From a Dayton Dragons press release:
DAYTON, OH â€â€The Dayton Dragons announced their 2012 coaching staff today, as assigned by the Cincinnati Reds.
Manager Delino DeShields, who guided the Dragons to a franchise-record 83 victories in 2011, will return for his second season in Dayton. Hitting coach Alex Pelaez, who helped the offense to a franchise record highest team batting average of .264 in 2011, also returns for his second season. Tom Browning, a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall-of-Fame, will join the Dragons as pitching coach. Tyler Steele will return for his fourth season as athletic trainer.
DeShields led the Dragons to a record of 83-57 and a second half Eastern Division title in 2011. The Dragons improved dramatically over the course of the season, finishing the first half at 35-35 before posting a 48-32 record in the second half. Their second half mark was the best in a half in Dragons history and the top second half record in 2011 in all of Minor League Baseball among teams playing a split-season format. DeShields will enter his fourth season in the Reds organization in 2012. He served as manager of the Billings Mustangs in 2010 and was the hitting coach at Billings in 2009.
I am a partial season ticket holder for the Dayton Dragons and I was VERY impressed with the job DeShields did last season. He brought a much needed change in attitude to the franchise after two years of Todd Benzinger. Will be happy to see Tom Browning on a regular basis also. Should be a fun season in Dayton.