Stan Cliburn

{{Short description|American baseball player and manager (born 1956)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Stan Cliburn

|image=Cliburns.jpg

|caption=Cliburn with the Rochester Red Wings

|team=Southern Maryland Blue Crabs

|position=Catcher / Manager

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1956|12|19}}

|birth_place=Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=May 6

|debutyear=1980

|debutteam=California Angels

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 24

|finalyear=1980

|finalteam=California Angels

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.179

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=2

|stat4label=Runs batted in

|stat4value=6

|teams=

California Angels ({{mlby|1980}})

}}

Stanley Gene Cliburn (born December 19, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player and current manager of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He was previous the manager of the New Britain Bees and the Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, from 2006 to 2009. Cliburn has also managed in the Arizona Fall League and at other levels in the minor leagues. He is the twin brother of former Major League pitcher Stu Cliburn, who is currently the pitching coach for the Chicago Dogs of the American Association of Professional Baseball. Cliburn was most recently the manager of the New Britain Bees of the Atlantic League, an independent baseball league.

Playing career

Cliburn played one season in the majors with the California Angels in 1980 during which he appeared in 54 games at catcher, but he would play in over 948 minor league games during his fourteen-year playing career.{{cite web|url=http://www.atlanticleague.com/archive/index.html?article_id=391|title=Bees Name Stan Cliburn as First-Ever Field Manager|website=www.atlanticleague.com}}

Coaching career

After his playing career ended Cliburn was hired as a manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates' New York-Penn League team, and he spent the next 12 seasons managing in the Pirates system, the Texas Rangers system, and for the Alexandria Aces of the independent Texas-Louisiana League. From {{Baseball year|2001}} to {{Baseball year|2005}}, Cliburn was the manager of the New Britain Rock Cats, the Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.{{cite news |last1=Lahnert |first1=Lance |title=Aces master Dillas again in 11-3 win |url=http://amarillo.com/stories/1999/08/14/spo_227-1422.shtml |work=Amarillo Globe-News |date=August 14, 1999 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508094411/http://amarillo.com/stories/1999/08/14/spo_227-1422.shtml |archivedate=May 8, 2016}} His pitching coach at New Britain for those five seasons was his twin brother Stu Cliburn. On October 18, 2005, Stan Cliburn was named as manager of the Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A affiliate of the Twins. Initially, it was believed that Stu would not be promoted along with Stan;{{cite news |url=http://rochester.ynn.com/all-news-news-2134-content/top_stories/?ArId=331252&SecID=33023 |title=Stan Cliburn to Manage Wings |author=Mike Hedeen |work=R News |date=October 17, 2005 |accessdate=October 21, 2009}} however, both were promoted to Rochester for the {{Baseball year|2006}} season.{{cite news |url=http://rochester.ynn.com/all-news-news-2134-content/top_stories/?ArId=336499&SecID=33023 |title=The Cliburns are Coming |author=Bill Pucko |work=R News |date=April 4, 2006 |accessdate=October 21, 2009}} In his first season at the helm in Rochester, Cliburn guided the Wings to a 79–64 record and came within one game of winning the Governors' Cup, the championship of the International League.{{cite news |url=http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060904&content_id=127865&vkey=pr_t484&fext=.jsp&sid=t484 |title=Indians force tiebreaker for IL West Division title |author=Matt Segal |date=September 4, 2006 |work=Indianapolis Indians |accessdate=October 21, 2009}}

The 2006 season proved to be the most successful of Cliburn's tenure in Rochester. The team's record declined in each successive season following the playoff run, eventually falling to 70–74 in {{Baseball year|2009}}.{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?city=Rochester&state=NY&country=US |title=Rochester, New York Minor League City Encyclopedia |author=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=October 21, 2009}} Additionally, following the {{Baseball year|2008}} season, Stan was separated from Stu for the first time in eight years as Stu was reassigned to New Britain for 2009.{{cite web |url=http://rochesterhomepage.net/content/fulltext/?cid=41841 |title=Stan Back, Stu Gone |author=Cory Hepola |work=RochesterHomepage.net (WROC/WUHF) |date=October 23, 2008 |accessdate=October 21, 2009}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} On September 21, 2009, the Minnesota Twins announced that they would not renew manager Stan Cliburn's contract for the 2010 season. According to Twins farm director Jim Rantz, the change was made as part of an "overall directional change that is being implemented throughout the minor-league system."{{cite news |url=http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090921/SPORTS06/90921024/1024/Cliburn+won+t+return+as+Red+Wings+manager |author=Jim Mandelaro |title=Cliburn won't return as Red Wings manager |date=September 21, 2009 |accessdate=September 22, 2009 |work=Democrat and Chronicle}}

After having success managing in the Arizona Fall League Cliburn was hired as the manager for the Sioux City Explorers of the independent American Association of Independent Professional Baseball where he served as manager for three seasons; he was let go by the Explorers following a disappointing season by the team in which they finished 38-62 and Cliburn was cited for a DUI in September 2013.{{cite web|url=https://siouxcityjournal.com/sports/baseball/professional/minor/explorers/cliburn-out-as-explorers-manager/article_aa17c825-302c-5c3d-bc13-7021368302c2.html|title=Cliburn out as Explorers manager|first=TERRY|last=HERSOM|website=Sioux City Journal|date=September 6, 2013 }}

Cliburn returned to managing in 2015 when he became the manager of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League. On December 15, 2015, Cliburn returned to New Britain as the first manager of the new Atlantic League team the New Britain Bees after the departure of the MLB-affiliated Rock Cats.{{cite web|url=https://www.courant.com/sports/baseball/hc-new-britain-bees-1216-20151215-story.html|title=Stan Cliburn New Britain Bees 1st Manager; Spent 5 Seasons With Rock Cats|first=DOM|last=AMORE|website=courant.com}}

Personal life

Cliburn's twin brother, Stew, also played in the major leagues.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlb.com/news/twin-brothers-in-mlb-history|title = Rogers twins 10th such pair in MLB history| website=MLB.com }}

References

External links

{{Baseballstats |mlb= |espn= |br=c/clibust01 |fangraphs= |cube= |brm=clibur001sta }}

[http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/C/Pclibs101.htm Retrosheet]
[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/stan-cliburn/ Stan Cliburn] at SABR (Baseball BioProject)

Category:1956 births

Category:Living people

Category:Alexandria Aces players

Category:American expatriate baseball players in Canada

Category:Baseball players from Mississippi

Category:Bradenton Explorers players

Category:Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players

Category:California Angels players

Category:Daytona Beach Explorers players

Category:Edmonton Trappers players

Category:El Paso Diablos players

Category:Hawaii Islanders players