Luis Pujols

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Pujolsluis.jpg

Luis Bienvenido Pujols Toribio

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 1", Weight 195 lb.

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Biographical Information[edit]

Light-hitting catcher Luis Pujols played parts of nine seasons in the majors, mostly with the Houston Astros. In his final season of affiliated ball, Pujols was a player/coach with the 1987 Indianapolis Indians. In 1989, he played for the West Palm Beach Tropics of the Senior Professional Baseball Association and hit .265 in 45 games with the club.

After his playing career ended, Pujols stayed in the Montreal Expos organization. From 1988-1992 he served as the team's minor league catching instructor. The Expos promoted him to the major league staff in 1993. He was the first base coach from 1993-1998. In 1999 Expos manager Felipe Alou moved him to bench coach where he remained until the Expos fired him on July 20, 2000 along with pitching coach Bobby Cuellar.

The Detroit Tigers hired Pujols in 2001 to manage the Erie SeaWolves and he led the SeaWolves to an 84-56 regular season record and a spot in the Eastern League playoffs. The Tigers promoted Pujols to bench coach of the major league staff in 2002. However, just six games into the season he was promoted to interim manager following the firing of Phil Garner. The Tigers, with an average major league service time of three years, went 55-100 under his leadership as 13 players made their big league debuts and eight pitchers picked up their first major league victories. Pujols brought in his former boss with the Expos, Felipe Alou, to be the Tigers' bench coach.

In 2003 Alou took over as manager of the San Francisco Giants and brought Pujols along as his first base coach. Pujols stayed with the Giants through the 2006 season. Pujols took a year off from baseball before returning to the Astros organization in 2008 as manager of the Corpus Christi Hooks. He continued with the Hooks in 2009. From 2010-2012 Pujols was out of baseball before resurfacing in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He managed the Delmarva Shorebirds in 2013, the Frederick Keys in 2014, and the Aberdeen IronBirds in 2015. Pujols started 2016 with the IronBirds but was replaced on June 30th by Kevin Bradshaw. No explanation was given for the change in leadership.

Pujols also had experience coaching on the international level. He was a coach for the Dominican Republic in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He also served as the bench coach for the Leones del Escogido in the Dominican League during the 2009/2010 season. Pujols returned in this capacity in 2010/2011 before replacing Ken Oberkfell as manager on December 22nd. Oberkfell left the Lions after being named bench coach of the New York Mets.

In 2024 Pujols served as an assistant varsity coach with the King's Academy Lions. The head coach for the team was Jarrod Saltalamacchia.


Preceded by
Phil Garner
Detroit Tigers Manager
2002
Succeeded by
Alan Trammell

Year-By-Year Managerial Record[edit]

Year Team League Record Finish Organization Playoffs Notes
2001 Erie SeaWolves Eastern League 84-58 2nd Detroit Tigers Lost in 1st round
2002 Detroit Tigers American League 55-100 5th Detroit Tigers replaced Phil Garner (0-6) on April 9
2008 Corpus Christi Hooks Texas League 55-85 8th Houston Astros
2009 Corpus Christi Hooks Texas League 61-79 7th (t) Houston Astros
2013 Delmarva Shorebirds South Atlantic League 54-82 13th Baltimore Orioles
2014 Frederick Keys Carolina League 65-72 5th(t) Baltimore Orioles
2015 Aberdeen IronBirds New York-Penn League 40-36 6th Baltimore Orioles
2016 Aberdeen IronBirds New York-Penn League -- Baltimore Orioles -- replaced by Kevin Bradshaw

Related Sites[edit]