James Scott Benedict (born February 1, 1961) is an American

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 ...

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 ...

, scout, and

front office The front office is the part of a company that comes in contact with clients, such as the marketing, sales, and service departments. The term has more specific meaning in different industries. Types General offices The function of front office ...

executive. He works for the Chicago Cubs of

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). He has also worked in MLB for the Texas Rangers,

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

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 ...

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 ...

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Miami Marlins.

Playing career

Benedict attended

Chatsworth High School Chatsworth Charter High School is a charter secondary school located in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, U.S. History The campus was built with one-story buildings around a central quad as land was inexpens ...

Chatsworth, Los Angeles Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...

, and played for the school's baseball team as a center fielder. Benedict attended

Los Angeles Valley College Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) is a public community college in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Los Angeles Community College District. The college is adjacent to Grant High School in the neighborhood of Valley Glen. Often call ...

, where he began his

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 ...

career. Coach

Dave Snow David Snow is a former American college baseball coach. He served as head coach of the Loyola Marymount Lions baseball team, leading them to the 1986 College World Series and later as the head coach of the Long Beach State 49ers baseball team, wh ...

cut him from the team, but kept him as a

batting practice B backdoor breaking ball :A breaking pitch, usually a slider, curveball, or cut fastball that, due to its lateral motion, passes through a small part of the strike zone on the outside edge of the plate after seeming as if it would miss the ...

. Benedict learned to pitch sidearm focusing on throwing off-speed pitches from Snow, and made the team as a pitcher the next year. He transferred to Arizona State University to play 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 ...

, but the team’s coach preferred a

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...

-heavy style and rarely used Benedict. After the season, he pitched for Snow in collegiate summer baseball. Snow recommended Benedict to a professional scout for the Kansas City Royals, and the Royals signed Benedict in August 1983. During his first professional batting practice in spring training in 1984, Benedict was hit in the head with a

line drive In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fou ...

and lost consciousness. He made his professional debut with the

Fort Myers Royals The Fort Myers Royals were a minor league affiliate of the Kansas City Royals from 1978 to 1987. In 1978 the Royals were brought to Fort Myers, Florida by the Kansas City franchise. This was because Fort Myers served as the spring training home ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Florida State League in 1984, and was promoted to the Memphis Chicks of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Southern League at midseason. He pitched for the Royals and

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

organizations through the 1986 season.

Coaching and executive career

After retiring from his playing career, Benedict became a pitching coach at

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

and

Chapman College Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scien ...

. In 1990, he became a scout for the Texas Rangers. He worked as the minor league pitching coordinator for the

from 1994 through 1998. He served as a substitute pitching coach for the major league team for six days in May 1998, when Bobby Cuellar left the team for personal reasons. From 1998 through 2000, Benedict was the minor league pitching coordinator of the

. He scouted for the

from 2001 through 2006, and for the

in 2007 and 2008. Benedict joined the Pittsburgh Pirates organization after the 2008 season. He served as an advanced scout, minor league pitching coordinator, and special assistant to the general manager. With the Pirates, Benedict and

Ray Searage Raymond Mark Searage (born May 1, 1955) is an American professional baseball relief pitcher and coach. Searage played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets (1981), Milwaukee Brewers (1984–1986), Chicago White Sox (1986–1987) ...

, the Pirates' pitching coach, were credited with improvements from

Gerrit Cole Gerrit Alan Cole (born September 8, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros. Cole played for the baseball team ...

Francisco Liriano Francisco Liriano Casillas (born October 26, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, ...

Mark Melancon Mark David Melancon ( ; born March 28, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pira ...

Edinson Vólquez Edinson Vólquez (; born July 3, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City R ...

, and Charlie Morton. On October 24, 2015, the Miami Marlins hired Benedict from the Pirates as their new vice president of pitching development. The Marlins traded Trevor Williams to the Pirates for Richard Mitchell as compensation for Benedict's hiring. The team’s new ownership fired Benedict after the 2017 season, and the Chicago Cubs hired him as a special assistant to baseball operations.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict, Jim 1961 births Living people Baseball players from Los Angeles Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball players Chatsworth High School alumni Memphis Chicks players Fort Myers Royals players Greenville Braves players Texas Rangers scouts New York Yankees scouts Pittsburgh Pirates scouts Pittsburgh Pirates executives Miami Marlins executives Chicago Cubs executives Montreal Expos executives Los Angeles Dodgers executives Cleveland Indians scouts Los Angeles Valley Monarchs baseball players Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Loyola Marymount Lions baseball coaches Chapman Panthers baseball coaches