Aug. 12, 2005
George Mason University filled a hole in its coaching staff this week when former Mason standout and professional All-Star Jeff Palumbo was hired as an assistant coach, filling the spot formerly occupied by Ken Munoz. Munoz left the baseball staff in July to return to teaching full-time.
Palumbo was a standout with the Patriots from 2000-2004, graduating from Mason as the Colonial Athletic Association's two-time Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time All-CAA selection. As a senior, he was the Student-Athlete of the Year in the conference for baseball as well as Mason's Male Student-Athlete of the Year and Willard Award winner.
Palumbo will work with the infielders on defense and assist head coach Bill Brown with the hitters.
"It's going to be a very natural transition for Jeff," Brown said. "As a player, he was truly a coach on the field, someone who was way beyond his peers in his baseball knowledge. Also, his father was a college baseball coach and he grew up in that environment.
"Having Jeff as a coach is an incredible addition to our program."
Palumbo is Mason's all-time record holder in hits (283), at-bats (865), games played (218) and games started (217) and is second all-time in runs scored (205). He is also top 10 all-time at Mason in stolen bases (4th with 48), total bases (6th with 365), RBI (7th with 134) and walks (9th with 99). As a senior, Palumbo led the nation in runs scored (1.4 per game) and finished the season with a .402 average. He led Mason to an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament in 2004, Mason's first appearance in the postseason tournament since 1993.
He was drafted in the 15th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by San Francisco and assigned to the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. Palumbo played exceptionally well in the Northwest League and was named to the All-Star team, where he went 1 for 3.
Palumbo was invited back this past spring by San Francisco but he chose instead to retire from professional baseball. Palumbo will now take over as an assistant coach of a team which returns 11 former teammates of his.
