Banister Headlines First Pitch Banquet
12/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
First Pitch Banquet Details | Register Here
FORT WORTH - The 12th annual TCU Baseball First Pitch Banquet will be held on Friday, Feb. 6 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Fort Worth. Newly hired manager of the Texas Rangers, Jeff Banister, will be the keynote speaker at the event.Banister, a LaMarque, Texas native, returns to his roots after spending the last 29 years in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. A 1986 draft pick of the Pirates out of Houston, he spent eight years as a player before retiring in 1993. In his final season as a player, Banister served as a player/coach with Carolina before earning his first managerial position in 1994 with Welland of the New York-Penn League. He went on to serve managerial stints at Augusta (1995), Lynchburg (1996-97) and Double-A Carolina (1997-98).
In 1999, Banister moved into a role at the Major League level, serving as a field coordinator from 1999-2002. From 2003-10, he served the same role at the Minor League level. Banister was named the Pirates bench coach in August of 2010 and spent the last four seasons in that role helping lead Pittsburgh to back-to-back postseason appearances.
The banquet will be held at the Omni Hotel, with a reception beginning at 6:15 p.m. and dinner to follow at 7 p.m. Cost for the event is $100 per seat or a table of 10 for $1000. Attendees also have the opportunity to sponsor a player for $100. Dress for the event calls for business attire. Proceeds will go to supporting the TCU baseball team with scholarships, equipment and travel aide. To reserve your space, please call Director of Baseball Operations, Meredith Montgomery at 817-257-5155 or email her at m.m.montgomery@tcu.edu. Interested parties can also register online by clicking here.
