34-year professional baseball veteran named 16th fulltime manager in club history

SEATTLE, Wash. -- Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jack Zduriencik announced today that Lloyd McClendon has been named as the Seattle Mariners new manager. McClendon is the 16th fulltime skipper in Mariners history.

"Lloyd is a bright and articulate guy," Zduriencik said. "He has Major League managerial experience and has served in a vital capacity in Detroit under one of the game's best managers. He is a tireless worker and is very respected by the players with whom he has worked. We look forward to Lloyd embracing our players as we move the Mariners forward."

McClendon, 54, was manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates for five seasons (2001-2005) and has spent the past eight seasons as a coach for the Detroit Tigers, the last seven as hitting coach. 

"I am extremely excited about the opportunity to manage the Seattle Mariners," McClendon said. "Seattle has a tremendous group of talented players and the fans and city should be excited about the club's future. I'm looking for this group to take a big step forward."  

McClendon is a veteran of 34 years in professional baseball as a player, coach, minor league manager, and MLB manager. 

He has spent the past seven years (2007-2013) as the Detroit Tigers hitting coach after originally joining Jim Leyland's Tiger coaching staff in 2006 as the bullpen coach. The Tigers led all of baseball in 2013 with a .283 batting average, and were second in the Majors in runs scored (796) as the team advanced to the American League Championship Series. The Tigers won Central Division Titles and advanced to the post-season in each of the past three seasons, including an AL Championship in 2012.

Prior to joining the Tigers, McClendon was the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates for five seasons. He compiled a 336-446 (.430) mark from 2001 through the first 136 games of the 2005 season. He served as a coach for the National League at the All-Star Game in 2003 at Chicago's US Cellular Field.

Following his playing career, McClendon began his coaching career in 1996 as the Pirates roving minor league hitting instructor. He joined the Pirates big league staff as hitting coach in 1997, a position he held until being promoted to manager in 2001.

McClendon led Lancaster (California Fall League) to a league title following the 1999 season, and was managing Peoria in the Arizona Fall League following the 2000 season when he was named manager of the Pirates.

Lloyd had a 16-year professional playing career (1980-1995). He was selected by the New York Mets in the 8th round of the 1980 Draft. He played in the Majors with Cincinnati (1987-88), the Chicago Cubs (1989-90) and Pittsburgh (1990-94). He was a member of four clubs that won a division title with the Cubs in 1989 and the Pirates from 1990-92. He hit .625 (10-for-16) in 11 games during his three appearances in the National League Championship Series.

McClendon appeared at catcher (50 games, 17 starts), first base (101 G, 62 GS), third base (9 G, 3 GS), left field (138 G, 98 GS) and right field (130 G, 102 GS) in his big league career, and appeared in post-season games at catcher, first base, left field and right field in the NLCS. In addition, he appeared in 224 regular-season games as a pinch-hitter.

McClendon played baseball at Valparaiso University after graduating from Roosevelt High School in Indiana in 1977, where he was an All-State selection in baseball. He participated in the 1971 Little League World Series where he was nicknamed "Legendary Lloyd" after hitting five home runs in five swings and drawing five intentional walks for his Gary, IN, team. As a pitcher in the same series, he struck out 12 batters in 8.0 innings of the championship game against Tainan City, Taiwan. He was enshrined in the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum's Hall of Excellence in Williamsport, PA, on Aug. 26, 2006.

McClendon and his wife, Ingrid, reside in Chesterton, Indiana. They have two adult children: daughter Schenell and son Bo. Bo was selected by Detroit in the 39th round of the 2010 Draft.