Jim Bretz

Jim Bretz (born April 11, 1964) is an American baseball scout and former college baseball coach. He is the Northeast Scouting Director for the Detroit Tigers and was previously the head coach of UNC Asheville (1991–1994) and Hartford (1995–1997).

Jim Bretz
Biographical details
Born (1964-04-11) April 11, 1964
Lexington, North Carolina
Alma materUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte '87
Playing career
1982-1987Charlotte
Position(s)IF
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1988–1990UNC Asheville (asst.)
1991–1994UNC Asheville
1995–1997Hartford
Head coaching record
Overall121-192-1
TournamentsNAC/AEC: 2-2
Big South: 3-4

Playing career

Bretz played college baseball at Charlotte under head coach Gary Robinson from 1984–1987. During this stretch, the 49ers had two 30-win seasons and made two Sun Belt Tournaments. Bretz's teammates at Charlotte included future Major League umpire Fieldin Culbreth.[1][2][3]

Coaching career

UNC Asheville

Bretz began his coaching career as an assistant at UNC Asheville from 1988–1990.[4] He was promoted to head coach for the 1991 season and held the position from 1991–1994.[5]

Under Bretz, Asheville finished 5th in the Big South Conference in 1991 and 1992, appearing in the Big South Tournament in both seasons. Its deepest tournament run came in 1991, when the team went 19-29. It started the tournament 3-0, with wins over #3 Winthrop, #2 Augusta, and #4 Davidson. In the championship round, however, it lost two games to top-seeded Coastal Carolina and finished as the tournament runner-up. In Bretz's final two seasons, 1993 and 1994, the Bulldogs did not qualify for the conference tournament. His overall record at Asheville was 73-114.[5][6]

The Bulldogs had a player named to the All-Big South Team in each of Bretz's seasons, and three players signed professional contracts during his tenure. Pitcher Marc Rosenbalm, who was named to the Big South's all-conference and all-tournament teams in 1991, signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Mariners following the season. Jamon Deal and Eugene Faircloth were both selected in the 1992 MLB Draft and played in the minor leagues.[6][7][8][9]

Bretz's coaching staffs at Asheville included Sammy Stewart, an ex-Major League pitcher attempting a comeback from cocaine addiction. Stewart served as a volunteer assistant coach in 1991. Bretz said of Stewart in a press interview: "I'd heard all about his drug and alcohol problems, but the guy just made a mistake. You could see in his face that he wanted to make a commitment. He's been a real inspiration to my kids."[10]

Hartford

Prior to the start of the 1995 season, Bretz was hired as the head coach of Hartford, a position he held from 1995–1997. Hartford athletic director Pat Meiser-McKnett said of the hire, "[Bretz] is a seasoned Division I coach who we believe understands the broad picture of college athletics. Jim also brings to the program a high level of energy and integrity."[11][12]

In 1995, Bretz's first season, the Hawks went 14-25 (10-12 NAC). Prior to the season, many players that had played for or been recruited by previous head coach Moe Morhardt quit the program. The team played the season with a 16-man roster. Bretz said of the season: "I got rid of some problems and some players cut themselves. We wanted to find out who was going to be the backbone of the team. ... We were planning for the future: 'This is how we'll play, conduct ourselves on the road and handle tough situations. We didn't have a chance to win. We had a five-man pitching staff. You have to give credit to the guys who stuck it out."[13][14][15]

Hartford's best season under Bretz was 1996, when the team went 18-30-1 (10-14 NAC) and reached the NAC Tournament, where the Hawks finished third. After losing their opener to top-seeded Delaware, Hartford defeated #5 Northeastern and #2 Maine before being eliminated by Drexel.[13] Following the 1997 season, in which Hartford missed the conference tournament, Bretz resigned for personal reasons. His overall record in three seasons at Hartford was 48-78-1.[12][16]

At Hartford, Bretz coached future Major Leaguer Earl Snyder, who played for the program from 1995–1998. Snyder played for the Cleveland Indians in 2002 and the Boston Red Sox in 2004. At Hartford, he set career records for home runs and RBI and was named to multiple all-conference and all-region teams.[12][17]

Bretz was a proponent of changing college baseball's bat rules while at Hartford. In 1996, the Richmond Times-Dispatch quoted him on the minus-5's then in use: "Across the board, something needs to be done. Somebody is going to get killed [because of metallic bats]. It's going to happen. I guess we'll keep buying those bats until it does."[18] In 1999, the NCAA adopted BESR standards to reduce the exit speed of baseballs off the bat. The NCAA made further reductions in bats' liveliness in the years following these new standards.[19][20]

