Posted on: Wednesday, July 25, 2001

Baseball
Former Kalani star Sakata to coach in Arizona Fall League

Advertiser Staff

Former major leaguer Lenn Sakata, an all-star at Kalani High in the early 1970s, will be a coach for Grand Canyon of the Arizona Fall League.

Sakata, 47, is in his second non-consecutive season as manager of the San Jose Giants, the single A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. He also managed San Jose in 1999. In 2000, he managed the Giants' other single A team in Bakersfield (Calif.). Sakata has led both teams to California League playoffs.

Before joining the Giants organization, Sakata was coach for the Japan Professional League's Chiba Lotte Marines for four seasons. Before that, he coached in the California Angels (1991-1994) and Oakland Athletics (1988-1990) organizations.

Sakata, who lives in Honolulu during the offseason, will join a Grand Canyon staff led by manager Gary Jones from the Boston Red Sox organization. The pitching coach is Mack Jenkins of the Cincinnati Reds.

The Arizona Fall League, which started in 1992, develops top prospects from each organization. There are six teams in the league, which runs Oct. 2-Nov. 17. Triple A and Double A players make up the bulk of the 30-man rosters with allowances for one player below Double A. The rationale behind the league was so major league teams could monitor the progress of their top prospects within the same area. Before, teams sent players to different countries.

Besides developing players, the league hones potential big league managers and coaches, as well as umpires. San Francisco Giants manager Dusty Baker got his first managerial job in the Arizona league. He is a three-time National League Manager of the Year.

Sakata played 11 seasons in the major leagues, including with the 1983 World Series champion Baltimore Orioles.