Former Terps star Milton rejoins program as assistant

Fifteen years since he last pitched for the Terrapins baseball team and just two years after he retired from his professional playing days, Eric Milton has returned to College Park as a coach.

Milton, an All-Star with the Minnesota Twins in 2001 who racked up 89 victories in his major league career, will join the staff as a volunteer assistant, the team announced yesterday.

Milton pitched for the Terps from 1994 to 1996 and was a first-round pick of the New York Yankees in the 1996 amateur draft. The Yankees traded him to the Twins, where he spent most of his career. He had three straight years of double-digit wins from 2000 to 2002, one of the best stretches of a career that saw him play for three other teams as well.

"I sat in a dugout for over 2,000 Major League baseball games in my career," Milton said in a release. "You learn a little bit about baseball that way. I think I can add a lot to this program. [Coach] Erik [Bakich] used the ‘pigeon-hole' word — I have more knowledge than just pitching; it's all aspects of the game and I think I can add that to this program."

Bakich first reached out to Milton in his first year on the job — 2009, the year Milton retired — as part of an effort to reconnect with former Terps greats. Based on the relationship he built with the former Twin, Bakich had a feeling he would one day join him in the dugout.

"We kind of developed a friendship, and the more time I spent with him and his family, I just knew that he would make a great coach and he had a passion for coaching," Bakich said. "Now that the playing career phase of his life has come to an end, he was still very passionate about staying in the game. What's not a better opportunity than to coach at his alma mater?"

That opportunity arose when volunteer assistant coach Nolan Neiman decided to leave the Terps' staff for a position at Millersville University in late August. Milton instantly came to mind for Bakich as a replacement.

Milton will primarily work with the team's catchers, but Bakich said he will help with many other aspects of the team as well, including the team's pitchers, base running and offense. The third-year coach also sees the former major leaguer as a motivator for the team, not to mention a major recruiting tool. His volunteer moniker won't limit his role with the squad, Bakich insisted.

"The fact that he's passionate about Maryland, and he's passionate about baseball? We couldn't be happier, and we're certainly going to lean on him in every aspect," Bakich said. "He's a full-time assistant coach, in my opinion, even though he's not a salary and benefited employee. He's every bit a part of our staff as anyone else."

schneider@umdbk.com