George Alex Tsamis ( gr, Γιώργος Τσάμης; born June 14, 1967) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who is the current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

for the

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play their ho ...

of the

American Association of Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

. He pitched one season in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

in 1993. After he retired from professional baseball in 1998, Tsamis became a manager in the independent minor leagues. He joined the

Waterbury Spirit Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...

of the

Northeast League The Northeast League was a professional independent baseball league that operated in the Northeastern United States from 1995 until 1998 and from 2003 until 2004. Between 1999 and 2002, the league was part of the Northern League after the two lea ...

in 1999 and later managed the

New Jersey Jackals The New Jersey Jackals are an American professional baseball team based in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. The team was founded in 1998 by Floyd Hall and is owned by Al Dorso, a businessman who also owns the Sussex County Miners, Sky ...

beginning in 2001. He left the Jackals to manage the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

in 2003 and managed them through the 2020 season before taking his job with the Cougars. Tsamis is a four-time league champion as a manager. He led the Jackals to the 2001 and 2002 Northern League championships, then led the Saints to the 2004 Northern League Championship and the 2019 American Association championship.

Little League World Series

George Tsamis represented the team from

Campbell, California Campbell is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Campbell's population is 43,959. Campbell is home to the Pruneyard Shopping Center, a sprawling open-air retail complex which was in ...

at the

1979 Little League World Series The Little League World Series took place between August 21 and August 25 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Puzih Little League of Taipei, Taiwan, defeated the Campbell Little League of Campbell, California, in the championship game of the 33rd ...

. His team lost the championship to Taiwan, 2-1.

Playing career

Tsamis attended

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I–4 corridor in Central Florida with the primary undergraduate campus in DeLand. The university was founded in 1883 and was later established in 1887 ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Hatters Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of g ...

under head coach

Pete Dunn Pete Dunn (born June 26, 1948) is a retired American college baseball coach who was most recently the head coach of the Stetson Hatters baseball team. Stetson career Dunn has been the head coach of Stetson's Baseball team for 33 years, and in ...

. From 1986 to 1988, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Falmouth Commodores The Falmouth Commodores are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Commodores play their home games at Arnie All ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

and was named a league all-star in 1988. He was named the TAAC Player of the Year in 1989. Tsamis was drafted by the Twins in the 15th round of the

1989 MLB draft First-round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1989 Major League Baseball draft on June 5. Supplemental first round selections Other notable players * Brian Hunter, 2nd round, 35th overall by the Houston Astros * Ti ...

. He made his MLB debut in 1993, appearing in 41 games with a record of 1-2 with an ERA of 6.19. Arguably the highlight of Tsamis' MLB career came August 14, 1993. During the second game of a doubleheader against the Athletics, Tsamis threw 4 scoreless innings to close out the game and notch his first and only career major league save. He preserved the game for starting pitcher Mike Trombley. Tsamis was a

replacement player In professional sports, a replacement player is an athlete who is not a member of the league's players association and plays during a labor dispute such as a strike or lockout, serving as a strikebreaker. Instances of replacement players Nation ...

with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

during

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

prior to the 1995 season. Replacement players took over for the regular, unionized baseball players when the

Major League Baseball Players Association The Major League Baseball Players Association (or MLBPA) is the union representing all current Major League Baseball players. All players, managers, coaches, and athletic trainers who hold or have held a signed contract with a Major League club ...

(MLBPA) went on strike in 1994. The strike was resolved at the end of spring training, and Tsamis returned to the minor leagues, where he pitched until 1998. Due to his role as a replacement player, Tsamis was not permitted membership in the MLBPA.

Managerial career

Tsamis managed the

(1999–2000) and

(2001–02), winning league titles with the Jackals in both his seasons. In 2003, he was hired to manage the Saints, then in the Northern League. The team moved to the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

in 2006. Tsamis managed through Saints through the 2020 season, after which they left the American Association and became Triple-A affiliates of the

. On February 23, 2021, Tsamis was named manager of the

, a former Low-A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

club that later moved to the

due to the restructuring of Minor League Baseball. In moving to the Chicago suburbs, he retained his longtime coaching staff of

Kerry Ligtenberg Kerry Dale Ligtenberg (born May 11, 1971) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and coach. Early life Ligtenberg was born in Rapid City, South Dakota. He graduated from Park High School in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. Playing career After atte ...

(pitching coach) and Ole Sheldon (hitting coach). Tsamis recently managed the North Division in the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

Sioux Falls, SD Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up to ...

References

External links

St. Paul Saints bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsamis, George 1967 births Living people American Association of Professional Baseball managers American expatriate baseball players in Canada American people of Greek descent Bangor Blue Ox players Baseball players from California Calgary Cannons players Carolina Mudcats players Falmouth Commodores players Jacksonville Suns players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball replacement players Meridian Brakemen players Minnesota Twins players Mohawk Valley Landsharks players Newburgh Night Hawks players Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010) managers Orlando Sun Rays players People from Campbell, California Port City Roosters players Portland Beavers players Stetson Hatters baseball players Visalia Oaks players Waterbury Spirit players