Royals hire Quirk to manage Class A affiliate

KANSAS CITY -- The Kansas City Royals announced today that former Royals catcher Jamie Quirk, has been hired as the manager of the Class A Advanced Wilmington Blue Rocks.

Quirk, 61, finished last season as the manager of the El Paso Chihuahuas (AAA) in the San Diego Padres minor league system after serving in the same capacity with San Antonio (AA) to start the year. He began his Major League coaching career with the Royals, serving as the bullpen coach from 1994-95 and bench coach from 1996-2001. He also held Major League positions with the Texas Rangers (2002) as bullpen coach, Colorado Rockies (2003-08) as bench coach, Houston Astros (2009-11) as bullpen coach and Chicago Cubs (2012-13) as bench coach. He spent the 2014 as the manager at Lake Elsinore (A-Advanced).

Quirk played in parts of 18 Major League seasons, which included three stints with Kansas City (1975-76; 1978-82; 1985-88). Originally drafted by KC in the first round (18th overall) of the 1972 draft, Quirk was a career .240 hitter with 100 doubles, 43 homers and 247 RBI in 984 big league games. He led the American League in caught stealing percentage (59.0) in 1986, while he was a member of the 1985 World Champion Royals and participated in three other postseasons.

He resides in Kansas City, Mo., with his wife Anna. The couple has three adult children: Kindal, Kelly and Kemer.

The remainder of the Royals minor league coaching staffs will be named at a later date.