Nava no more

After nine seasons in the independent Atlantic League, Lipso Nava is finally advancing. Nava, who played third base and became a fan favorite for the 1998 and 1999 Somerset Patriots, accepted a Single-A coaching position Monday in the San Francisco Giants organization.
The mustached marauder (I just made that up spur of the moment) never got out of independent baseball as a player, so this is a good break. He played for the Camden Riversharks before retiring as a member of the Newark Bears. Nava was the hitting coach for Newark's 2007 championship team. Below is the contents of the Bears' press release.


NEWARK, NJ, December 10—The Newark Bears Professional Baseball Club announced today that Lipso Nava, the team’s hitting coach during the 2007 season, has accepted a minor league coaching position within the San Francisco Giants organization for the upcoming 2008 season. Nava will serve as the hitting coach and first base coach for single-A Augusta in the South Atlantic League.

“I appreciate the confidence that the Newark Bears showed in me this past season and for giving me the chance to grow, both as a coach and as a person,” said Nava. “I look forward to this opportunity to further my career and, with the help of God, reach the Major Leagues one day.”

The 39 year-old Nava guided Bears hitters to a league-record .302 team batting average in helping Newark win the 2007 Atlantic League Championship. Last season marked Nava’s first as a coach at any level of professional baseball. He retired as a player following the 2006 campaign.

“I have personally known Lipso for seven years, and I am extremely proud of him and happy for him and his family,” said Bears general manager John Brandt. “With his tremendous work ethic and the success he achieved last season, he is very deserving of this opportunity.”

In a 17-year playing career, Nava had a .274 lifetime batting average in over 1,300 games played. He batted better than .300 on three different occasions, including a career-best .332 for the Somerset Patriots in 1998. The season before, Nava reached the Triple-A level for the only time in his career, batting .266 with nine home runs for the Iowa Cubs.

The Venezuelan-born Nava played for three different Atlantic League teams over the final nine seasons of his career, the Bears, the Patriots, and the Camden Riversharks. He closed out his career playing third base for the Bears in 2006, batting .239 in an injury-shortened 52 games.

This is the second consecutive off-season that the Newark Bears have had their hitting coach hired by the San Francisco Giants. In the 2006 off-season, veteran hitting coach Victor Torres was hired to work in the Giants minor league system. Torres is expected to coach at Double-A Connecticut in 2008.