Sport(s) | Baseball |
---|---|
Current position | |
Title | Head Coach |
Team | Long Beach State |
Conference | Big West |
Biographical details | |
Alma mater | Santa Clara '89 |
Playing career | |
1985–1989 | Santa Clara |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1998–2000 | Santa Clara (asst.) |
2001–2007 | Long Beach State (asst.) |
2010 | Long Beach State (asst.) |
2011–Present | Long Beach State |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 120–107 |
Tournaments | NCAA: 2–2 |
Troy Buckley is an American college baseball coach, currently serving as head coach of the Long Beach State 49ers baseball team. He has held that position since prior to the 2011 season. He has also coached in the minor league systems of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Montreal Expos.
Buckley was a standout catcher at Santa Clara, earning the 1988 West Coast Conference player of the year award. He was drafted in the ninth round of the 1989 Major League Baseball Draft by the Minnesota Twins. He played in the minor leagues for several seasons, rising as high as Class-AAA before turning to coaching.
Buckley began coaching with the Montreal Expos Class AA affiliate as a hitting instructor and third base coach. After one season at Ottawa, he became a pitching coach for the GCL Expos. Santa Clara then hired him as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator, a post in which he served for three seasons before moving to Long Beach State in the same capacity. With the 49ers, Buckley coached future All Star Jered Weaver, among many others. Weaver won the Dick Howser Trophy and Roger Clemens Award for National Player of the Year and pitcher of the year in college baseball. The 49ers (also known as the Dirtbags) were among the nation's best in team ERA, finishing in the top 5 nationally three times.
In 2008, Buckley accepted the role of pitching coordinator for the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system. He served in that role for two seasons before returning to Long Beach State as associate head coach. Buckley served in that role for one year before taking the head coaching role in 2011. In his three years back with the 49ers, the team ERA has improved from 4.67 to a Big West Conference-best 3.08 and finished above .500 in both seasons with Buckley as head coach.