Retirement and Coaching Career
After retiring to his home in Scottsdale, AZ, Harper would be the head coach of Scottsdale Christian High School's baseball team from 1996-1998. Fom 1998-99, he would be the Arizona Diamondbacks' chapel leader. In 2000, he was an assistant baseball coach with at Desert Mountain High School.
In 2001, Harper would be named the manager of the Arizona Fall League Angels and would stay with the team through the 2005 season. In 2006, Harper would be named the manager of the Salt Lake Bees, the Triple-A affiliate of the Angels, and would stay through the 2007 season. After this, Harper served two years as a roving catching instructor in the San Francisco Giants organization. In December 2009, he was named the manager of San Francisco's Class A Advanced affiliate, the San Jose Giants and he would lead the team to the 2010 California League Championship. In December 2010, he was named the manager of the Tennessee Smokies, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. In 2012, he was named the manager of the Daytona Cubs, Class A Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. In 2013, he was named the hitting coach of the Iowa Cubs, Class AAA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
Harper's older brother, Glenn, would spend five years in the New York Mets' organization between 1972 and 1976, as both an outfielder and a pitcher, but would not excel in either role and did not advance beyond A ball.
His son, Brett, is a first baseman who was drafted in 2001 out of high school, also by the Mets. Although he would hit for decent power (122 home runs over 9+ season) and a high average (hitting .297 over the same span), Brett unfortunately followed his father's footsteps as a journeyman and was never able to break into the majors, despite spending 2008-2010 at AAA. After starting the 2010 season at Tacoma, Brett would go to Japan and play professional baseball for the Yokohama BayStars.
Read more about this topic: Brian Harper
Famous quotes containing the words retirement and, retirement and/or career:
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—Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667)
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A comfort of retirement lives in this.
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“My ambition in life: to become successful enough to resume my career as a neurasthenic.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)