Tripp Keister

Tripp Keister
Keister with the Omaha Storm Chasers in 2024
Biographical details
Born (1970-09-27) September 27, 1970 (age 54)
West Germany
Alma materUniversity of Delaware
Wesley College
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1996–1998South Carolina (assistant)
1999–2000Delaware State
2006–2011Wesley
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
  • PAC Coach of the Year (2006)

Donald Carl "Tripp" Keister (born September 27, 1970) is an American professional baseball coach with the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A minor league affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.

Career

As a player

As an outfielder at the University of Delaware, Keister was a 33rd-round draft pick of the New York Mets in the 1992 Major League Baseball draft. He turned pro and played four seasons in the Mets minor league system, topping out with the Class-AA Binghamton Mets.[1]

Keister amassed a career batting average of .269, but he only managed two home runs across four minor league seasons before he retired from playing.[1]

As a coach

After leaving professional baseball, Keister latched on with the University of South Carolina as an assistant coach from 1996 to 1998. He was hired as head coach at Delaware State University, a role he filled from 1999 to 2000. For several years, he returned to professional baseball as a scout for the San Diego Padres, before he resumed a collegiate coaching role as head coach at Wesley College, a private liberal arts college in Dover, Delaware, in 2006.[citation needed] He served in that role and as also as the school's associate athletic director until 2011.[2]

The Washington Nationals hired Keister after five years coaching at Wesley College. He was named manager of the Gulf Coast League Nationals in 2012 and the Class-A Hagerstown Suns in 2013, before he was promoted to Class-A Advanced as manager of the Potomac Nationals.[citation needed] In December 2020, with the minor league Nationals—since relocated to Fredericksburg, Virginia, as the Fredericksburg Nationals—being relegated to Class-A play, the Nationals promoted Keister again to serve as coach of their Class-AA affiliate, the Harrisburg Senators.[3] Keister was fired from the Nationals organization in September 2022 by De Jon Watson, director of player development.[4]

Keister spent the 2023 season as the bench coach for the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders in the Texas Rangers organization. For the 2024 season, he is assistant coach of the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.[5]

Personal life

Keister grew up in Hockessin, Delaware, one of five children in his family.[6] Judy Johnson, a Hall of Famer who played for 17 seasons in the Negro leagues, was his father's next-door neighbor.[7] Keister's younger brother Tyler died in 2012 at age 24.[6]

During the baseball off-season, Keister lives in Delaware.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b "Tripp Keister Minor Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  2. ^ Wolf, Jason (June 6, 2014). "Delaware native Tripp Keister a skipper on the rise". The News Journal. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  3. ^ Dougherty, Jesse (December 15, 2020). "Nationals choose their four minor league managers for 2021". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  4. ^ Dougherty, Jesse (September 20, 2022). "Nationals fire Tripp Keister, a longtime manager in their minor league system". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  5. ^ Badders, Nicholas (January 24, 2024). "Manager Mike Jirschele Returns as Storm Chasers Announce 2024 Coaching Staff". MiLB.com (Press release). Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Tyler Armstrong Keister (1988-2012)". Legacy.com. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  7. ^ Driver, David (December 9, 2020). "Washington Nationals have ties to Wilmington and Blue Rocks..." Federal Baseball. SB Nation. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  8. ^ Mears, Steve (December 15, 2020). "Washington Nationals hold ZOOM calls, and we have quotes for the future!". TalkNats.com. Retrieved December 16, 2020.