Anthony John Arnerich (born December 14, 1979) 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 ...

for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. A California native, Arnerich left the state after junior college to continue his education in Texas. After his junior year there, he contracted with the Kansas City Royals and played for minor league baseball teams in Iowa, Delaware, and Kansas from 2001 to 2004. Arnerich then joined the Florida Marlins and played minor league in North Carolina and Florida in 2004 and 2005. Returning to California, Arnerich began coaching for college teams in 2006 and earned a bachelor's degree in 2008. He coached a collegiate summer team in Minnesota from 2007 to 2009. Arnerich joined the Mariners in 2014, and was designated a hitting coach for 2022.

Early education and minor league play

Arnerich graduated from Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa, California, in 1998. He attended Santa Rosa Junior College for two years and then transferred to Texas Tech University to play college baseball for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. After his junior season, he signed a free agent contract with the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

organization. In the summer seasons of 2001 and 2002, Arnerich played for the Burlington Bees. In 2002 and 2003, he was with the Wilmington Blue Rocks, and in 2003 and 2004 it was the Wichita Wranglers. He played in the Florida Marlins organization before retiring as a player, with the Carolina Mudcats and

Greensboro Bats Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

in 2004, and the

Jupiter Hammerheads The Jupiter Hammerheads are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in the town of Jupiter, Florida, Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, and play their home game ...

in 2004 and 2005.

Coaching and degree

Arnerich became an assistant coach in 2006 at Sonoma State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology in 2008. He coached for the

St. Cloud River Bats The St. Cloud Rox are a baseball team that play in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. Their home games are played at the Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Beginnings in Dubuque The franchise was one of the five ...

summer team from 2007 to 2009, and the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

from 2007 to 2014, during which the team went to the College World Series in 2011. In 2014, he joined the Seattle Mariners organization, as a hitting and catching coordinator beginning in 2017. The Mariners promoted Arnerich to minor league field coordinator in 2020, and major league

hitting coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

for the 2022 season.

Personal life

Arnerich has

coarctation of the aorta Coarctation of the aorta (CoA or CoAo), also called aortic narrowing, is a congenital condition whereby the aorta is narrow, usually in the area where the ductus arteriosus (ligamentum arteriosum after regression) inserts. The word ''coarctation' ...

, a narrowing of the artery from the heart. He received a mechanical valve in 2012, but developed a staph infection near the device in 2013. In October 2013, his doctors said a second surgery to replace the valve was necessary, with only a 50/50 chance of his surviving it. A later

CT scan A computed tomography scan (CT scan; formerly called computed axial tomography scan or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers ...

showed the infection had cleared, however, and Arnerich returned to work in January 2014. During a COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in spring 2020, Arnerich joined other Mariners players in posting video drills to encourage kids to continue in baseball activity. Arneric's fielding drill video included his young son and daughter.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnerich, Tony 1979 births Living people Seattle Mariners coaches Sportspeople from Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa Bear Cubs baseball players Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball players Sonoma State Seawolves baseball coaches California Golden Bears baseball coaches Major League Baseball hitting coaches Burlington Bees players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Wichita Wranglers players Greensboro Bats players Jupiter Hammerheads players Carolina Mudcats players Sonoma State University alumni