Johnny Cardenas

Johnny Cardenas

Biographical details
Born	(1970-07-23) July 23, 1970 (age 54) Joliet, Illinois, U.S.
Playing career
1989	Seward County CC
1990–1993	TCU
1993	Bellingham Mariners
1994	Riverside Pilots
1995–1996	Port City Roosters
1996	Oklahoma City 89ers
1997	Duluth–Superior Dukes
1998	Birmingham Barons
Position(s)	Catcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999–2003	Colbert (OK) HS
2004–2005	Greenville (TX)
2006–2008	Stephen F. Austin (asst.)
2009–2024	Stephen F. Austin
Head coaching record
Overall	359–483
Tournaments	Southland: 9–16 NCAA: 0–0
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
Southland Coach of the Year (2010)

Johnny Ray Cardenas is an American college baseball coach and former catcher. Cardenas is the former head coach of the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks baseball team.

Amateur career

Cardenas attended Seward County Community College in Liberal, Kansas.[1] Cardenas then accepted a scholarship to play at Texas Christian University (TCU), to play college baseball for the TCU Horned Frogs baseball team.

Professional career

Cardenas was drafted in the 46th round (1,271th overall) by the Seattle Mariners in the 1993 Major League Baseball draft.[2]

Cardenas began his professional career with the Bellingham Mariners of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League, where he batted .204 with two home runs. He was promoted to the Riverside Pilots of the Class A-Advanced California League in 1994. He hit .208 with one home run for Riversite.

Cardenas played 1995 season with the Port City Roosters of the Class AA Southern League. In 1996, Cardenas began the season with Port City, after batting .189 with 1 home run and 6 RBIs in 27 games with Port City, he was released. He played the rest of the 1996 season with the Oklahoma City 89ers of the American Association.

He was released following the 1996 season and signed with the Duluth–Superior Dukes of the Northern League. He batted .298 with six home runs and 39 RBIs during the season. He signed with the Chicago White Sox to play the 1997 season with the Birmingham Barons during the 1998 season. He hit just .200 with 8 RBIs in 17 games.

Coaching career

From 1999 to 2003, Cardenas served as the head baseball coach at Colbert High School in Colbert, Oklahoma.[3] Cardenas then served as the head baseball coach at Greenville High School in Greenville, Texas for two years.[4]

In the summer of 2005, Cardenas accepted a position as an assistant coach for the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks baseball program. He was an assistant for 3 years, and was named the interim head coach when Donnie Watson's contract wasn't renewed.[5]

On July 9, 2008, Cardenas was named the head coach of Stephen F. Austin.[6] Following the 2010 season, Cardenas was named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year.[7]

Cardenas announced on May 23, 2024, that he was retiring after 16 seasons at SFA.[8]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (Southland Conference) (2009–2021)
2009	Stephen F. Austin	23–32	14–18	8th	Southland Tournament
2010	Stephen F. Austin	34–20	20–12	4th	Southland Tournament
2011	Stephen F. Austin	37–23	20–13	2nd	Southland Tournament
2012	Stephen F. Austin	26–33	16–17	T-6th	Southland Tournament
2013	Stephen F. Austin	28–29	15–12	T-5th	Southland Tournament
2014	Stephen F. Austin	20–35	11–19	12th
2015	Stephen F. Austin	17–34	11–18	10th
2016	Stephen F. Austin	30–30	14–16	8th	Southland Tournament
2017	Stephen F. Austin	29–28	17–13	6th	Southland Tournament
2018	Stephen F. Austin	17–36	9–21	12th
2019	Stephen F. Austin	25–33	16–14	T-5th	Southland Tournament
2020	Stephen F. Austin	6–10	3–0		Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021	Stephen F. Austin	20–31	17–22	10th
Stephen F. Austin:			183–195
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (Western Athletic Conference) (2022–2024)
2022	Stephen F. Austin	15–37	8–22	6th (Southwest)
2023	Stephen F. Austin	22–28	12–18	10th
2024	Stephen F. Austin	10–44	6–24	11th
Stephen F. Austin:		359–483	26–64
Total:		359–483
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

References

1. "Baseball University Transfers". www.sewardsaints.com. Presto Sports. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
2. "TCU Baseball All-Time Drafted Players". www.gofrogs.com. Texas Christian University. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
3. Bob Colon (January 23, 2001). "Rebounds, refs and reflections". www.newsok.com. NewsOK.com. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
4. "Baseball Adds Pitcher to 2005 squad". www.txstatebobcats.com. Texas State University Athletics. August 1, 2004. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
5. Brandon Ogden (July 9, 2008). "SFA finds new baseball coach". www.dailysentinel.com. Southern Newspaper. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
6. "Cardenas Named SFA Baseball Coach". www.southland.org. Southland Conference. July 9, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
7. "Cardenas Named SLC Coach of the Year". www.sfajacks.com. Stephen F. Austin University Athletics. May 24, 2010. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
8. Lucas, Jay (May 23, 2024). "Baseball Head Coach Johnny Cardenas Retires after 16 Seasons" (Press release). Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. Retrieved May 24, 2024.

External links

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks bio