Jan. 31, 2011
="" alt="Knight Head" border="0" class="imported"> Read John Denton's Knights Insider | ="" alt="Twitter Logo" border="0" class="imported">Follow us on Twitter | ="" alt="Facebook Logo" border="0" class="imported">Get social with the Knights on Facebook
By Sarah Tarasewicz
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - UCF head softball coach Renee Luers-Gillispie announced Monday that Joel Chimelis has joined the Knights' coaching staff as a volunteer assistant.
"We are very fortunate to have Joel be a part of our program," Luers-Gillispie said. "He has been to so many levels in Major League Baseball and he is definitely a teacher of the game. He will really help the players understand the bigger picture of the game. He'll help them realize that they can be better players, and become more than they ever thought they could be."
Chimelis will be working with the Knights' infielders and helping with the team's offense through the month of March, before leaving to coach with the Houston Astros at the single-A level from April to September. He is currently is in his sixth year as an assistant coach for the Houston Astros organization.
Chimelis started his professional baseball coaching career in 2004 with the Washington Nationals, where he coached in the Single-A South Atlantic League for two seasons.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Chimelis began his playing career at Eastern District High School in New York, before signing with Howard Junior College in 1985. While at Howard, he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 18th round, but chose to sign a National Letter of Intent to play at Texas.
While with the Longhorns, he posted a .343 batting average and was an All-Southwest Conference shortstop. For his play that season, the Oakland A's drafted Chimelis in the 11th round and he went on to play in their minor league system for four seasons through Double-AA for the Huntsville Stars.
After four years with the Stars, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants where he played at AA, AAA and reached the Major League level, briefly. In 1994, while playing shortstop for the Shreveport Captains in the AA-Texas League, he was selected to the All-Star Team where he led the league in doubles (43) and hit .295 for the season.
In 1996 he played in the AAA Mexican League with the Oaxaca Warriors and also played briefly for the New York Mets AAA team, the Norfolk Tides, where he hit .382 in 25 games.
In 1997 Chimelis played professionally in Taiwan and in 1998 played in the Korean Professional Baseball League. From 1999-2002 he once again played in the AAA Mexican League for the Laredo Owls where he hit over .300 in each of his three seasons and posted years with 30, 19 and 15 homeruns.
In total, Chimelis played 14 seasons of professional baseball in the US, Puerto Rico Winter League, Taiwan, Korea and Mexico.
Chimelis has been married for 17 years to his wife Carmen, whom he met while playing winter ball in Puerto Rico. They are proud parents of three daughters, Adriana (16), Nichole (14) and Gabriela (11) and they reside in Orlando.
Season tickets for the 2011 season are only $40 and are now available for purchase online at UCFAthletics.com and Ticketmaster.com, or by calling the UCF Athletics Ticket Office at (407) UCF-1000.
UCF hosts its 2011 home-opener Feb. 16 against North Florida at the UCF Softball Complex. UCF head football coach George O'Leary will throw out the ceremonial first pitch for the contest, while the first 100 fans through the gate will receive a signed 2011 UCF softball schedule poster.