June 6: Forney Manages His 400th Game With the Goldeyes

On his first day as a manager, Rick Forney was nervous. These days, Forney takes every game in stride. Still, when you’ve reached a milestone as a manager at any level of baseball, it’s an emotional day.

And it will be an emotional day Sunday afternoon at Canwest Park, as Winnipeg Goldeyes field boss Rick Forney manages his 400th game.

“It’s gone by quick,” Forney told Paul Edmonds yesterday. “I guess there is something to be said for longevity.”

Forney was being modest. With a record of 219-179 and a .550 percentage he’s one of the most successful managers in the Northern League. He’s never failed to put up a winning record and he’s made the playoffs in all four years he’s been the Goldeyes manager.

And yet, back in 2006 when he took over the job from his mentor Hal Lanier, Forney was “nervous and emotional” when he finally took the Goldeyes onto the field at Canwest Park.

“It was really an emotional day,” Forney recalled. “The first one was against Hal (Lanier) and I’m still convinced that when Hal got that job in Joliet, the league did it (scheduled the Goldeyes and JackHammers to open the season) on purpose.

“But it was very emotional. It was my first day handing in a lineup card with my signature on it and it was against Hal, a guy I’d spent years sitting beside in the dugout learning how to do this job. Couldn’t have had a better teacher.”

Darwin Soto was the Goldeyes pitcher that day and even though he got hit hard, it seemed as if every line drive the JackHammers hit, the ball fell into a Goldeyes’ defender’s glove. The Goldeyes won the opener and went on to sweep the series.

“It was fun,” Forney said of that first weekend series. “We swept Joliet, but all weekend, I remember I was nervous.”

Now, almost 220 wins later, Forney has become very comfortable in his role. It’s his job now and while he still gets fired up for every game, the nervousness is gone.

“I’ve grown to feel that I’m pretty good at this,” Forney conceded. “I have an understanding of this league and the players who play in it. I love the job and I’m very lucky to get to do this every day.”