Gaylen Richard Pitts is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 manager

Manager (baseball)

In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...

 and coach

Coach (baseball)

In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...

, and a former third baseman

Third baseman

A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...

 at the Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 level. He is currently the special assistant for player development for the St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...

.

Early and personal life

As a player, Pitts threw and batted right-handed, stood 6'1" (1.85 m) tall and weighed 175 pounds (79 kg). He has a wife, Julia (08/28/51) and a son Travis (08-08-87).

Coaching career

Pitts' Major League experience came with the Oakland Athletics

Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....

 during brief call-ups during the 1974

1974 Oakland Athletics season

The Oakland Athletics season involved the A's winning their fourth consecutive American League West title with a record of 90 wins and 72 losses...

 and 1975

1975 Oakland Athletics season

The Oakland Athletics' 1975 season involved the A's finishing first in the American League West with a record of 98 wins and 64 losses. They went on to play the Boston Red Sox in the 1975 American League Championship Series, losing in three straight games....

 seasons. He appeared in 28 games, batted

At bat

In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...

 44 times, and compiled a batting average

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 of .250, with four doubles

Double (baseball)

In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

 and four runs batted in. However, most of his career has been spent in the Cardinals' organization. Pitts signed with St. Louis as a shortstop

Shortstop

Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...

 in 1964 after graduating from Mountain Home High School

Mountain Home High School (Mountain Home, Arkansas)

Mountain Home High School is a public secondary school in Mountain Home, Arkansas, located in Baxter County. Mountain Home High School is located at 500 Bomber Blvd. There are 875 students in grades 10, 11, and 12. Mrs. Dana Brown is the high school principal. Assistant principals are Mr. Ron...

 in Arkansas, and reached the Triple-A level with the Tulsa Oilers

Tulsa Oilers (baseball)

The Tulsa Oilers, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were a minor league baseball team that existed on-and-off in multiple leagues from 1905 to 1976. For most of their history, they played at Oiler Park, which opened on July 11, 1934, and was located on the Tulsa County Fairgrounds at 15th Street and...

 of the American Association

American Association (20th century)

The American Association was a minor league baseball league at the Triple-A level of baseball in the United States from to and to . Together with the International League, it contested the Junior World Series which determined the championship team in minor league baseball, at least for the...

 in 1970. The following season, he was acquired by Oakland in a minor league transaction

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

.

Coaching career

Pitts' managing career began with two seasons (1978–79) in the A's farm system. He returned to the Cardinals in 1981 as a minor league manager and has spent most of his career with them since, as a skipper in their farm system, a roving instructor, and a coach for five seasons (1991–95) on Joe Torre

Joe Torre

Joseph Paul Torre is a former American professional baseball player and manager who currently serves as Major League Baseball’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations. A nine-time All-Star, he played in Major League Baseball as a catcher, first baseman and a third baseman for the...

's Major League staff when Torre was the field boss of the Redbirds. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was winning the 2000 PCL Championship as manager of the Triple A St. Louis Cardinals affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds

Memphis Redbirds

The Memphis Redbirds are the Triple-A minor league baseball affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They play their home games at AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. The stadium's capacity is 14,320. They entered the Pacific Coast League as an expansion team in 1998, and were owned as a...

. In extra innings, Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols

José Alberto Pujols Alcántara , better known as Albert Pujols , is a Dominican-American professional baseball player, who is currently a free agent...

 who was at the time 20 years old, hit a walk-off home run to win the title.

During his most recent managerial assignment, he was the manager of the Palm Beach Cardinals

Palm Beach Cardinals

The Palm Beach Cardinals are a minor league baseball team based in Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida.The team, which plays in the Florida State League, is the High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals major-league club....

, St. Louis' High-A affiliate in the Florida State League

Florida State League

The Florida State League is a Class A-Advanced minor league baseball league operating in the state of Florida. They are one of three leagues currently operating in Class A-Advanced, the third highest of six classifications of minor leagues...

. He opened the season as the Cards' special assistant for player development.

External links

• Major and minor league career record, from Baseball-Reference