Milkmen Announce 2020 Coaching Staff

Manager Anthony Barone:

Anthony Barone is the sole returning member of the Milkmen coaching staff from last season. Barone spent the inaugural season of the Milkmen as the assistant coach under former manager Gary McClure. Barone does have previous experience managing prior to the Milkmen, serving as manager for the Jamestown Jammers from 2015-2018, a run which included the Jammers being 2017 PGCBL (Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League) Western Division Champions, and winning the 2018 Championship. Barone was named Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2018, the only coach in PGCBL history to be honored twice.

Barone attended college at Jamestown Community College for two years, where he played basketball and baseball and was named one of the institution’s Top 50 Athletes of all time. Eventually Barone concluded his college days at New Jersey’s Felician University, where he was an All-Conference athlete and two-time Academic All-American. Barone began his head coaching resume by compiling 207 wins at Jamestown Community College, which also saw Barone be named National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 3 Coach of the Year in 2008 on route to Jamestown advancing to five consecutive NJCAA Regional Tournaments. Before leading the Jammers, Barone spent 2012 to 2014, as an Assistant Coach at California State University–Bakersfield where the team won a Western Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship. During Barone’s management of the Jamestown Jammers the team finished ranked 13th in 2015, 4th in 2017, and 10th in 2018 among top collegiate teams in the country.

Barone is a father of 4 children and is a native of Jamestown, New York. Welcome back to Milwaukee, Coach Barone

Hitting Coach Matt Passerelle:

Matt Passerelle comes to Milwaukee from the Sioux City Explorers in Sioux City, Iowa.  Matt was the hitting coach for five seasons with the Explorers from 2015-2019.  He helped the X’s claim back-to-back Central Division Championships in his first two seasons with the Explorers in 2015 and 2016.  Under his guidance, he also assisted the Explorers win the South Division Championship in 2019.  In 4 out of 5 seasons with Passerelle as the Hitting Coach, the Explorers finished in the top 3 in hitting with the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball League.  In addition, he assisted the Explorers reaching an ultimate baseball record of 75-25 wins in 2015. 

Passerelle attended NCAA Division I-MAAC School Iona College (New Rochelle, New York). Passerelle played collegiately with the Gaels for four years from 1996-2000. After the 2000 college baseball season, he decided to play professionally with the Johnstown Johnnies of the Frontier League for the next three seasons (2000-02).

Coaching was always Passerelle’s niche. While playing college ball with Iona, he also was a part time instructor for Frozen Ropes, a baseball training facility in White Plains, NY. After graduating from Iona College, he was hired as assistant coach for the Gaels squad for the 2001-02 seasons. Once his playing career was over, he then became the general manager and head instructor of the Frozen Ropes facility in White Plains, NY. Matt decided to step away from this position after three years in 2005, for the exciting endeavor of opening his own Frozen Ropes training facility in Tinton Falls, New Jersey.  He owned and operated this facility from 2006 until 2016.

With Passerelle’s experience as a former ball-player, coach and many years as an instructor, his resume stood out to major league ball-clubs. He was hired as an Associate Scout with the Baltimore Orioles in 2010 holding that position until 2012; He then obtained a position with the Kansas City Royals organization as an associate scout (2013-2014) and coach for the Royals scout team (2013-2014).

In his off time from baseball, Matt enjoys golfing and Husker football. 

Assistant Coach Roger Fegan:

Fegan is a Rockford, Illinois native with over 15 years of training baseball players of various ages. He also has a Masters in Arts of Teaching (MAT) for physical education, splitting time between the University of Concordia Chicago and the University of Central Arkansas for said degree. On top of joining the Milkmen, Fegan is also the owner of Pretzel City Sports Academy in Freeport, Illinois an indoor year-round baseball/softball facility designed to develop and enrich the hitting and pitching skills of baseball and softball enthusiasts of all ages in Northwest Illinois. Fegan’s first coaching job was at the University of Concordia Chicago as an Assistant Baseball Coach from 2005 to 2009, at the end of which saw Concordia Chicago qualify for their first NCAA baseball tournament. Since then Fegan has coached the Freemont High School Varsity Baseball team from 2009-2016, while also being the current head baseball for Highland Community College, a Division II NJCAA team, since 2016. Fegan has is also been an associate scout for Major League Baseball and a coach/evaluator for USA Baseball in Midwest/Great Lakes region since 2017 and 2018 respectively.

We look forward to Fegan bringing his vast array of experience to develop our current players and future Milkmen alike.

Pitching Coach Wade Taylor:

Taylor has had an interesting career to lead him to the Milkmen. A native of Mobile, Alabama, Taylor split his college career as a pitcher between Jefferson Davis Community College (Brewton, AL), and the University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL). Drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1986 MLB Draft, Taylor was traded to the New York Yankees just one year later. After spending three years in the minor leagues, in 1991 Taylor was finally called up to pitch for the Yankees. Taylor posted a 7-12 record with 6.27 ERA and 72 strikeouts across 23 games pitched (22 starts).

Taylor would not reach the majors again, spending the rest of his playing career which ended in 1993, playing in the Yankees minor league system. Upon retirement Taylor spent over 20 years scouting in the major leagues for the Yankees, where he won three World Series rings (as a scout), the Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals, and Arizona Diamondbacks, last scouting in 2017.

We would like to welcome such an accomplished scout of talent into the Milkmen fold and can’t wait to see what direction the Milkmen pitching staff takes.