Darren Fenster (born September 11, 1978) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

who works in the Minor League Baseball system of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. As a player, he was listed at and while batting and throwing right-handed.

Playing career

Fenster grew up in

Middletown Township, New Jersey Middletown Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township had a total population of 67,106, making it the most-populous municipality in the county and the state's 16th ...

, and graduated from

Middletown High School South Middletown High School South is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as one of the two secondary schools of t ...

in 1996; he went on to play collegiate baseball with the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights baseball Rutgers Scarlet Knights baseball is the varsity intercollegiate team representing Rutgers University in the sport of college baseball at the Division I level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The team plays its home games at ...

team. In 1998, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the Cotuit Kettleers of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

(CCBL). Selected in the 12th round by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

in the

2000 Major League Baseball draft First round selections Compensation picks Background The Florida Marlins made Adrián González of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, California the first overall selection in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft. González, who was rated as ...

, Fenster played in Minor League Baseball for the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

( Class A Short Season), Burlington Bees ( Class A),

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. ...

( Class A-Advanced) and the Wichita Wranglers ( Double-A). After five seasons in the Royals'

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

, a knee injury led to the end of his playing career. In 438 minor-league games, he compiled a .267 batting average with five

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 179

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. Defensively, he appeared primarily as a second baseman and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

, while also playing some games as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Coaching career

In 2006, Rutgers manager Fred Hill asked Fenster to serve as a coach for the Scarlet Knights. In 2008, Fenster returned to the CCBL an assistant coach for the Orleans Cardinals. Fenster was a

in the

organization for six seasons. His first minor league managing post was in 2013 with the

Gulf Coast League Red Sox The Florida Complex League Red Sox are a professional baseball team competing in the rookie-level Florida Complex League (FCL) of Minor League Baseball. The team is owned and operated by the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior ...

. He then spent the next four seasons managing the Greenville Drive of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

, winning the team's first league championship in 2017. In 2018, he managed the

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

of the Double-A Eastern League. Fenster became the Red Sox' minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator before the 2019 season. In February 2022, Fenster was named minor league infield coordinator for the Red Sox.

Managerial record

Source:

Team USA

In April 2021, Fenster was named as a coach for the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball to ...

, for the team's final efforts to qualify for

baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics Baseball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo, for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics. Six national teams competed in the tournament: Israel, Japan (host), Mexico, South Korea, the United States, and the Dominican Republ ...

. After the team qualified, Fenster was named the team's third-base coach for the Olympics. The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.

References

External links