In two seasons under Jim Skaalen the A’s offense ranked ninth and 11th among AL teams in runs scored and yesterday they fired him and hired Gerald Perry as their new hitting coach.
Perry was previously Oakland’s hitting coach in 2006, which is the last time the A’s made the playoffs, but even while winning 93 games they ranked just ninth among AL teams in runs that season. Perry left the A’s for the Cubs, where he served as hitting coach for two-and-half seasons before being fired in mid-2009. He’s also previously served as hitting coach for the Mariners and Pirates.
In addition to replacing Skaalen with Perry the A’s also added Joel Skinner to the Bob Geren’s staff as a bench coach, with Tye Waller moving from bench coach to first base coach. Skinner spent two decades in the Indians organization, first as a player and then coaching at various levels, including a half-season stint as the interim manager when Charlie Manuel was fired in 2002.
