Jeffrey William Pentland (born September 8, 1946) is an American baseball

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He has coached in

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 p ...

and

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), ...

Playing career

Pentland attended Arizona State University (ASU) and played

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member ...

. As a

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 ...

for ASU, he had a 32-12

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

in his career and his 2.25

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

still ranks as one of the top 10 in ASU history. He was on the

1967 College World Series The 1967 NCAA University Division baseball tournament was played at the end of the 1967 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the Co ...

baseball team. He spent three seasons (1969–71) in the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

minor league system, mostly playing first base but also pitching in 29 games. In 2002, Pentland was inducted into the ASU Hall of Fame.

Coaching career

Pentland worked as an assistant coach at

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

, from 1975 through 1982 and at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

from 1983 through 1992. He then joined the minor league coaching staff of the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

in 1993 and became their Major League hitting coach for the second half of 1996. Pentland later worked as the hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs (–), Kansas City Royals (–), and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

(–). He was hired by 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 ...

in 2008 as a secondary hitting instructor and was promoted to hitting coach in 2010. He was fired on July 20, 2011. On January 11, 2015, Pentland was hired by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

to take over as their hitting coach, replacing long-time hitting coach Kevin Long. The Yankees declined to offer him a contract following the season.

Personal

Pentland resides in

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pentland, Jeff 1946 births Living people Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Chicago Cubs coaches Elmira Pioneers players Florida Marlins coaches Kansas City Royals coaches Lodi Padres players Los Angeles Dodgers coaches Major League Baseball hitting coaches Miami Marlins scouts New York Yankees coaches People from Hollywood, Los Angeles Sportspeople from Tempe, Arizona Salt Lake City Bees players Seattle Mariners coaches Arizona Instructional League Pilots players