The La Crosse Loggers Baseball Club announced today that Andy McKay will indeed return as their field manager for the 2011 season, his fourth consecutive season at the helm.
Since the beginning of McKay’s tenure in 2008 the Loggers have won more regular season games than any other team in the Northwoods League during that three year span, amassing a 119-87 (.587) record. The 2009 season, in which the Loggers won a franchise-best 41 games and advanced to the NWL Championship Series, was nestled in between a pair of 39-win seasons. McKay’s 119 victories also ranks him eighth on the all-time NWL managerial wins list heading into the 2011 season.
The Loggers have also produced the top prospect in the NWL twice under McKay’s tutelage (Cory Vaughn-2008, Robert Brantly-2009) and have seen 13 players either drafted or sign a free agent professional contract during that span. Most notably Chris Sale from Florida Gulf Coast University, who was a Logger in 2008 before becoming a first-round pick of the Chicago White Sox this past June and then joining the South Siders this past August.
McKay continues to lead one of the top community college programs in America as he enters his twelfth season at the helm of Sacramento City College. He has amassed over 350 victories during his tenure, including eight conference championships, 15 post-season regionals and five State Final Four qualifiers.
During this eleven-year reign Sac City has also won more post-season games than any other program in the state of California and over 140 student-athletes have either transferred to four-year schools or signed professional contracts. Coach McKay was honored as the 1999 Community College Coach of the Year and the Panther Baseball program was tabbed as the 1990’s Team of the Decade by Baseball America.
McKay also continues to work as a Sports Psychology instructor at Sac City and around the country, often consulting and speaking to collegiate baseball programs.
His work on and off the field has also garnered attention by national publications. McKay has previously published a column entitled ‘Mental Game of Baseball’ for Collegiate Baseball Magazine and in 1996 he assisted Jerry Weinstein in assembling the pitching and catching manual for Team USA.
McKay will continue his teachings this off-season in January in Nashville, Tenn. as he has been invited to be one of the featured speakers at the annual American Baseball Coaches Association convention.
