Herts Baseball Club has confirmed that Geoff Hare has been appointed as the new manager of the Herts Londoners.
Hare is one of the club’s longest serving members. His baseball career spans four decades during which he played for Hemel Red Sox in the 1980s and then for the Herts Falcons where he was the starting shortstop.
In 2004 he recorded the rare feat of going through an entire season without striking out. Since 2005 he has progressed through the umpiring ranks and has become one of the most respected umpires in the National Baseball League.
Despite a busy umpiring schedule, he was still finding time to remain firmly involved as a Herts coach running the very successful Wednesday Night Baseball programme and being an ever-present coach every Spring as the Herts teams prepare for the season ahead.
This is a new challenge for Hare and it comes at a time of rapid growth for the club so he will be working with many players who are new to the club, but there will be many familiar faces too.
Londoners’ inaugural season last year was in the Triple-A League but, as announced earlier this week, the club made a last-minute decision to move the Hawks up from Double-A to Triple-A and Londoners down to Double-A. Some players from last year’s Londoners team are expected to be assigned to the Herts Hawks in Triple-A team and some of last year’s Hawks have already expressed interest in playing at the club’s Basing Hill Ballpark in North West London, but it is still too early to predict what the five Herts rosters will look like.
The first opportunity to see the Herts Londoners under their new manager will be in the Herts Spring League which starts in March.
The Herts managers have left plenty of room in the rosters so that new players are able to join the teams in the coming months. Existing players who have not reactivated their registration for the 2020 season can do so here. New players can register for the new season here or, if you would like to take part in one of the upcoming open sessions to give baseball a try and help you decide whether to join the club, then contact us for more details.