Troy Buckley

Troy William Buckley

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height' 6' 4", Weight 215 lb.

• School Santa Clara University

• Born March 3, 1968 in Los Altos, CA USA

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Troy Buckley made it to AAA as a player then coached in the minors and college.

College

Buckley was the 1988 West Coast Conference Player of the Year as a sophomore after hitting .442 with 82 RBI. He was 7th in NCAA Division I in average (between Marquis Grissom and Ernie Carr) and 13th in RBI (John Olerud and Ed Sprague Jr. were each one behind). Baseball America picked him second-team All-American at catcher, behind Jim Campanis. He set a Santa Clara record with 188 career RBI. His production fell as a junior. The Minnesota Twins selected him in the 9th round of the 1989 amateur draft, one round before they took Marty Cordova.

Playing in the minors

Troy hit .307/.384/.423 in his pro debut with the 1990 Visalia Oaks and fielded .991 at catcher. He was 5th in the California League in average (between Brett Magnusson and J.T. Bruett) and he led the league's backstops in fielding percentage yet Bryan Baar beat him out to be named the Cal League All-Star catcher. Despite his 1990 success, he was sent back to Visalia for most of 1991 and fell to .254/.347/.344 at the plate and making 13 passed balls; he also was 2 for 5 for the Portland Beavers. He produced at a .256/.303/.309 clip for the 1992 Fort Myers Miracle, backing up Pedro Grifol on that independent team.

The Cincinnati Reds signed Buckley. In 1993, he played for the Winston-Salem Spirits (.265/.309/.377 in 64 G) and Chattanooga Lookouts (.256/.273/.349 in 14 G). In 1994, he was the main backstop for a Chattanooga club; he hit .233/.264/.324. The next year, he wrapped up his career with the Lookouts (7 for 29) and the Montreal Expos' Harrisburg Senators affiliate (.291/.327/.392 in 48 G). Overall, Troy had hit .268/.327/.357 with 21 home runs, 86 doubles, 194 runs, 231 RBI and 152 walks in 550 minor league games. He fielded .991 at catcher (336 G), .979 at 1B (53 G) and .892 at 3B (40 G). He also pitched one shutout inning.

Coaching

Buckley was a coach for the 1996 Ottawa Lynx and 1997 GCL Expos. He then returned to his alma mater as assistant coach from 1998-2000. From 2001-2007, he was pitching coach for Long Beach State, helping develop Jered Weaver, Vance Worley, Cesar Ramos, Abe Alvarez and Jason Vargas. He was the Pittsburgh Pirates' Minor League Pitching Coordinator in 2008-2009. He then returned to Long Beach State for one year as assistant before being promoted to head coach. They went 29-27 in 2011, 28-27 in 2012 and 29-27 in 2013. He was Big West Conference Coach of the Year in 2017. In 2020, he returned to the pitching coach ranks with the University of Nevada, Reno. After three season in Reno, Buckley moved to conference-mate Fresno State University in 2023.

Sources

• 1989-1994 Baseball Almanacs
• 1991 Baseball Guide
• Long Beach State bio

Related Sites

• Greatest 21 Days