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Rays Bringing Back Pitching Coach Hickey

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By MARC LANCASTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - The Devil Rays gave pitching coach Jim Hickey a second chance Thursday.

Just over a month after Hickey was arrested and charged with DUI the night of the Rays' season finale, the team announced he would return as pitching coach for 2008 on a one-year contract.

"It shows a lot of faith," Hickey said by phone from his home near Orlando. "I consider myself extremely fortunate, and I certainly don't have any intention whatsoever of disappointing them."

The 46-year-old coach, who just wrapped up his first season with the Rays, is well aware of how close he came to losing his job. He said the Rays' decision to bring him back on a one-year contract after the rest of the coaching staff received two-year deals last month was "totally understandable."

"I think that's the organization's way of basically letting me know that this was a detrimental type of situation that won't be tolerated and needs to be addressed," he added. "I hope to be with them for a long, long time. If it's on a series of one-year contracts, so be it."

Hickey pleaded no contest to DUI and hit-and-run with property damage in a Monday court hearing in St. Petersburg. As a first-time offender, his driver's license was suspended for six months and he was sentenced to one year of probation, though that term could be reduced.

Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said the team was pleased with the way Hickey has taken responsibility for his actions. Hickey already has gone through DUI school, paid restitution and performed more than 50 hours of community service to satisfy legal requirements. He will continue to do work in the community as one of the stipulations of his return to the Rays.

"While he has demonstrated all the right actions since the incident, this is obviously something we are going to monitor," said Friedman. "But we would not have brought him back if we weren't extremely confident that nothing like this would happen again."

Hickey, who is married with two sons and a daughter, described the last month as eye-opening. He apologized to the entire Rays organization and wanted to do the same to Rays fans and the community in general.

"I thank God that nobody was hurt, and I actually think that things are probably better off because of the incident," he said. "I can be a more productive person in the community because of the things that have happened and the things I've become aware of."

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

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