Jim Saul

Who is Jim Saul?

James Allen Saul is a retired American catcher, manager and coach in minor league baseball. The 2008 season marked Saul's 50th season in professional baseball, all but three of them at the minor-league level. In Major League Baseball, Saul coached for three seasons, with the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics.

Jim Saul attended East Tennessee State University. As a player, he threw right-handed, batted left-handed, stood 6'3" tall and weighed 210 pounds. His catching career consisted of 14 seasons in the farm systems of the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Cubs, Cleveland Indians and California Angels. He was a journeyman who played for 19 different clubs over that span.

He began his managing career in the Angels' organization in 1973, as skipper of the Salinas Packers of the Class A California League. Through 2004, he managed for 22 seasons in the Angels, Cubs, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves organizations, including five seasons at the Double-A level. Saul's teams won 1,014 games and lost 1,090.

Saul began coaching for Rookie-level farm teams in 2005. From 2007–2009, he was a coach for the Bluefield Orioles, then Baltimore's affiliate in the Appalachian League.