Thursday night marked the Class AA managerial debut for Jake Mauer, who reached the same level as a player in the Minnesota Twins organization before that career was cut short.
Mauer’s Chattanooga Lookouts opened their 140-game schedule with a 2-0 loss to the Mobile BayBears before an announced crowd of 2,956 at AT&T Field. The 38-year-old spent the past four seasons managing Cedar Rapids (Iowa) of the Single-A Midwest League to an impressive 316-241 record.
“These guys are a little further along, so it’s a little less babysitting and a little more having to create that mental edge,” Mauer said. “The baseball is going to be the same. This field is the same size as it is in Minnesota.”
The Lookouts managed just three hits against Mobile, with BayBears starting pitcher Tyler Carpenter allowing two hits in six innings while striking out five. Mobile took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning when Caleb Adams scored on a throwing error, and the BayBears made it 2-0 in the ninth on Luis Tejada’s home run to right field.
Mauer replaced Doug Mientkiewicz, who managed Chattanooga the past two seasons to a 151-126 record and the 2015 Southern League title. Mientkiewicz is back managing the Fort Myers Miracle of the high Single-A Florida State League, where he can be with his family.