In a sense, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs’ coaches and players will be afforded the luxury of competing in two opening day games, one on the road April 26 at Gastonia and the second on Tuesday, April 30, when they return to Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf for their Atlantic League home opener.
Two years removed from enjoying a banner first half, winning a league record 48 of 66 games and finishing the season with 84 wins to establish a club record with a veteran roster, the Blue Crabs will head into the current season with 25 new players on the 30-man roster. But three prominent names will be familiar faces in the dugout.
Manager Stan Cliburn, who spent the 1980 season with the California Angels as a catcher before transitioning to coaching, will head into the 2024 season 38 wins shy of reaching the 2,000 mark in his career. Cliburn can still recall his days a minor league player when his manager, Stan Wasniak, surpassed the 2,000-win mark en route to retiring with over 2,500 wins.
“When I first started playing my manager was Stan Wasniak, who had over 2,500 wins as a manager,” Cliburn said. “So, when I started managing my goal was to win 2,000 games. I’m fairly confident that I’ll get it this year. But we have a lot of new players this year. I plan to keep 14 pitchers and 16 position players.”
Cliburn will also have two familiar faces alongside him in the dugout this season, veteran pitcher and pitching coach Daryl Thompson and former Major League Baseball relief pitcher Mat Latos who will make his debut as a bench coach. Thompson will arrive needing only three wins to become the first pitcher in Atlantic League history to reach 100 career wins, a milestone he hopes to hit next month.
When Thompson, who also serves as the Blue Crabs pitching coach, is on the mound Latos will act as the team’s pitching coach. While Thompson, who boasts the most wins in ALPB history, concluded his brief Major League career with a 0-3 mark, Latos was 71-59 during a career as a starting pitcher spent primarily with the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds.
“When the season ended last year, I knew I was ready to move on,” said Latos, who recorded 14 wins three different times [2010, 2012, 2013] during his MLB career. “I’m looking forward to being the bench coach and being alongside Daryl. He’s seen everything in his career and he’s a wealth of knowledge. But I’m still looking forward to the first time I go out for a mound visit to talk to him. I don’t know what we’re going to talk about.”
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