Sunday, May 21, 2017

Randy Ingle had two priorities as minor league manager

Randy Ingle 1990 Greenville Braves card
New Rome Braves skipper Randy Ingle described his managerial style to The Rome News-Tribune in November 2005.

"I believe in being aggressive and I believe in execution," Ingle told The News-Tribune. "Those are my two priorities. There will be times when the execution is not there, of course, but that's what you strive for."

Ingle had honed that philosophy over nearly two decades as as coach and manager in the minors. He's since continued for a third decade, managing 2015 back at Rome.

His career in baseball dates back to 1979. His entire career, playing and managing, has been spent with a single organization, the Braves.

Ingle's playing career began with his selection by the Braves in the 14th round of the 1979 draft out of Appalachian State University in North Carolina.

He played his first season between rookie Kingsport and AA Savannah. He hit .308 in 58 games between them.

Ingle returned to Savannah for 1980, as well as 1981 and 1982. The best he hit in those years was .225 in 1980. Ingle continued getting regular time in the minors through 1987. He only made one brief stint at AAA, eight games played at Richmond in 1986.

It was in 1988 that he started his post-playing career with the Braves, serving as hitting coach at single-A Durham. He started 1990 as a coach at AA Greenville before moving to rookie Pulaski as the team's manager.

Ingle returned to Greenville as hitting coach in 1994, then as manager in 1997. In 1999, he returned to Richmond, becoming the AAA club's manager.

Ingle has managed at least 10 of his seasons in the South Atlantic League, managing at Rome eight of the 10 seasons from 2006 to 2015. He was inducted into the league's Hall of Fame in 2014.

"I've managed at every level in the system, from rookie ball to AAA," Ingle told The Danville Register and Bee in June 2014 after arriving as manager at rookie Danville. "You just see how you take your steps and how it all comes together and what needs to be done here to prepare them for the next step and then the next step after that."
Originally published April 19, 2015

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