Former Mercer Grad Pettini to Coach in 2012 MLB All-Star Game
6/14/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MACON, Ga. – Mercer University alumnus and former baseball standout Joe Pettini was named to the eight-member coaching staff of the National League team in preparation for the 2012 MLB All-Star Game next month in Kansas City, Mo.
Pettini will join former Cardinals coaches Dave Duncan, Mark McGwire, Derek Lilliquist, Dave McKay and Jose Oquendo along with Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke and New York Mets manager Terry Collins to make up the National League staff.
After working with the St. Louis Cardinals for 10 years and winning two World Series with the club in 2006 and 2011, Pettini was recently hired as the bench coach for the Houston Astros back in January.
Pettini started 196 consecutive games during his standout career with the Bears, but was not drafted. Instead, he was signed in 1977 by the Montreal Expos as an undrafted free agent. In 1980, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants where he was on the major league roster for four seasons from 1980-83.
With Pettini's role in the Cardinals' World Series victory in 2011, it marks the second-straight season that a former Mercer baseball player has been a part of a World Series championship team. In 2010, Mercer Athletic Hall of Fame inductee and class of 1973 graduate Ed Creech was the Senior Advisor for Scouting to the World Series champion San Francisco Giants.
