01:00 AM EST on Thursday, November 17, 2005

Al Nipper, a former Red Sox draft pick who played the majority of his career with the club, was hired yesterday as Boston's bullpen coach.

The right-hander, selected in the eighth round of the 1980 amateur draft, won 42 games with the Red Sox from 1983-87, and was a member of the 1986 team that lost to the New York Mets in the World Series.

He was 46-50 with a 4.52 E.R.A. in a seven-year major league career that included stints with the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians.

He began his coaching career with the Red Sox in 1992 with the rookie-level Gulf Coast Red Sox and remained in the organization through 1997. He was the Texas Rangers' minor league pitching coordinator for two seasons and Kansas City Royals' pitching coach for two seasons. He returned to the Red Sox organization in 2003 as the pitching coach at Single-A Sarasota.

The team also announced that Bill Haselmen, Ron Jackson, Brad Mills and Dave Wallace have been invited to return to the major league coaching staff. The team previously announced that DeMarlo Hale will replace Dale Sveum as third base coach.