Jim Stoeckel

Jim Stoeckel

• School Harvard University

Biographical Information

Jim Stoeckel has been a longtime baseball coach and scout.

After graduating from Harvard University, Stoeckel was recruited by the Pittsburgh Pirates but instead played pro football in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger Cats.

Stoeckel has been head baseball coach at Davidson College (1988-1990) and Piedmont College (2001). He has been an assistant coach at Harvard University and Indian River Community College. He has managed in the Cape Cod League and other summer collegiate leagues. Stoeckel has worked in Organized Baseball as pitching coach of the San Antonio Dodgers in 1987 and Vero Beach Dodgers in 1999.

Stoeckel came to the Dutch national team in 1981 and guided them to a title in the 1981 European Championship, re-establishing the Dutch squad over an Italian national team that dominated in the 1970s thanks to the aid of Italian-American players. He then guided the team to 6th place in the 1982 Amateur World Series, the best showing by the Netherlands to that point in an Amateur World Series. He managed the Netherlands in the 1983 Intercontinental Cup and to second in the 1983 European Championship.

From 1989-1991, Stoeckel again managed the Dutch national team. He led them to their first World Port Tournament title in 1989. He led them in the 1989 European Championship and 1991 European Championship, but they lost to Italy each time. They just missed the quarterfinals in the 1990 Baseball World Cup.

While coaching Davidson College, Stoeckel recruited Robert Eenhoorn, one of his players on the Dutch national team. Eenhoorn became the only major leaguer from Davidson in the latter half of the 20th Century and would later replace Stoeckel as manager of the Netherlands national team.

From 1990-1998, he was international scouting coordinator of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In 2007-2008, he was director of International Operations for the Cincinnati Reds. Stoeckel was the bullpen coach of the Dutch team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, after which he succeeded Bert Blyleven as their pitching coach. He was named the Dutch team's manager for the 2010 Haarlem Baseball Week and 2010 European Championship (when they won a Silver Medal, their worst finish in 13 years). In 2011, Stoeckel is Director of Global Scouting for the Reds.

In September of 2012, he managed the French national team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Jupiter, FL.

He scouted Davide Anselmi, Tzu-Kai Chiu, Calten Daal, Didi Gregorius, Aldi Guzman, Jakub Ižold, Jason Kilby, Yen-Wen Kuo, Donald Lutz, Luca Panerati, Matteo Pizziconi, Luke Prokopec, Brad Thomas and Chadwick Tromp among others.

His son Jeff Stoeckel has also coached.