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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fundamentals first


The Spokane Indians open their 2006 Northwest League season with new manager Mike Micucci, formerly of the Chicago Cubs organization. 
 (Christopher Anderson / The Spokesman-Review)
Somer Breeze Staff writer

Mike Micucci has been a Red Hawk, a Cub and a Lugnut.

He’s toiled in the minor leagues as both a player and a coach. This summer he’s embracing his chance to be a teacher.The Spokane Indians first-year manager understands what’s important at the short-season A level of the minors.

“The biggest responsibility we have as a staff is to teach these guys the Texas Rangers’ way to play the game,” said Micucci, who is joined by pitching coach Danny Clark and hitting coach Jim Nettles. “It’s about good, sound fundamental baseball – championship baseball.”

After meeting with Clark and Nettles in Arizona during spring training, Micucci saw that his staff shares the same drive to teach the players.

“I think we all have something in us that we can get across to the players,” Micucci said. “The best thing for us is to see the players get better and move up.”

The new manager is dealing with a roster built of several players who have just signed their first professional contract and are new to the business.

Micucci knows what his players are going through, since he was in their shoes not too long ago.

He played for the Red Hawks of Montclair (N.J.) State University and was selected in the 51st round of the 1994 June amateur draft. Micucci played in the Chicago Cubs minor league system until 1999, advancing as high as Double-A West Tennessee in 1998 and 1999. The once-aspiring player chose to switch roles on the field and turned in his glove for a coaching position.

Micucci didn’t want to be the player who got the phone call saying he was moving up the minor league ladder – he wanted to be the one to give the news to the players.

“There’s nothing better than calling them into the office and telling them they’re going to the next level,” he said.

Micucci spent five seasons as a hitting coach in the Cubs organization, coaching with the Daytona Cubs and Lansing Lugnuts.

“I felt at that time that I would be better at (coaching) than as a player,” Micucci said.

Scott Servais, director of player development for the Rangers, has known Micucci for four years and is the one responsible for bringing him to the Indians. Servais thought Micucci wouldn’t have the opportunities with the Cubs organization that he could with Texas and talked to the Cubs about moving Micucci up.

“They didn’t want to lose him, obviously, but it was a step up for him,” Servais said.

Servais was a catching instructor in the Cubs organization when he first met Micucci as a young coach. After working with him for a few years, he thought he was ready to take on a managerial role.

“He has a good sense of the players and can relate to them, especially at the introductory level,” Servais said. “He’s very detail-oriented, structured and he has a good understanding of how professional baseball works.”

Micucci will make his professional managerial debut when the Indians open their season at 6:30 p.m. at Avista Stadium on Monday against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes before a sellout crowd.

“He’s ready to manage and he’s going to be a tremendous asset,” Servais said.

Micucci, who resides in New Jersey with his wife, Stephanie, has only been in town a few days, but is pleased with his home stadium.

“The whole setup is nice. The atmosphere, the ballpark – it’s got an older feel to it,” Micucci said.

He hasn’t had many opportunities to evaluate his team, but he’s not worried about how the Indians start off their season, but rather how they progress throughout the year.

“Hopefully, as the season goes on, toward the end we’re playing better and better,” he said. “That’s really what we’re looking for. Not really how we start, but how we finish.”