MLB Veteran Cook to manage Sweden

Written by: Jerry Milani on 4th February 2010

Cook flanked by GM Ulf Steinvall (left) and SBSF President Mats Fransson (right) at the ABCA Convention in Dallas. Photo courtesy of the Swedish Baseball and Softball Federation | read this item

Former Major League pitcher Dennis Cook is the new head coach of the Swedish national team. The 47-year-old lefthander, who pitched 15 years in the big leagues, replaces Karl Knutsson as head coach for Sweden, the Swedish Baseball and Softball Federation announced on Monday.

Cook, whose grandmother hails from Sweden, has previous experience working with the Swedish team as he worked with them during the 2009 training week in Florida. Cook also was intended to be the pitching coach during the 2009 Baseball World Cup, but other commitments made it impossible.

According to Team Sweden GM Ulf Steinvall, Cook’s name quickly moved at the top of the candidate list after Knutsson announced his resignation from the national team, and during the 2010 ABCA Convention in Dallas talks picked up and Steinvall knew that they had the right man for the job.

Cook made his debut in the Major Leagues for the San Francisco Giants in 1988 and stayed in the big leagues until 2002, pitching for a total of nine teams. He won two World Series rings during his career, one with the Florida Marlins in 1997 and another one with the Anaheim Angels in 2002. The southpaw had an ERA of 3.91 in 665 appearances (71 starts) overall, accumulating over 1,000 innings.

The rest of the coaching staff for the Swedish national team is also completed. Cook will be joined by fellow Texans Scott Scudder and Stephen Labay.

The 41-year-old Scudder pitched five seasons in the MLB for the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians between 1989 and 1993, winning the World Series in 1990. The 48-year-old Labay was a pitcher in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system between 1984 and 1986. Nine-time Swedish champion Rickard Reimer, who retired following the Baseball World Cup, and longtime third base coach Doug Skiles also will be on Cook’s coaching staff.

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Topics: Abca Convention, Anaheim Angels, baseball world cup, Career One, cincinnati reds, Cleveland Indians, Coach Doug, Dennis Cook, Fellow Texans, Florida Marlins, International, League Pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies, Pitching Coach, San Francisco Giants, Softball Federation, sweden, Swedish Baseball Federation, Swedish Champion, Swedish National Team, Swedish Team, Third Base Coach, Ulf Steinvall, World Series Rings

ROGGERS says:

December 14, 2011 at 1:02 am

hi i love base base ball and i play it here in uganda.we have a school team in soroti uganda.so i play for the school team.but the main challenge is the funding and the kit.we wish to have some help