Camden Riversharks hire new manager for 2007: Local minor league team makes a big change in the offseason

By Anthony Bonagura
Collegian Staff
January 24, 2007

A new skipper is in town in Camden, and he’s not your average Joe. Joe Ferguson was named the new manager of the Camden Riversharks at an afternoon press conference Thursday, Dec. 14 at Campbell’s Field.

Ferguson, 60, can best be remembered as a former Major League catcher who had a 14-year career. He was selected in the fifth round of the 1968 MLB draft and played for teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers, California Angels, Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals. During his illustrious career, Ferguson set an MLB record by committing only three errors during the 1973 season.

As the years progressed, Ferguson eventually made his way to become a coach for the Dodgers in 1985. From there, he became part of manager Tommy Lasorda’s 1988 World Championship team.

I was fortunate enough to step aside with newly-named manager Joe Ferguson and find out what his thoughts were on his future goals and aspirations as manager of the Camden Riversharks.

Collegian: When was the first time you heard about the opening at the manager position for the Camden Riversharks?

Joe Ferguson: Actually, that was very recent, as a matter of fact. When Jon Danos (part of the Riversharks ownership group) and I had talked, I could have been [headed to] two different places. I was either going to the new team in York, Pa. or the team that is in the process of being built in southern Maryland. The Maryland job got delayed, so last summer it was said that some other possibilities could be available. In fact, it wasn’t until November of 2006 that we talked about Camden, N.J. I will enjoy it here because it’s a lot closer to my home than some of the other ballclubs.

C: Obviously Major League Baseball is on a much higher platform than Minor League and Independent ball, but what is one difference between the two that does not necessarily stand out?

JF: Well, to me, it’s always going to be the overall talent and, of course, experience. You have guys that have played in the Big Leagues for 15-20 years, so experience is going to be the other factor. More than anything else, if you watch a Major League game, especially if you’re a baseball person, you’re going to see the difference in talent. But you’re going to have guys in this league that were very successful in the Majors.

C: This is your inaugural season as manager of the Camden Riversharks, so with that being said, what are three accomplishments you want to achieve during this season?

JF: Well, obviously, the ultimate goal is to win, but right now it’s hard to say because we don’t even know the players we are going to have on the team. We have an idea of the players we want to protect and the players we would like to have back. For the most part, probably two-thirds of this ballclub is going to be different than it was last year, or at least one third of it. Until we see our club, we’re not going to have a definite idea of what our set goals are.

C: Assuming that you are here for the long run, where do you see this team in five years?

JF: I think this team is going to be one of the better competing teams in the league. I think that’s one of the advantages of having someone that has had a lot of experience in baseball. Sometimes you can access players because they would like to go to somebody that has the ability to teach them, to give them that one little thing that might make the difference of them going back to the Big Leagues. So hopefully if that happens, and you can attract players of that caliber, then your overall talent is going to be better than everyone else’s. From there, you have a chance to put a couple of championships together.

Although Ferguson played in the Majors, he is no stranger to Minor League ball. As part of the Baltimore Orioles’ organization, he led the Shorebirds to the South Atlantic League Championship in 2000. He also was the hitting instructor for the San Diego Padres’ minor league team in 2005.

The Fightin’ Phils can be found swinging the bats during the summer days in South Philly, but championship contention may start to brew just over the Ben Franklin Bridge at Campbell’s Field. The Camden Riversharks open their season May 8 at Campbell’s Field against the new expansion team, the York Revolution. For ticket information, call 1-866-SHARKS-9 or visit www.riversharks.com.

bonaguraa1@lasalle.edu