Jamie Nelson

James Victor Nelson

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.
• School Orange County Community College
• High School Bolsa Grande High School
• Debut July 21, 1983
• Final Game October 1, 1983
• Born September 5, 1959 in Clinton, OK USA

BR page

Biographical Information

The last years of Jamie Nelson's playing career overlapped the beginning of his coaching career. His first coaching gig was an assistant coach position at Orange Coast Junior College during the 1992 season. He spent the 1993 season with the UCLA Bruins before becoming the associate head coach for California Baptist College in 1994. Nelson began his professional coaching career as a player/coach with the independent Mobile BaySharks in 1994. After serving briefly as a replacement player with the Kansas City Royals during the 1995 baseball strike, he was named the manager of the Gastonia King Cougars of the Atlantic Coast League. Unfortunately, the league folded on June 29, 1995 due to financial problems. Nelson spent the remainder of the year as a player/coach with the Palm Springs Suns. This year saw the completion of his playing career.

Nelson managed the Suns in 1996 and the Tri-City Posse in 1997. He began 1998 with the Posse but was replaced by Derrel Thomas in late May. In July he joined CSU, Northridge as their pitching coach for the 1999 season.

The Tampa Bay Rays hired Nelson in 2000 and he has coached in their system ever since. He was hitting coach of the Princeton Devil Rays in 2000 and the Charleston RiverDogs in 2001-2002. He managed Princeton of the Appalachian League from 2003 to 2007. Nelson served as the minor league catching coordinator for the Rays from 2008-2012. In 2013, he was promoted to the major league coaching staff as their assistant hitting coach and catching instructor and he remained in that role for five years. Nelson was the hitting coach for the Montgomery Biscuits in 2018-2019. He was scheduled to return to Montgomery in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19 then did coach Montgomery again in 2021. Nelson was a hitting coach for the FCL Rays in 2022-2023.

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs	Notes
1996	Palm Springs Suns	Western Baseball League	46-44	4th	none
1997	Tri-City Posse	Western Baseball League	34-56	8th	none
1998	Tri-City Posse	Western Baseball League		--	none	--	replaced by Derrel Thomas on May 29
2003	Princeton Devil Rays	Appalachian League	23-41	10th	Tampa Bay Devil Rays
2004	Princeton Devil Rays	Appalachian League	23-44	10th	Tampa Bay Devil Rays
2005	Princeton Devil Rays	Appalachian League	34-31	3rd	Tampa Bay Devil Rays
2006	Princeton Devil Rays	Appalachian League	28-36	9th	Tampa Bay Devil Rays
2007	Princeton Devil Rays	Appalachian League	33-36	5th	Tampa Bay Devil Rays