Gene Clines

Gene Clines
Outfielder
Born: (1946-10-06) October 6, 1946 San Pablo, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 28, 1970, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last MLB appearance
May 8, 1979, for the Chicago Cubs
MLB statistics
Batting average	.277
Home runs	5
Runs batted in	187
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (1970–1974) New York Mets (1975) Texas Rangers (1976) Chicago Cubs (1977–1979)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (1971)

Eugene Anthony (Gene) Clines (born October 6, 1946) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball, Clines played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1970–74), New York Mets (1975), Texas Rangers (1976) and Chicago Cubs (1977–79). He was also the hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs from 2005 to 2006. From 2003 to 2004, he was the team's first base coach before being promoted to hitting coach. He batted and threw right-handed. He is a 1966 graduate of Harry Ells High School in Richmond, California.

Playing career

In a 10-season career, Clines posted a .277 batting average with 187 RBI, 71 stolen bases, and five home runs in 870 games.

A fast runner with excellent defensive skills, Clines debuted in 1970 with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a reserve outfielder, hitting .405 (15-for-37) in 31 games in his rookie year. He went to the postseason with Pittsburgh in the 1971, 1972 and 1974 National League Championship Series, winning a World Series ring with the Pirates in 1971. His most productive season came in 1972, when he posted career-highs in average (.334), doubles (15), and triples (six) in 107 games. Clines also played with the New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs, and retired during the 1979 campaign and took over the Cubs' first base coaching duties.

Coaching career

Clines remained with the Cubs as first base coach under manager Bob Kennedy until 1981, then joined the Houston Astros organization as a roving minor league hitting instructor, a position he held through 1987. Later he worked as a hitting coach for Houston in 1988 and spent six seasons as a hitting coach in the American League for the Seattle Mariners (1989–92) and Milwaukee Brewers (1993–94) before start a six-year stint with the San Francisco Giants as a hitting coach and outfield coach (1995–2002), as he guided National League MVP Award winners Jeff Kent (2000) and Barry Bonds (2001 and 2002). During the 2002 World Series with the Giants he wore a microphone for FOX and when Bonds hit his first career World Series home run he screamed, "OH MY GOD!"

In 2003, Clines returned to the Chicago Cubs as their first base coach. He was named hitting coach prior to the 2005 season. 2006 was his 20th season on a major league coaching staff.

In 2007, he assumed the position of outfield and base running coordinator for the Los Angeles Dodgers system. In 2010, he was promoted to the position of Senior Advisor, Player Development with the Dodgers.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Baseball Library, or Retrosheet
• Chicago Cubs official site

Preceded by Denis Menke	Houston Astros hitting coach 1988	Succeeded by Yogi Berra
Preceded by	Seattle Mariners hitting coach 1989–1992	Succeeded by Ken Griffey
Preceded by Mike Easler	Milwaukee Brewers hitting coach 1993–1994	Succeeded by Lamar Johnson
Preceded by Bobby Bonds	San Francisco Giants hitting coach 1997–2002	Succeeded by Joe Lefebvre
Preceded by Sandy Alomar	Chicago Cubs first base coach 2003–2004	Succeeded by Gary Matthews
Preceded by Gary Matthews	Chicago Cubs hitting coach 2005–2006	Succeeded by Gerald Perry