Marlon Anderson enters his first season as Samford's Director of Player Development.
"Marlon's experience and knowledge of the game at all levels gives our program an asset that few have," Samford head coach Tony David said. "He played in the big leagues for over a decade after a brilliant college career that was built on both speed and power. And you don't play that long in Major League Baseball without a ton of knowledge to go with great ability. He also brings professional coaching experience from the Mets organization. We played together in college and have a good history. He is an incredible guy that will play a huge role in helping our guys get better."
Anderson played at the Major League level for the Philadelphia Phillies (1998-2002), Tampa Bay Rays (2003), St. Louis Cardinals (2004), New York Mets (2005, 2007-09), Washington Nationals (2006) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2006-07). He posted a career .265 batting average, driving in 371 runs. Anderson has professional coaching experience as well, working as a hitting coach with the Hagerstown Suns in 2011 and 2012 and with the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2018.
Anderson, a native of Montgomery, played collegiately at South Alabama. As a senior, he batted .357 with 13 home runs, and was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, and a first team All-American. Anderson was drafted by the Phillies in the second round of the 1995 MLB Draft.
