Gary Brian Denbo (born December 9, 1960) is a former American baseball front office executive. He was the director of player development and scouting for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he served as a hitting coach for the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays of MLB and for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball. He has also worked in the Yankees' front office.

Gary Denbo
Born: (1960-12-09) December 9, 1960 (age 63)
Princeton, Indiana, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

Playing career edit

Denbo attended Princeton Community High School in Princeton, Indiana,[1] and Oakland City University in Oakland City, Indiana. He was drafted as an infielder by the Cincinnati Reds in the 17th round of the 1983 Major League Baseball draft. Denbo played in Minor League Baseball for four years.[2]

Post-playing career edit

 
Denbo in 2014 as Hitting Consultant for USA Baseball Collegiate team

After retiring as a player, Denbo became a minor league coach and manager. Denbo took his first coaching position in 1986 as a Player-coach for the Cincinnati Reds Double-A club in Vermont. He remained with the Reds organization through 1989.

In 1990, Denbo joined the Yankees organization.[2] He served as a hitting coach and manager for minor league teams in the Yankees organization through 1996. In 1997, he took over as the hitting coordinator for the entire Yankees organization, and in 2000 was also the Assistant Minor League Director.

In 2001, Denbo was the major league hitting coach for the New York Yankees. He also served as the hitting coach for the American League All-star team in the 2001 All-star game in Seattle.

Denbo was a scout for the Cleveland Indians in 2002.[2] He was a hitting coach for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of the Pacific League in Nippon Professional Baseball from 2003 through 2005. He rejoined the Yankees organization in 2006 as the organization's hitting coordinator.

In 2008, he became the hitting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays.[3]

In 2009, Denbo returned to the Yankees as a player development consultant, and continues in his current position in scouting and player development. While in a slump during the 2011 season, Derek Jeter worked on his swing with Denbo, which Jeter attributed to his improvement later in the season.[4]

In June 2014, Denbo was named hitting consultant for the 2014 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.[5]

In October 2014 the Yankees named Denbo Vice President of Player Development.[6] Denbo began the "Captain's Camp", an opportunity for the team's best prospects to interact with former players.[7]

In October 2017, Denbo was named the Vice President of Scouting and Player Development for the Miami Marlins.[8] The Marlins fired Denbo in June 2022, months after Jeter had divested from the team's ownership group.[9]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Swanson, Pete (October 20, 2014). "Yanks name Denbo senior vice president". Princeton Daily Clarion. Retrieved February 17, 2016. [dead link]
  2. ^ a b c "Blue Jays hire Gary Denbo to be new hitting coach". USA Today. Associated Press. October 9, 2007. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  3. ^ Bastian, Jordan (October 12, 2007). "Denbo to stress unselfish hitting style". Toronto Blue Jays. MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
  4. ^ Boland, Erik (August 16, 2011). "DL stint helped Jeter's hitting". Newsday. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  5. ^ "CNT: 29 players report on Friday". USA Baseball. June 20, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  6. ^ Feinsand, Mark; Madden, Bill (October 20, 2014). "Gary Denbo to replace Mark Newman as Yankees senior VP of baseball operations". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  7. ^ Kuty, Brendan (February 25, 2015). "Yankees host spring training 'Captain's Camp' for 'best young players'". NJ.com. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  8. ^ Frisaro, Joe (October 9, 2017). "Gary Denbo leaving Yankees, joining Marlins". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  9. ^ "Miami Marlins fire VP of player development and scouting Gary Denbo, one of Derek Jeter's first hires". ESPN.com. Associated Press. July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2022. Derek Jeter's first significant hire when he was leading the Miami Marlins is no longer with the club. The Marlins have fired Gary Denbo, who had been the team's vice president of player development and scouting. The move happened earlier this week.

External links edit

Sporting positions
Preceded by Toronto Blue Jays Hitting Coach
October 2007 – June 2008
Succeeded by
Preceded by New York Yankees Hitting Coach
2001
Succeeded by