GREENVILLE, S.C. — Leo Mazzone, one of the greatest pitching coaches in Major League Baseball history, has been named by Furman head coach Brett Harker as a special advisor, it was announced today.
“I am estatic about adding Leo Mazzone to the Furman Baseball family,” said Harker. “Leo is widely considered the best pitching coach of his generation, and his extensive experience and expertise will add great value to our baseball program.”
Mazzone served as pitching coach of the Atlanta Braves from 1990-2005, playing a key role in the Braves winning 14 consecutive division titles (1991-2005), five National League pennants (1991-92, 1995-96, ’99), and the 1995 World Series championship.
During his tenure in Atlanta, he helped craft and coach dominant pitching rotations that produced six Cy Young Award honorees, four ERA titles, and nine 20-game winners, highlighted by Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and John Smoltz — all recent National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees.
Mazzone, who served as pitching coach with the Baltimore Orioles for two seasons (2006-07), was named by ESPN.com as its No. 1 assistant coach of all-time.
A native of Keyser, W.Va., he played 10 seasons of minor league baseball in the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics’ organizations before beginning his coaching career as manager of the Corpus Christi Seagulls in 1976. He joined the Braves organization in 1979, making coaching stops at Durham, Sumter, Greenville (1987), and Richmond before being named pitching coach with the Atlanta Braves in 1990. Along the way he also managed the Greenville Braves for part of the 1984 season and served as co-pitching coach in Atlanta with Johnny Sain in 1985.
