A report earlier in December indicated that the Chicago Cubs were going to hire Bill Buckner to be the hitting coach of the Boise Hawks, which is the club's single-A affiliate. On Friday the Cubs confirmed the hiring:
Cubs name alum Bill Buckner as the
@BoiseHawks hitting coach for the 2012 season.
Buckner hasn't coached in the majors in nearly 15 years, but he did have interest from other teams, as explained in the previous update on this story:
Buckner currently lives in Boise, Idaho, which partially explains the hire. The ESPN report adds that new Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine wanted to add Buckner to his Major League coaching staff, but Boston's front office resisted the idea. Buckner has coached in the majors in the past, but not in a while. His most recent MLB coaching gig was as the Chicago White Sox hitting coach all the way back in 1997.
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