Trainer Rodger Fleming (right) will join the Biscuits in 2011, marking the only change in the team’s dugout staff. Manager Billy Gardner will return for a fifth year, hitting coach Ozzie Timmons for a third season and pitching coach Bill Moloney for a second.Fleming is expected to swap places with Lee Slagle, a Montgomery native who worked for the Biscuits for two seasons. Fleming, a Gordo native, was with Triple-A Durham the last two seasons.
Fleming, 38, was in the Southern League in 2005-06 as the trainer for the Tennessee Smokies.
"The Southern League, you can't ask for a better league," Fleming said. "When I was there, Montgomery was always a fun place with good crowds, and it's close to home for me."
The Fleming-for-Slagle swap will mean one significant change.
"He's an Auburn fan and I'm a Bama guy," Fleming said. "That's for sure."
Gardner, with 287 wins, will become Montgomery’s all-time winningest manager early in 2011. He’s currently 12 wins shy of Frank Carswell, who led the Montgomery Rebels in 1959 and from 1967-69.
The Biscuits announced their dugout staff today. Montgomery’s 2011 season opens April 7 against the Birmingham Barons.
"I don't think there's a better spot in minor league baseball," Gardner said. "Durham would be the only place that could be better because it would be a move up, but it's on the same level as Montgomery as far as being a premier spot. I'm really looking forward to going back.
"I've had four good years there and I'm looking forward to another good year."
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