part of the organization. After that I got a little complacent and lost my edge."
Wockenfuss hooked up with the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization when he attended the winter meetings in Miami to circulate his resume. Pirates manager Jim Leyland suggested he talk to Pittsburgh director of minor league operations Chet Montgomery.
Montgomery interviewed and hired Wockenfuss the week after the meetings concluded.
"I'm just thankful to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization for giving me this opportunity," he said.
\ BUCSHOTS: Carolina League president John Hopkins verified that the league has made definite plans to televise the 1992 Carolina League All-Star game live from Salem Municipal Field on July 22. Capitol Broadcasting of Raleigh, N.C., which just took over ownership of the Durham Bulls, will coordinate production and transmission. The league is in discussions with WJPR (Channels 21/27) about broadcasting the game in this area. . . . Former Bucs manager Stan Cliburn has signed on with the Texas Rangers organization and will manage the Charlotte Rangers, which are located in Port Charlotte, Fla., of the Class A Florida State League.