USA – Davey Johnson is the leaving the glitz and glamour for collegiate-level baseball.

The manager for Team USA at last year’s Beijing Olympics, and who will also be calling the shots for the American side at the second World Baseball Classic in March, has agreed to coach the DeLand Suns in the Florida Collegiate Summer League, a wooden bat league for college players.

Johnson, 65, who lives in Winter Park will be the most prominent manager in the history of the non-profit league which has been in existence for only six years. He won the World Series title with the New York Mets in 1986, captured the American League Manager of the Year Award with the Baltimore Orioles in 1997, and has a .564 winning percentage in 14 seasons as a big league skipper.

“To me, this is what our league is all about,” said Sara Whiting, the league president. “He wants to give back to the players, and he wants to take all that he’s learned in his years and years and years of excellence and give it back to players that really work hard and love the game.”

Tags: Summer League