Voigt, Brewer Join Zephyrs

Posted Saturday, January 20, 2007

The New Orleans Zephyrs announced that Jack Voigt has been named as the team’s hitting coach, while Mark Brewer has been named pitching coach, Brian Chicklo will be the team’s trainer and Kenny Coward will be the strength coach. They will join new manager Ken Oberkfell on the 2007 Zephyrs coaching staff. Oberkfell was introduced as the Zephyrs manager on Jan. 4.

Voigt began his coaching career in 2000 as a player/coach with Oklahoma City of the Pacific Coast League. He has coached in the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals organizations before joining the Mets. As a player, Voigt spent seven seasons in the major leagues with Baltimore, Texas, Milwaukee and Oakland. He hit .235 with 20 home runs and 83 RBI in 294 big-league games. In 1997 Voigt played in 72 games for the Milwaukee Brewers and was so popular that a drink was named after him. A “Jack Voigt” consists of two parts spice rum, one part amaretto and one part banana crème liquor.

Brewer begins his second season with the Mets organization, after being the pitching coach for the Double-A Binghamton Mets of the Eastern League. He was the pitching coach for the Omaha Royals of the PCL in 2005. Prior to that Brewer spent four seasons (2001-2004) as the Minor League Pitching Coordinator for the LA Dodgers. He was a pitching coach in the Dodgers and Rangers organizations for eight years prior to his appointment as coordinator. Brewer was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 32nd round of the 1978 draft, and played part of one season in the major leagues with the Kansas City Royals in 1986.

Chicklo begins his eighth season as a trainer with the Mets organization, first with the Zephyrs after having spent the previous six seasons with the Norfolk Tides. In 2005 he was named as the trainer for the International League All-Star team at the Triple-A All-Star game in Sacramento, California.

Coward begins his first year with the Zephyrs as strength coach after spending the previous five years with the Norfolk Tides. Coward is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and a Level 1 United States Weightlifting Club Coach through the United States Weightlifting Association.