James Allen Saul (born November 24, 1939) is an American former professional baseball catcher, manager and coach. The season marked Saul's 50th season in the game, all but three of them at the minor-league level. In Major League Baseball, Saul coached for three seasons with the Chicago Cubs (1975âÂÂ76) and Oakland Athletics ().
Saul attended East Tennessee State University. As a player, he threw right-handed, batted left-handed, stood tall and weighed . His catching career consisted of 14 seasons (1959âÂÂ72) in the farm systems of the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Cubs, Cleveland Indians and California Angels. He was a journeyman who played for 19 different clubs over that span.
He began his managing career in the Angels' organization in , as skipper of the Salinas Packers of the Class A California League. Through , he managed for 22 seasons in the Angels, Cubs, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves organizations, including five seasons at the Double-A level. Saul's teams won 1,014 games and lost 1,090 (.482).
Saul began coaching for Rookie-level farm teams in 2005. From 2007 to 2009, he was a coach for the Bluefield Orioles, then Baltimore's affiliate in the Appalachian League.