Bob Kitzmiller, former assistant general manager of the Danville Braves (rookie; Appalachian League) whose time with pro baseball dated back to the Carolina League’s Danville 97s, passed away. He was 66.
Kitzmiller had retired from the D-Braves in March of this year.
He first started with the team in 1998 when Danville hosted two professional baseball teams, the Danville Braves and the High-A Danville 97s. The 97s played in Danville for a single season: the High-A Durham Bulls were scheduled to leave Durham to make way for the new Durham Bulls — an expansion International League team affiliated with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays — but the team’s new home in Myrtle Beach was not done, so the franchise was parked in Danville for the 1998 season.
Kitzmiller moved into the front office in 2001 to take over the Assistant GM position and stayed in that position until his retirement in March of this year. In addition to the Braves, Kitzmiller had worked as the Athletic Director at Sacred Heart School, served on the board of Danville Little League and Chatham Youth League, and had refereed countless youth basketball, soccer, and baseball games over the last 30 years.