By PAUL GOTHAM
He spent parts of his career playing for Tony La Russa and Buck Showalter. Now, Danny Mendick will put into action lessons learned from those longtime Major League Baseball skippers as he gets ready for his first managerial job.
When the Charleston RiverDogs open their 2026 season, Mendick will be in the dugout.
And it’s not a surprise for the former Monroe Community College Tribune and Pittsford Mendon Viking.
“I always knew I was going to stay in the game after I was done playing,” he said during a phone call. “Being able to manage in Charleston is certainly exciting.”
A 2015 draft pick of the Chicago White Sox, the infielder by trade spent 10 years in affiliated baseball including parts of six seasons in the majors.
In the spring of 2025, he decided his playing days were behind him.
“I had such a fun career and gave it everything I had. I have no regrets whatsoever.”
Mendick made his Major League Baseball debut with the White Sox in September of 2019. He hit his first major league home run on September 8th of that year in a 5-1 White Sox victory. He eventually logged 231 games with the White Sox and New York Mets during his time in the bigs.
“You give it everything you got every single day and you consume yourself with it,” he said of his playing career. “To be done with it, there’s nothing I could go back and wish I did differently. I gave it everything I had.”
Last March, he faced the decision of having to start the season in minor league baseball or move on to the next stage of his career.
“My ego was such that I still wanted to play, but then you go through the process a little bit and you’re like all right is going to play again in Triple-A worth it? I had to make a decision. It’s worked out perfectly.”
A friendship with Blake Butera, then working with the Tampa Rays and who since been named the manager of the Washington Nationals, served as a conduit to his spot with the RiverDogs, Tampa’s Single-A affiliate.
“I played against Blake; he’s a good friend of mine,” Mendick said. “He called me (in February) when he saw the writing on the wall. He was the farm director. He had access to all the information (scouting reports about players including Mendick) and he said we’d love to have you as a coach. We know what kind of player you are. That’s what we’re about.”
Mendick needed time to consider the prospects.
With his decision coming in April, the Rays offered Mendick a job as hitting coach in the Florida Complex League (FCL).
“I didn’t know what it was going to feel like or how it was going to be, but as soon as I got there, I was like this was amazing.”
He got his first taste as a manager later in the summer when the organization tabbed him to lead their team in the Bridge League that plays during the four to five weeks between the end of the FCL and fall instructional leagues.
“I ended up managing all the new guys from the draft for two months. That was the first sniff that I got of the managerial thing.”
After that he reached out to one of his former managers.
“I called Tony (La Russa). I’m like I’m starting to get into managing…We talked for about 30 minutes on the phone. Some of the stuff I already knew just from watching guys work.
“I’m lucky. I got to play for La Russa and Buck Showalter. I saw their styles. I saw the way they worked. You take the good from all this and you start to see. As a player, I knew what I was looking for and what all my other teammates were looking for. You got to find a way to harness that. But also, you’re the manager. You got to lay the law down.”
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Charleston opens the Carolina League season on April 2nd against Myrtle Beach. He’s already worked with several future RiverDogs during his time with the organization.
“I’m lucky. The Rays’ organization is so good at developing players and coaches. Just an incredible organization.”
In over 650 plate appearances at the major-league level, Mendick collected 140 hits including 39 for extra bases. He had the chance to play every position on the field except catcher. He even made four appearances on the mound. He was with the White Sox for the inaugural Field of Dreams game. Now he gets to share that experience with the next generation of players.
“You start to realize that those younger guys, it’s their first year in pro ball. They look up to you. I played parts of six years in the big leagues. They know that, and they start to ask questions. And they listen to what you’re saying. It becomes a thrill watching these guys get better. Now I understand why people do it.”
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