NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The Norfolk Tides’ new skipper is a very familiar face.
35-year-old Buck Britton, who’s been with the Orioles organization for 13 years overall, was named Tides manager on Tuesday.
After being drafted in the 35th round by the Orioles in 2008, Britton played seven seasons in Baltimore’s minor league system, including three seasons with the Tides from 2012 to 2014. The third baseman batted .270 and had 407 RBI in his playing career.
He retired as a player in 2016, and came back as a hitting coach with Baltimore’s Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds. He was named the Shorebirds’ manager the year after before being promoted to manager of Double-A Bowie Baysox. He was named the Eastern League’s Manager of the Year in 2019 when the Baysox went 74-66 and made the Eastern League Championship Game, and has an overall record of 217-177 in his managerial career.
He will take over for Gary Kendall, who was fired in October after going 112-157 in two seasons.
Britton is the brother of former Orioles closer Zach Britton, whose 139 saves are second most in franchise history. He’s been with the Yankees since 2018.
Joining Britton is former Baysox pitching coach Justin Ramsay. He, Britton and second-year Hitting Coach Tim Gibbons all coached together in the same roles on that 2019 Bowie team. New Tides strength and conditioning coach Joe Medici was also promoted from Bowie.
The Orioles announced several other farm system changes on Wednesday. To read more, click here.
