Andy Schatzley, left, before a 2022 Rocket City Trash Pandas game. 

Andy Schatzley, manager for the Rocket City Trash Pandas, is a coach’s son, a man committed to routines and a manger with a passion for serving others.

In their second season of playing baseball, the Trash Pandas turned to the leadership of Schatzley, in his first season of managing the team.

Hitting midseason form, the Trash Pandas have a winning record, are drawing in fans every night and have players winning awards seemingly every week.

However, the success of the team on the diamond pales in comparison to Schatzley’s efforts to make sure each player on the team is currently happy and on track to succeed in life.

It is part of what he learned from watching his father coach. While he was never on the same team as his father, he was constantly around the teams and players that he coached, and Schatzley learned about the importance of a leader who genuinely cares about his players.

“My father was always available if needed, but was never heavy-handed,” Schatzley said. “I think the bigger long-term impact was not how he interacted with me, but how he interacted with his players. There was never a time in my life where I wasn’t in the locker room, when I wasn’t in a clubhouse. Really, for what I am doing now, that was the best guidance that he provided. The care he had for his players … I could not have asked for a better role model.”

Caring for the players is something that Schatzley takes to heart. He says that the human resources aspect of baseball will always “trump” the financial resources aspect of baseball.

This is immune to what level of baseball he is coaching, whether it is from his time at Harding University in Arkansas or during his time in the Angels organization as a member of the Trash Pandas. Seeing players reach the collegiate level from high school, or the pros from the minors, is exciting all the same.

“If your motives are pure, it is the same level of satisfaction regardless of the stage. Being able to tell (players) they are going to Anaheim is ridiculously rewarding. I am just happy to have a chance to be a part of it,” he said. “It is why I enjoy the staff so much here. The number 1 thing that all of us have in common is that the most important thing here are the players and being able to execute the wishes of the organization in order to best serve the players. There is zero ego in that coaches locker room. We are 100 percent here for them and that is what makes it enjoyable for me.”

Schatzley, making it far as the collegiate level in his own playing career, is not on the train that baseball has changed as much as others may think it has.

Sure, home runs may be up, strikeouts may be up and batting averages may be down.

However, this is not because of a change of emphasis on what is important in baseball, but because of the quality of pitching seen in the modern era, he says.

Furthermore, he believes the same three facets still win baseball today that have since the sport was created: Controlling the strike zone, quality baserunning and quality defensive efficiency.

“I feel like the game has changed less than what most people think. Controlling the strike zone still wins, defensive efficiency still wins and baserunning efficiency still wins. And, when those things stop winning games, I will be willing to go out on a limb and say the game has changed,” Schatzley said. “The team that has the best at bats, the team that does the best controlling the strike zone on both sides of the ball, 99 times out of 100 is the team that comes out on top. That has been the case since the game originated. Are there some stylistic differences? Sure. I just think that these players are so good that the margins continue to get tighter and tighter. As people continue to make the game more efficient, that’s going to force some stylistic changes, but the nuts and bolts of the game are still the same.”

At the start of the 2022 season, the Arkansas native was leading a roster comprised of zero players from the state of Alabama, let alone the Huntsville area.

However, he and the players have opened their hearts as servants of the community, and the community has opened their hearts through constant support by filling out Toyota Field night in and night out, something they do not take for granted.

“It has been incredible. I have said this: It is, in my opinion, the best-run affiliate in all of baseball. Just the overall total package, and I say that predominately from a player’s lens, because that is the only lens that really matters,” he said. “Our players are taken care of so well here. Our facilities are incredible. The way we are treated is incredible. The way the fans embrace us and support on a nightly basis is incredible. All of us feel really fortunate to be here and with that level of gratitude comes a high level of responsibility, too. All of us here feel a huge level of responsibility, not only to the Angels but to the front office of the affiliate here and to the fans here. There is emotional attachment running a lot of different directions. We owe each other. We owe the Angels. We owe this area, too, so we are trying to do best by all parties involved.”

Schatzley, who grew up a Cardinals fan, has taken bits and pieces of wisdom from each and every coach he has come across.

This includes two people who he looks up to especially: Tony La Russa and Joe Maddon.

One thing these managers have in common, and most managers, is that they want players who can be described by this phrase: “High trust, low maintenance.”

Schatzley has built up a level of trust that runs both ways with his players, and says that if the trust is there, then the maintenance takes care of itself.

For those interested in attending Rocket City Trash Pandas games, or to learn more information about the team, visit their website at milb.com/rocket-city.