Rick Forney – Winnipeg

Rick Forney returns for his 14th season as the Goldeyes’ manager after leading three American Association Championship squads.

The league’s 2011 Manager of the Year, Forney spent his first three years in the Winnipeg organization as a pitcher, followed by six years as a pitching coach, before being named manager in 2005. As a manager, he has put together a record of 554-428, a .564 winning percentage.

The team’s all-time leader in strikeouts (313) and playoff victories (4), Forney retired from baseball a month into the 2000 season due to nagging arm troubles. Able to focus full-time on his coaching duties, he saw 12 of his pitchers signed by Major League clubs in his time as pitching coach.

Rick arrived in Winnipeg in 1997 after a season in the independent Texas-Louisiana League. In that year, he won a league-high 11 games and was named to the Northern League All-Star Team and the Baseball America All-Independent First Team.

Forney, 41, was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 26th round of the 1991 amateur draft. He tied for the 1991 Gulf Coast League lead with seven wins. He played five seasons in the Baltimore organization, reaching Triple A with the Rochester Red Wings in 1995.