Former Hogs, Now Coaches, Hope To Lead Cubs To Title

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The 2016 World Series begins Tuesday night and will have two former Razorbacks in the dugout as Eric Hinske and Gary Jones will hope to lead the Chicago Cubs to its first championship in more than 100 years.

Hinske, in his second season with the Chicago Cubs as assistant hitting coach, is hoping to cap his second postseason as a coach with a title that has been 108 years in the making for the Cubs. Chicago will be taking on the American League champion Cleveland Indians in the best-of-seven series that begins at 7 p.m. CT tonight and will be televised on FOX.

Just like the Cubs, the Indians are also trying to end a long championship drought of its own as its last title came in 1948.

Hinske, a 12-year MLB veteran with seven different teams, is no stranger to the postseason. The 2002 AL Rookie of the Year appeared in four straight postseasons from 2007-10, doing so with four different teams (Boston, Tampa Bay, NY Yankees, Atlanta) and became a two-time World Series champion with Boston in 2007 and the New York Yankees in 2009. Retiring after the 2013 season, Hinske is now in his third year with the Cubs organization and second as assistant hitting coach.

Jones is in his third season with the Cubs as the team’s third base and infield coach. Jones has 25 years of coaching and managerial experience, including four minor league manager of the year awards. As a player, Jones played one season (1982) for the Razorbacks under Norm DeBriyn and then signed with the Cubs as a non-drafted free agent that summer. He appeared in nearly 900 minor league games and hit .283 with 23 home runs, 291 RBIs and 225 steals. Jones started his coaching career at the age of 29 with the Oakland A’s organization, spending 15 years as a minor league skipper and then coached for 11 years with the San Diego farm system.

The Cubs had the best record in baseball, going 103-58 during the regular season, winning the NL Central Division by 17.5 games over the St. Louis Cardinals. Seeking their first World Series since 1908, and making their first appearance since 1945, the Cubs blew through the NL Divisional and Championship series, defeating the San Francisco Giants in four games and the Los Angeles Dodgers in six.

Other than Hinske, only one other former Razorback has ever won a World Series. Right-handed pitcher Dick Hughes won the 1967 World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals after playing for the Razorbacks under long-time coach Bill Ferrell during the 1957 and 1958 seasons. Hughes only played in the MLB for three seasons, but had a championship caliber year in 1967 when he went 16-6 on the mound and finished the year with a 2.67 ERA with 12 complete games, 161 strikeouts and was second in the Rookie of the Year voting.

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2016 World Series Schedule