Nelson Norman
Nelson Augusto Norman
- Bats Both, Throws Right
- Height 6' 2", Weight 160 lb.
- Debut May 20, 1978
- Final Game April 29, 1987
- Born May 23, 1958 in San Pedro de Macoris, San Pedro de Macoris, D.R.
Biographical Information[edit]
Nelson Norman was the starting shortstop for the Texas Rangers for a stretch in the late 1970s, losing his job to Mario Mendoza, then played for a number of years in the minor leagues. He came back to the majors for a single game with the Montreal Expos in 1987, subbing for an injured Hubie Brooks. He then found his true calling in player development, first in the Expos' organization and for various other teams, both as a minor league coach and manager.
Nelson started his coaching career in 1988 as a player-coach for the Indianapolis Indians. He returned to the Indians in 1989 solely in a coaching capacity. Norman spent 1990-1991 as a minor league infield instructor for the Expos before taking the reins of the GCL Expos for the 1992-1994 seasons. He then moved to the Atlanta Braves organization for the next two years, first as manager of the Macon Braves in 1995 followed by a hitting coach job with the Danville Braves in 1996.
The Boston Red Sox hired Norman in 1997 to work in the dual capacity of DSL Red Sox manager and coordinator of their Dominican operations. He retained these roles through 2000. In 2011 Norman made his only major league coaching appearance when the Red Sox elevated him to infield coach. This job only lasted one year before a managerial shake-up caused a number of coaches, including Norman, to lose their jobs. Norman returned to the DSL Red Sox as manager in 2002. There are conflicting reports on Norman's role in 2003. He may have served as the Red Sox Latin American infield coordinator or as manager of the DSL Twins. The former seems more likely. In any case, Norman did manage the Twins in 2004-2006 and also worked as their Dominican operations coordinator.
In 2007, he was a hitting coach for the Swing of the Quad Cities in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. The next year he managed the DSL Cardinals squad. It appears Norman was slated to return in the same role in 2009 but left the Cardinals organization and was replaced as manager by Claudio Almonte. According to Baseball Reference he returned as DSL manager in 2010 though this could not be confirmed by other sources. In 2011, he was appointed by Major League Baseball as one of four team managers in El Torneo Supremo.
Norman became Director of Dominican Baseball Operations for the Baltimore Orioles in 2013. From 2013-2016 he also served as manager of the DSL Orioles 2 teams. Norman remained the Dominican Director through 2018 when the Orioles began a major overhaul of the scouting and player development systems. Norman was one of the many casualties in this transformation.
In addition to his work with MLB organizations, Norman spent many years coaching in the Dominican League, primarily with the Tigres del Licey. He may have started as the team's bench coach as early as the 1997/1998 season. He was the bench coach in both 2003/2004 and 2005/2006. Norman switched teams in 2006/2007 to manage the Estrellas Orientales until he was fired on December 13th. Five days later he returned to Licey as their bench coach. Norman remained the Licey bench coach through the 2013/2014 season. He did have one other managing stint when he took over as interim manager on January 3, 2012 to replace the fired Rafael Landestoy.
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