2063-9 Calgary Staff Retiring

[indiansfan]

Calgary Staff Retiring

Calgary announced today some big retirements. Calgary hitting coach Hector Cano, trainer Doug Sweatman and Edmonton Manager Dan Leonard are all hanging up the cleats. This is in addition to the previously announced retirement of Edmonton pitching coach Milburn Pennybags. These 3 retirements represent a total of 124 years of playing and coaching experience. When you include Pennybags the number goes up to 154 years of experience.

The biggest of the three of course is Hector Cano, one of the best players ever to wear a Calgary jersey and among the elite of the BBA. Cano hit 643 home runs, all for the Pioneers, which ranks #1 in Calgary history. Cano played 19 seasons for the team and played on their two championship teams. A first ballot Hall of Famer, Cano retired after the 2062 season and then immediately joined the organization as a coach.

He spent 11 seasons coaching in the minors before being promoted to the position of Calgary's hitting coach in 2044 where he spent 20 years. He was drafted at the age of 22 and retired at the age of 71 after spending 50 years with the same club. The fans will surely miss seeing this legend at the park.

Sweatman is a name that most Calgary fans wouldn't know. They also may not notice the rarity of major injuries to the team. Trainers only get noticed when things go bad, hence Sweatman's anonymity. Sweatman has been the training in Calgary for 24 years and was with Louisville for 7 years before that. With 34 years tenure in the BBA, it will be harder to replace Sweatman than Cano.

Dan Leonard was the heir to Cano's job. It is unclear why he chose to retire at the same time as Cano when the team had been grooming him for Calgary. Leonard of course was a great hitter in his own right for the Pioneers, but instead of homers, it was singles and steals that were his forte. Leonard finished his career with 2817 hits and 417 stolen bases. He played 16 out of his 17 seasons in Calgary. He was named to 4 All Star teams.

After his retirement, Leonard was hired as the hitting coach at AA Duluth. He stayed with the team when it moved to Edmonton and several times he turned down promotions to AAA. He was with the team for 24 years as a coach in addition to the 16 years as a player.

[JRamirez]

That's a lot of experience retiring!

[indiansfan]

I'm trying to save PP to build a new stadium, but now I will need to spend 30 to replace these guys. I think you and I have the oldest stadiums in the league at 40 yrs.