Jerry Royster

Jeron Kennis Royster (born October 18, 1952) is a Major League Baseball coach, who last served as the 3rd Base Coach under Bobby Valentine with the Boston Red Sox. He was a third baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, and the New York Yankees, as well as a former manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, Lotte Giants in the Korea Baseball Organization, and the Shalhevet Firehawks of the Mulholland League.

Career

He was signed by the Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1970 at age 17, and three years later, he made the big leagues with Los Angeles. He never had more than 13 games with the Dodgers, and they quickly shipped him off to the Atlanta Braves as part of a six-player trade that included Jimmy Wynn, Tom Paciorek, and Dusty Baker. He became a regular third baseman with the Braves, and in 1976, he was named to the 1976 Topps All-Star Rookie Roster. Royster, a graduate of Sacramento High School, was joined in the Braves line-up by Rowland Office, a C. K. McClatchy High School alumn. The two, who played against each other in high school, batted one and two in the Braves batting order. After nine years with the Braves, he joined the Padres as a free agent, but he was no longer an everyday infielder. In 1987, he split the season with the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees. He returned to the Braves in 1988 at age 35, and retired at the end of the season.

Jerry coached the Vero Beach Dodgers and was the third base coach for the Colorado Rockies. He re-emerged in the major leagues as a coach for the Milwaukee Brewers under manager Davey Lopes, but after only 15 games in 2002, Lopes was fired and Royster was named interim manager. Two weeks later, the interim tag was removed, but at the end of a disappointing 53–94 stint, he was fired.

Royster managed the Las Vegas 51s from 2005–2006. In late September 2006, he was fired as manager of the Dodgers' triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas, which was 67–77 that season. Royster had a record of 124–163 in two seasons at Las Vegas and has a career minor league record of 598–659. He was the Dodgers' minor league infield coordinator in 2003 and 2004 and a minor league manager in the San Diego Padres organization for several seasons.

Late in 2007, Royster signed on to become the manager of the Lotte Giants in Busan, South Korea, making him the first ever non-Korean to take the helm of one of South Korea's professional baseball clubs.^[1][2]

On October 13, 2010, the Lotte Giants decided not to renew Royster's contract following the Giant's defeat by the Doosan Bears in the first round of the KBO playoffs.

In 2012, Jerry Royster spent one season as the third-base coach for the Boston Red Sox.

In 2014, Royster coached the Shalhevet Firehawks to a 2nd place finish in the Mulholland League.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
• Lotte Giants

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Jerry Royster managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com