Jim Presley

James Arthur Presley

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 200 lb.
• School University of West Florida
• High School Escambia High School
• Debut June 24, 1984
• Final Game June 7, 1991
• Born October 23, 1961 in Pensacola, FL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Jim Presley was an eight-year player in the major leagues, playing third base and being named to the All Star team in 1986.

As a youngster, Presley played in the 1974 Dixie Youth World Series. He was signed as a 4th round pick in the 1979 amateur draft by the Seattle Mariners and scout S.E. "Rip" Tutor. Presley spent 1979-1984 in the minors before coming up to the majors for 70 games with the Mariners in 1984. He spent half of 1984 with the Mariners' Triple A team in Salt Lake City, hitting .317 and slugging .543 in 69 games at the age of 22. In 1986, he became only the second player in major league history to hit two walk-off grand slams in a season; Cy Williams had been the first with the 1926 Philadelphia Phillies, and the next player to do so would be Steve Pearce of the 2017 Toronto Blue Jays. The first of the two was hit on Opening Day, April 8th, off Ken Forsch of the California Angels, to give Seattle an 8-4 win, his second long ball of the game. The next player to hit a walk-off slam on opening day was Matt Olson of the 2020 Oakland Athletics. He hit 28 homers that season after slugging 10 in his rookie year, and he reached a total of 30 career homers in just 156 games. That would be the quickest in Mariners history until bested by Julio Rodríguez, who needed just 140 games to reach the mark in 2023, also his second season.

He was traded to the Atlanta Braves by the Mariners after 1989 season when they finally decided Edgar Martinez could do the job at third base. Presley was the Braves' starting third baseman in 1990. He had a typically solid season, hitting .242 with a career-high 34 doubles and 19 homers in 140 games, but he only played 20 more games in the majors after that, with the San Diego Padres in 1991, earning his release in June of that season.

After his playing career, Presley was hitting coach for the Lethbridge Black Diamonds in 1996, the South Bend Silver Hawks in 1997, and the Arizona Diamondbacks from 1998 to 2000. Presley was out of baseball for the next three years as he completed his education, earning a bachelor's degree in health, leisure, and sports and a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of West Florida. He returned to the Diamondbacks organization in 2004 as manager of the Missoula Osprey. It is unknown if Presley coached professionally in 2005.

The Florida Marlins hired Presley as their hitting coach in 2006 and he kept the position until June 23, 2010, when he was fired at the same time as manager Fredi Gonzalez and bench coach Carlos Tosca. In his five seasons with the Marlins, they ranked fourth in the National League in slugging percentage (.427) and home runs (902) and 5th in runs scored (3,809). In 2011, he was named batting coach of the Baltimore Orioles, keeping the job until the end of the 2014 season. Under Presley's tutelage in 2013, Chris Davis led the Major Leagues with 53 home runs and three Orioles won Silver Slugger Awards. Presley was expected to return in 2015, but reports indicate he requested reassignment within the Orioles organization for personal reasons. His actual role in 2015 is unknown. Presley finished his U.S. coaching career in the Texas Rangers organization as the Round Rock Express hitting coach in 2016-2017.

In 2018 Presley went to Taiwan to serve as the hitting coach for the CTBC Brothers in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. To start the second half of the season, the Brothers were last in all the batting categories as a team - AVG, OBP, SLG, Hits, HR, RBI, Runs, and BB. This poor performance led to Presley being fired on September 18th and replaced by Tack Wilson.

Notable Achievements

• AL All-Star (1986)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 3 (1985-1987)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (1986)

Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2004	Missoula Osprey	Pioneer League	27-46	8th	Arizona Diamondbacks