2014campmediaguide

Manager #43
Rick Forney
Named Goldeyes manager November 15, 2005
Full Name: David Ritchard Forney Born: October 24, 1971
Opening Day Age: 41
Resides: Walkersville, Maryland
Entering his ninth season as manager, Rick returns for his 18th campaign with the Winnipeg Goldeyes
organization. He spent his first three and a half years as a pitcher, followed by five and a half years as a
pitching coach, before being named the third manager in franchise history on November 15, 2005.
Rick guided the Goldeyes to a 56-44 record last season, marking the third consecutive winning record for
the club and seventh winning season in his eight seasons at the helm.
In 2012, Rick led the Goldeyes to the American Association Championship. It was Winnipeg’s first league
championship since winning the Northern League title in the Goldeyes inaugural 1994 season.
The Goldeyes have six playoff berths in eight seasons under Rick’s watch and have compiled a record of
427-355, good for a .546 winning percentage. As well, over that time, he has seen 21 of his players acquired
by Major League clubs.
Rick became the first manager in Goldeyes history to win a league’s manager of the year award when the
American Association awarded him that title in 2011 for leading the Fish to a 60-40 record and the North
Division Championship in the team’s first season in the league, following the merger of four teams from the
Northern League into the American Association.
Rick retired from the pitching ranks a month into the 2000 season when nagging arm troubles forced him
to call it quits. Able to focus full-time on his coaching duties, he saw a dozen of his pitchers picked by Major
League clubs in his time as pitching coach.
Rick arrived in Winnipeg in 1997 after a season in the independent Texas-Louisiana League and five seasons
previous to that in the Baltimore Orioles system. En route to winning a league-high 11 games, as well as
selections to the Northern League All-Star Team and the Baseball America All-Independent First Team, he
was one of six Goldeyes to play in the inaugural NL All-Star Game in 1997 in St. Paul.
A year later, Rick won 11 more games, doing so while leading the league in strikeouts (113) and setting
a team-record for innings pitched in a season (129.2). He was named by Baseball America to its All-
Independent Second Team that year and again in 1999, where he appeared in the NL All-Star Game in Fargo
and was named to the Central Conference All-Star Team.
Rick resides in Walkersville, Md. with his wife Erika and children David, Chris, Rebekah and Erik.
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Winnipeg Goldeyes 2014 Camp Media Guide