Al Avila, former Bobcats head baseball coach and director of athletics at St. Thomas University from 1988-92, recently was inducted into the Bobcat Sports Hall of Fame at the Eighth Annual Stone Crab Dinner for Athletics on Sunday evening at the Fernandez Family Center.
Avila, who graduated with both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Sports Administration from St. Thomas University, is currently the executive vice president for Baseball Operations and general manager for the Detroit Tigers.
Avila was presented into the Bobcat Sports Hall of Fame by Bobcat Sports Hall of Famer and current LSU head baseball coach Paul Mainieri.
While studying Sports Administration at St. Thomas, Avila began his coaching career under Mainieri and also interned with the Dodgers and their operations in Latin America. In 1988, Avila was coaching as a full-time assistant coach under Mainieri who, following that season, became the head coach at the Air Force Academy. In turn, Avila was named as Mainieri's successor as head baseball Coach of the Bobcats and later also became STU's director of athletics.
Avila continued as head coach and AD through the 1992 season, leading the 1991 and 1992 Bobcats to Florida Sun Conference Championships and was named Florida Sun Coach of the Year in 1991. His 1992 team was ranked number three in the NAIA National poll.
In 1992, the Florida Marlins named Avila as assistant director of Latin American Operations. He was later named director of Latin American Operations and would spend a total of nine seasons rising up the ranks with the Marlins, first as director of Scouting, later as assistant GM and ultimately interim General Manager.
Avila helped build the 1997 World Series Champion Marlins and was instrumental in signing stars such as Livan Hernandez, Luis Castillo, Alex Gonzalez, Edgar Renteria as well as Miguel Cabrera, who like Avila. later would become a Detroit Tiger.
In 2002, Avila joined the Detroit Tigers and has been with the storied franchise ever since. In 2012, Avila was inducted into the Professional Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame and in 2015 was named the Detroit Tigers Executive VP and General Manager, making Avila the first Cuban-born GM in Major League Baseball history.
In his 15-year career with Detroit, the Tigers won the American League Pennant in 2006 and 2012 and won four straight AL Central titles from 2011-2014. As GM of the Tigers, Avila has signed stars such as outfielder Justin Upton and pitcher Jordan Zimmerman and continues his leadership of the day-to-day baseball operations of the franchise.
Part of a three-generation MLB family, Al's father Ralph is a retired vice president of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Al and his wife Yamile have three children: Alex (most recently a catcher with the Chicago White Sox), Alan (assistant counsel for Baseball Operations for the Tigers) and daughter Annelisa Marie.
Avila epitomizes St. Thomas University's Leaders for Life credo and his story is a prototype for today's Sports Administration students on how to succeed in the industry.
Avila becomes the 12th member of the Bobcat Sports Hall of Fame.