The first rollercoaster ride of the Troy Buckley Era wasn’t delivered by a Dirtbags pitcher, but instead by an emotional Buckley.
He was officially introduced as the seventh head coach of the Long Beach State baseball program Tuesday at a press conference in the Walter Pyramid’s Ukleja Room.
Buckley, who was accompanied by his three children, is replacing Mike Weathers at the helm after rejoining the staff as the team’s pitching coach for the 2010 season.
“It goes without saying how humbled I am for the opportunity. … This is a big deal,” Buckley said in his opening statement to a gathering of media, current and former Dirtbags, Weathers and various other LBSU coaches.
Weathers made the decision to retire earlier this season after nine years as the Dirtbags head coach.
Buckley was appreciative of the “continuity” involved in the transition by the administration, much like the one when Weathers took over for Dave Snow. He said his two years with the Pittsburgh Pirates as the minor league pitching coordinator before coming back to The Beach helped prepare him for the job.
“When Dave and Mike asked me, one of their questions through the process of coming here was, ‘Do you want to be a head coach?’ I sheepishly said yes,” Buckley recalled. “So, I think the coaching profession just kind of got instilled in me, and I think being around these guys and seeing how they do it just allowed me to mature and to grow into what it takes to be a head coach.”
Buckley said he doesn’t expect much to change from a philosophy standpoint — “what we’ve done here for a long time is pitch, play defense and manufacture runs” — and that we was going to evaluate his coaching staff before making any decisions and “not close any doors.” He said he has not decided whether to bring in a new face to assume the pitching coach duties.
“I think one of my strengths is the ability to coach pitching and develop pitching at this level,” said Buckley, a former second team All-American catcher and 1988 West Coast Conference Player of the Year. “But I’m extremely fortunate that I could go on the other side, as well, just because I have a lot of experience because I was a position player.”
The Dirtbags finished the 2010 season with an overall record of 23-32 and finished in last place (ninth) in the Big West Conference with a 7-17 record. In 2009, LBSU finished with below .500 for the first time in the Dirtbags’ era.
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