Pierre Arsenal arrives at the capitals

After 15 years in the Expos company and 18 years in Marlins’ service as a coach in Bullpen, then as a recruiter, Pierre Arsenalt made a double return. As principal assistant to manager Patrick Scholabrini, the baseball man with ample luggage continues his career with capitals.

Also read: Frontier League: Australian pitcher with Quebec capitals

“After spending many years as a Francophone, affiliated with an American club, I see this news coming home,” Arsenal said at the end of the phone as he reached his home in Pierfonds.

All we can say is that the man who became the first Quebec coach in uniform to win the World Series with Marlins in 2003 stepped back when he received a call from Scholabrini. Recently.

“I do not expect this proposal. It took my panties to the floor! Everything quickly went in the right direction, ”he said, starting training camp in mid-May, allowing him to join his new team if all goes as planned.

“When you’re in the habit of driving 25 months a year, doing 2h30 in a tank to go to Quebec is like going to a convenience store!” He said.

Fast ending

Arsenal joined the Expos in 1987. Appointed in-charge of Bullpen from 1992 to 2002. At that time he joined Marlins in the same role.

Since 2009, he has been fulfilling the job of recruiter instead until last October, when the company told him that his services were no longer needed due to the epidemic and loss of revenue.

“You worked in Major League Baseball for 34 years and it all ended with just a three minute call. These things happened and I was not bitter. I was old enough to understand how business works and I kept my head high,” he said.

Great experience

Subsequently, the driver did not come forward to return to professional baseball, and in the Lock-St-Louis area, PV honed his knowledge well at the AA level. The call from the capitals turned out to be difficult to refuse.

“I spent 10 years as a recruiter and have a lot of knowledge about many minor league players. I learned a lot more about baseball these years than I did as a player or instructor,” said Capitals’ big boss Michelle Laplante when she was a gunner at camp. In 2000.

“I had great discussions with Michelle and I quickly realized that this guy was different from the others. He was already a good baseball guy, but he always had a big focus. The same goes for Pat. [Scalabrini] And other members of the Capital Cities organization I spoke to. They were all caught up in it for the right reasons. ”

Exact match

For his part, Patrick Scholabrini will be happy to earn the right-hand man of Pierre Arsenal’s caliber.

“He mainly looks after the pitchers, but that’s more than that. Pierre has extensive experience on many levels. He also assists me on the appointment. I want to learn from him because he learns from us,” he said.

Following on from last summer’s canceled season, Michel Laplante will take part in a league meeting in early April on the question of whether capitals can finally begin their stunts in the Frontier League.

“These decisions are on top of me and I can’t rely on my decision to join the team on them. If things continue as they are now, I don’t see why the season won’t be over,” Arsenal said.