William Joseph Evers (born January 29, 1954) 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 ...

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 ...

and a former minor league

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

and longtime

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 ...

and instructor. In November 2018, he was named a coach on the staff of

Rocco Baldelli Rocco Daniel Baldelli (; born September 25, 1981) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and coach who is the manager of the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Baldelli quickly progressed through the min ...

, the manager of the Minnesota Twins 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), ...

.Staff report (21 November 2018), "Bill Evers is Final Addition to Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli's Staff."
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune.Topkin, Marc (21 November 2018), "Longtime Rays' Minor League Coach/Manager Bill Evers Joins Rocco Baldelli's Twins Staff."

The Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

The appointment marked the second MLB staff assignment of Evers' 44-year baseball career: he spent and as the bench coach during

Joe Maddon Joseph John Maddon (born February 8, 1954) is an American former professional baseball manager and coach. He has managed the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball. Maddon began his coaching career in MLB ...

's first two seasons as skipper of the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ve ...

.Palmer, Nate (23 November 2018), "Bill Evers Will Bring Valuable Experience to Staff". Pucketts' Pond blog.
/ref>

Career

Evers was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He received his BA in management and recreation from

Eckerd College Eckerd College is a private liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1958, part of the campus is waterfront and beach on Boca Ciega Bay. Because of its location, Eckerd is considered a "beach school" and has its own student ...

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

, in 1976Tampa Bay Rays' official site.
/ref> and was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the sixth round of the secondary phase of the June 1976

Major League Baseball Draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

. During his four-year playing career, Evers was a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

who batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

; he was listed as tall and . Peaking at the Triple-A level with 30 games played in 1978–79, he hit 11 home runs with an even 200 hits in 274 total games, with 161 walks and 113 strikeouts. After coaching in the Cubs' minor-league organization, Evers became a manager in the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

and

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 ...

systems through 1995, then joined the fledgling Tampa Bay Devil Rays' organization in 1996, two seasons before the Rays'

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

debut. He spent ten years managing in Tampa Bay's farm system, including eight seasons at the helm of the

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened ...

, the club's Triple-A affiliate, where he managed Baldelli as a young player. By the time he was named the MLB Rays' bench coach for 2006, Evers had spent 19 years as a minor-league pilot and compiled a 1,381–1,206 (.534) record, then the second-most wins among active minor-league managers. He won five minor league championships and managed three of the Rays' five minor league championship teams through 2005. In , Evers was succeeded as bench coach by former Devil Ray player

Dave Martinez David Martinez (born September 26, 1964) is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder who is the manager for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as the bench coach for the Tampa Bay ...

. He then served Tampa Bay as a scout for two seasons, and spent nine years (2010–2018) as the field coordinator for the Rays' minor league organization. In all, he was a member of the Rays' system for 23 years before his appointment to Baldelli's staff. In September 2021, Evers announced his intention to retire at the end of the season, and served as acting manager in Baldelli's place when Baldelli took paternity leave that same month.

References

External links

*
Coach's page
from

Retrosheet Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every major ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evers, Bill 1954 births Living people Baseball coaches from Florida Baseball coaches from New York (state) Baseball players from Florida Baseball players from New York (state) Durham Bulls managers Eckerd Tritons baseball players Gulf Coast Cubs players Major League Baseball bench coaches Midland Cubs players Minnesota Twins coaches Pompano Beach Cubs players Tampa Bay Devil Rays coaches Tampa Bay Rays scouts Wichita Aeros players Eckerd College alumni