University of Tennessee Athletics
Royals Coach Barnett to Speak at Camp
December 05, 2007 | Baseball
Christmas Camp Information
Former Tennessee assistant coach and current Kansas City Royals hitting coach Mike Barnett will be the guest speaker at the Tennessee Baseball Christmas Camp on Saturday, Dec. 29. The camp, administered by first-year UT head coach Todd Raleigh and his staff, runs from Thursday, Dec. 27 through Sunday, Dec. 30.
???Mike Barnett has been a successful big-league hitting coach for a long time,??? Raleigh said. ???He???s tremendously respected throughout the game, and we???re thrilled to have him back associated with the program and speaking at our camp.???
Barnett worked as an assistant with the Volunteers in 1988 and 1989, coaching first base and providing hitting instruction, but he also boasts a bevy of experience on the Major League Baseball landscape.
Prior to his coaching tenure in Knoxville, where he now resides with his children, Barnett worked for six years as a video coordinator and hitting instructor for the New York Yankees. And since his stint with the Vols, he has worked for the Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.
Named the Royals hitting coach in May 2006, Barnett mentored a Kansas City lineup that hit a franchise-record 335 doubles that year.
A native of Columbus, Ohio, Barnett began his coaching career before even graduating from Ohio University. His playing career there as a catcher ended abruptly due to a shoulder injury in 1978, but his coach persuaded him to remain with the team and serve as a pitching instructor. He remained with the program through 1982, splitting time between the Bobcats in the spring and the New York Yankees Class-AAA affiliate Columbus Clippers in the summer.
He was promoted to the Yankees parent club in 1982, thus beginning a highly successful big-league instructional career that has spanned more than two decades.
For information regarding the UT Baseball Christmas Camp, call (865) 974-2057 or visit UTsports.com.
