Enthusiastic Wellman unveiled as Sod Poodles skipper

Phillip Wellman has been coaching or managing minor league baseball for over three decades, and there's not a lot he hasn't seen, or done on a minor league field.

But when he was introduced as the first manager of the Amarillo Sod Poodles on Friday, he admitted this was uncharted territory for him. Wellman wants to dive head-long into that.

"I can't recall ever recall starting a season in a town that had a new stadium and hasn't had baseball in 37 years," Wellman said. "It's going to make things exciting. We have a responsibility to the people of Amarillo."

Wellman is a respected baseball man, having managed or coached in the minors for the most part since 1988. This will be his fourth year managing the San Diego Padres Class AA affiliate in the Texas League, as the previous three were with the San Antonio Missions.

Now the Missions have moved to Amarillo and are known as the Sod Poodles, but while the name and town is different, the manager remains the same. And a lot of the team Wellman will manage starting in April figures to be the same too.

"From the basis of experience, I would say it's about half the team who will be back this season," Wellman said. "Unless you just dominate, you're probably going to be back if you've been some place about a half-season."

Wellman should be overseeing a quality product this season, as the Padres have what is considered the top farm system in minor league baseball. The organization has 10 of the top 100 major league prospects.

A roster is far from finalized, as the Padres will go through six weeks of spring training in Peoria, Ariz. before the talent is distributed across the range of the major leagues to Class A ball. Wellman thinks the organization is in the midst of something special.

"The Padres big league ball club is headed in the right direction but they're not there yet," Wellman said.

Part of Wellman's job is to help get them there by developing young talent to get to San Diego. Sod Poodles president and general manager Tony Ensor thinks Wellman will leave his stamp on the community.

"His charisma and personality is sure to make him a fan favorite," Ensor said.

Yet, it was an incident 12 seasons ago that had little to do with player development that got Wellman his greatest national attention.

As manager of the Mississippi Braves in 2007, Wellman protested the ejection of one of his pitchers by covering home plate in dirt after he'd already been ejected. He then took out each of the bases and crawled across the infield in a prone position and lobbed a rosin bag at the home plate umpire.

The video of the incident went viral and in 2009 ESPN voted it one of the top meltdowns in sports history.

Wellman is certainly aware of the notoriety the incident brought him. But he also wants people to know that's not entirely what he's about as a manager.

"That's probably one of my biggest fears is that I'm going to go to my grave and some people that's all they're going to know me for," Wellman said. "There's a lot more than comes with that than just an 11-year old video. I've told my wife I feel like the people who know me, they get it and they understand it and they know there's more to me than falling on the ground and throwing a rosin bag. I have to take the medicine that I preach to my players, I've made that bed and I've got to lie in it."

As much as anything, Wellman is here to teach his players.

"I really believe there's a right way to do things whether the guys want to hear it or not," Wellman said. "A lot of them are gonig to be husbands and fathers and I hope they can learn more from me than how to hit a slider."