Buckner will be with the Boise Hawks of the short-season Class A Northwest League. Buckner currently lives in the Boise area.

Buckner played for the Cubs from 1977-84 and won the 1980 NL batting title. He was a career .289 hitter over 22 seasons.

Buckner, 62, was a manager last year for Brockton, a Massachusetts team in the independent CanAm league. He previously was a hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox and held the same position in the minors for Toronto.

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(AP) — The Chicago Cubs have hired former star Bill Buckner as a minor league hitting coach.

Buckner will be with the Boise Hawks of the short-season Class A Northwest League.

The Cubs made the announcement Friday.

Buckner played for the Cubs from 1977-84 and won the 1980 NL batting title.

 He was a career .289 hitter over 22 seasons.

The 62-year-old Buckner was a manager last year for Brockton, a Massachusetts team in the independent CanAm league.

He previously was a hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox and held the same position in the minors for Toronto.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs have hired former star Bill Buckner as a minor league hitting coach.

Buckner will be with the Boise Hawks of the short-season Class A Northwest League. The Cubs made the announcement Friday.

Buckner played for the Cubs from 1977-84 and won the 1980 NL batting title. He was a career .289 hitter over 22 seasons.

The 62-year-old Buckner was a manager last year for Brockton, a Massachusetts team in the independent CanAm league. He previously was a hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox and held the same position in the minors for Toronto.

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs have hired former star Bill Buckner as a minor league hitting coach.

Buckner will be with the Boise Hawks of the short-season Class A Northwest League. The Cubs made the announcement Friday.

Buckner played for the Cubs from 1977-84 and won the 1980 NL batting title. He was a career .289 hitter over 22 seasons.

The 62-year-old Buckner was a manager last year for Brockton, a Massachusetts team in the independent CanAm league. He previously was a hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox and held the same position in the minors for Toronto.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

December 30, 2011 – Northwest League (NWL) Boise Hawks
CHICAGO, Ill. – The Chicago Cubs have rounded out their minor league coaching staffs, announcing this afternoon that Bill Buckner will serve as hitting coach for the Boise Hawks.

Buckner, a resident of Eagle, returned to coaching last season as the manager of the Brockton Rox, leading the team to a 51-42 record in the independent CanAm League, earning the squad a postseason berth. He will replace Desi Wilson, who will serve as Class-A Daytona’s hitting coach.

“We are extremely excited in the Cubs decision to have Bill Buckner as our hitting coach,” said Todd Rahr, Boise Hawks president/general manager. “To have someone local on the staff, who had such a great career, will be beneficial to our organization. Bill had a Hall of Fame caliber career and we look forward to working with him year round. It will definitely be a treat.”

Buckner rejoins the Cubs system for the first time since playing for the big league team from 1977-84 – winning the 1980 National League batting crown and earning a spot in the 1981 All Star Game. The 22-year veteran served as the Chicago White Sox hitting coach in 1996 and 1997, while also serving as a hitting coach in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system.

Buckner played in 2199 major league games with the Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, Angels, and Royals, hitting .289 with 174 career home runs and 1,208 RBI. He played in a pair of World Series’ – in 1974 with the Dodgers and 1986 with the Red Sox.

Three others return to the Hawks for the 2012 season – manager Mark Johnson, pitching coach David Rosario, and trainer Bob Grimes. Johnson skippered last season’s squad to a 36-40 record, including Boise’s first postseason berth since the 2006 season.

The Hawks, in their 12th season as an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, open up the 2012 Northwest League season on June 15 at Salem-Keizer, with their Memorial Stadium opener on June 20 against Eugene. Season, mini-pack, bonus books, and group nights for Hawks’ games are available at 322-5000 or online at www.boisehawks.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Read More: Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs

A report earlier in December indicated that the Chicago Cubs were going to hire Bill Buckner to be the hitting coach of the Boise Hawks, which is the club’s single-A affiliate. On Friday the Cubs confirmed the hiring:

name alum Bill Buckner as the hitting coach for the 2012 season.

Buckner hasn’t coached in the majors in nearly 15 years, but he did have interest from other teams, as explained in the previous update on this story:

Buckner currently lives in Boise, Idaho, which partially explains the hire. The ESPN report adds that new Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine wanted to add Buckner to his Major League coaching staff, but Boston’s front office resisted the idea. Buckner has coached in the majors in the past, but not in a while. His most recent MLB coaching gig was as the Chicago White Sox hitting coach all the way back in 1997.

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