Rodgers in Talks to Remain Manager of Vigilantes

Buck Rodgers said Thursday he was interested in returning as manager of the Mission Viejo Vigilantes minor league team this summer.

“We’re talking,” was how Rodgers termed the ongoing contract negotiations with club president Pat Elster. “At this point, I would like to come back.”

Before joining the Vigilantes last year, Rodgers also had managed Milwaukee, Montreal and the Angels.

Last June, during Rodgers’ season with Mission Viejo, an automobile accident in Ohio claimed the life of his mother, Winifred, who died at the scene. His father, Rex, never recovered from injuries and died the first week of December.

Elster would not say how close he and Rodgers are in contract talks, but indicated Thursday he wants Rodgers in a Vigilantes uniform for the 1998 Western League season.

“It would be a great benefit to the organization to have Buck back, and we’re doing everything we can to see that it happens,” Elster said.