Scouting career

Bretz began working as a scout in the 2000s. He was the Northeast Supervisor for the Cleveland Indians from 2000–2001, and for the San Diego Padres from 2001-2015. He has held the same position for the Detroit Tigers since 2015.[21][22][23] His signees include Will Venable, Andy Parrino, Brad Brach, Travis Jankowski, Luke Carlin, Nick Greenwood, Brett Kennedy, and Jason Foley.[24][25][26][27]

Head coaching record

Below is a table of Bretz's yearly records as a collegiate head baseball coach.[6][13]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
UNC Asheville (Big South) (1991–1994)
1991 UNC Asheville 19–297–85thBig South Tournament
1992 UNC Asheville 20–288–105thBig South Tournament
1993 UNC Asheville 19–276–149th
1994 UNC Asheville 15–308–1910th
UNC Asheville: 73–11429–51
Hartford (North Atlantic/America East[lower-alpha 1]) (1995–1997)
1995 Hartford 14–2510–127th
1996 Hartford 18–30–110–146thNAC Tournament
1997 Hartford 16–237–16T–7th
Hartford: 48–78–127–42
Total:121–192–1

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Personal

Bretz's father, James, worked as a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, among several other areas of professional baseball.[11][28]

Notes
  1. The America East Conference was known as the North Atlantic Conference through the end of the 1996 season.

References
  1. "2014 Charlotte Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). Charlotte49ers.com. Charlotte Athletic Media Relations. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 1, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  2. "Charlotte Baseball Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). Charlotte49ers.com. Charlotte Athletic Media Relations. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 1, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  3. "Jim Bretz". TheBaseballCube.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  4. Wehrle, Bruce (April 25, 1990). "Bess, Whiteside Are Playing Well". The Dispatch. Lexington, North Carolina. p. 8. Archived from the original on May 11, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2014. ... Bretz, who is the infield coach at UNCA, where he's assisted head coach Steve Pope for the past three years.
  5. "2013 UNC Asheville Baseball Media Guide". UNC Asheville Athletic Communications. p. 66. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  6. "2013 Big South Baseball Record Book" (PDF). Big South Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  7. "MLB Amateur Draft Picks Who Came from "Asheville"". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  8. "UNCA Pitcher Signs". The Times-News. Hendersonville, North Carolina. Associated Press. May 24, 1991. p. 18. Archived from the original on May 11, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2014. North Carolina-Asheville pitcher Marc Rosenbalm has signed a free-agent contract with the Seattle Mariners ... .
  9. Finnigan, Bob; Rockne, Dick (June 11, 1992). "Mariner Log". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  10. Olson, Stan (May 29, 1991). "Biggest Save: On Recovery Road, Sammy Stewart Finds His Victory over Drugs Beats Anything He Ever Did in World Series". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  11. "Bretz to Coach Hartford Baseball". Courant.com. Hartford Courant. August 24, 1994. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  12. "2009 Hartford Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). HartfordHawks.com. Hartford Athletics Communications. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  13. "2014 America East Baseball Record Book" (PDF). America East Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 16, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  14. Anderson, Woody (March 13, 1996). "Notebook". Courant.com. Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  15. "Vermont Sweeps Hartford". Courant.com. Hartford Courant. March 27, 1995. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  16. "Baseball Coach at U of H Resigns". Courant.com. Hartford Courant. June 21, 2014. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  17. Anderson, Woody (March 5, 1997). "With Snyder, There Are Powerful Similarities". Courant.com. Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  18. "The NCAA News". NCAA.org. September 23, 1996. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  19. Russell, Daniel A. "Non-Wood Bats: Performance Trends in College Baseball". Archived from the original on July 4, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  20. Borzi, Pat (June 18, 2011). "Making Metal Bats Play Like Wood". NYTimes.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  21. Goldberg, Keith (April 22, 2001). "Scouts Master a Tough Job". RecordOnline.com. The Times Herald-Record. Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  22. "Transactions". NYTimes.com. November 8, 2001. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  23. "Wilton Local Sports". TheHour.com. September 20, 2007. Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  24. Eddy, Matt (January 30, 2009). "San Diego Padres: Top 10 Prospects Scouting Reports". BaseballAmerica.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  25. Eddy, Matt (September 28, 2011). "2011 Big League Debuts and Their Signing Scouts". BaseballAmerica.com. Archived from the original on June 21, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  26. Brock, Corey (September 15, 2011). "Brach Beat Long Odds to Reach Padres Bullpen: Rookie Righthander Was Selected in 42nd Round of 2008 Draft". MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  27. "Padres Make Three Selections in Compensation Round of 2012 Draft". San Diego Padres. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  28. Gallagher, Ronnie (July 9, 1980). "Bretz Full of Baseball Stories, Winners". North Davidson Dispatch. North Davidson, North Carolina. Archived from the original on May 11, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
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