St. Thomas University Department of Athletics will induct Detroit Tigers Executive Vice President and General Manager Al Avila into the Bobcat Sports Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony and Stone Crab Dinner is scheduled for 6 p.m., Sunday, November 13, at the college’s Fernandez Family Center for Leadership and Wellness.
At St. Thomas University, Avila served as an assistant coach under Bobcat Sports Hall of Famer Paul Mainieri, and Avila succeeded Mainieri as the director of athletics and head baseball coach for the Bobcats. He coached at STU from 1988-92, where he led the baseball program to a number three national ranking in 1992 and two Florida Sun Conference championships.
Avila is an alumnus (1986) of the St. Thomas University Sports Administration Master’s program and went on to work for the Florida Marlins where he spent the first nine seasons of his professional baseball career.
He was named assistant general manager for the Tigers in 2002 before being elevated to his current position in 2015 becoming the first Cuban-born general manager in Major League Baseball history.