PORTLAND, ME – This season, the Boston Red Sox promoted Darren Fenster to manage their Double-A affiliate, the Portland Sea Dogs. Fenster had been the manager of the Low-A Greenville Drive since 2014. Before that, he was a hitting instructor throughout the organization. In 2017, with Fenster at the helm, the Drive finished with the best overall record in the South Atlantic League (79–60) and as winners of the first-half championship qualified for the playoffs. The team then won its first overall SAL championship in franchise history, defeating Kannapolis in the finals, three games to one. Later, he managed the Peoria franchise of the Arizona Fall League to their championship.
At 39 years-old, he is still younger than a lot of his counterparts across the game. However, the former Rutgers All-American has a plethora of coaching experience that extends beyond the pro ranks and into college and summer ball. These various positions have given him a chance to mentor hundreds of young players.
Likewise, many of Portland’s current players already know Fenster from their previous seasons in the Red Sox system. During his introduction back in the winter, he displayed excitement about reconnecting with some of them and coaching them in a different part of their careers.
And while the season isn’t going as well as hoped on the field, Fenster is still finding additional ways to mentor baseball youth. This time, through his growing social media following and through his own organization, Coaching Your Kids, LLC.
Social Media Influence
The Sea Dogs skipper can be read giving knowledgeable advice to past, current, and future players. These tweets include facets like reliability, coachability, team-building, and skill enhancement. Recently, a tweet about certain team rules nearly went viral.
Many teams have rules like being on time, wearing a uniform correctly, shaving, or dressing professionally. These things have nothing to do with baseball. They have everything to do with doing what’s asked of you… and THAT has everything to do with becoming a great player.
— Darren Fenster (@CoachYourKids) June 19, 2018
Similarly, on the day of the MLB Draft, Fenster opined on the importance of hard work and dedication. Saying:
“Today marks day one of the @MLBDraft. To all those who will hear their name called, congratulations. Now it’s up to you to prove your club right. To all those who won’t hear their name called, you now have the opportunity to prove all 30 clubs wrong. Take advantage of it.”
Beyond social media, Fenster also founded a coaching and baseball education organization for young players called Coaching Your Kids. Their mission is to not only to coach, but in a bigger picture, to spread their passion for and knowledge of the game to the next generations of players, coaches, and fans. In his words, “Today’s players are tomorrow’s coaches.”
So despite the Dogs’ tough sledding on the diamond thus far, there is no question that both Portland and the Red Sox organization have found a true leader in their minor league system, a baseball lifer who truly cares about motivating and mentoring the future of the game. And for Fenster, it is clear that he has a found a cause to which he is passionate about and one that can surely make a difference in players’ lives.