Torey Lovullo

Torey Lovullo

Lovullo with the Toronto Blue Jays
Boston Red Sox – No. 17
Infielder / Coach / Manager
Born: (1965-07-25) July 25, 1965
Santa Monica, California
Batted: Switch Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 10, 1988, for the Detroit Tigers
Last MLB appearance
October 3, 1999, for the Philadelphia Phillies
MLB statistics
Batting average .224
Home runs 15
Runs batted in 60
Teams

As player

As coach

As manager

Career highlights and awards

Salvatore Anthony "Torey" Lovullo (born July 25, 1965) is an American professional baseball coach and former Major League infielder and minor league manager. In his playing days he was listed at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and 185 pounds (84 kg) and was a switch hitter who threw right-handed. As of 2016, Lovullo is the bench coach of the Boston Red Sox, after serving as Boston's interim manager for the final seven weeks of the 2015 season when his boss, John Farrell, stepped aside for successful treatment for lymphoma. Lovullo compiled a win-loss record of 28–20 (.583) from August 14, 2015, through the final day of the season, October 4.[1]

A native of Santa Monica, California, he is an alumnus of the University of California, Los Angeles; his father, Sam, was a producer on the television show Hee Haw. Lovullo was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the fifth round of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft and made his Major League debut with the Tigers on September 10, 1988. He also played in the Majors for the New York Yankees, California Angels, Seattle Mariners, Oakland Athletics and Cleveland Indians, and appeared in his final big-league game on October 3, 1999, for the Philadelphia Phillies. After his MLB career ended, Lovullo spent one season in Japan as a member of the Yakult Swallows in 2000.

His managing career included service in the Indians' and Red Sox' organizations.

Major League playing career

Lovullo first reached the Major Leagues for a brief trial in September 1988, his second professional season. Replacing Tom Brookens at third base in the late innings of a 9–4 Tiger loss to the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 10, he handled no chances in the field, but singled off Rick Rhoden in his first big-league at bat. Lovullo would play one full season and parts of seven others in the Majors. In his only full campaign, 1993 with the Angels, he appeared in 116 games played, and collected 92 hits, batting a career-high .251. He was the Angels' most-used second baseman, starting in 79 of the team's 162 games. He was a teammate that season of pitcher John Farrell, and formed an association that would influence Lovullo's managerial and coaching career.

Altogether, Lovullo appeared in 303 MLB games, including 133 at second base, and 67 each at first base and third base. He batted .224 in 737 at bats, collecting 165 total hits, including 15 home runs, 60 runs batted in, 35 doubles and one triple. In Japan in 1999 he played in only 29 games and batted .197 with one home run and two runs batted in.

Lovullo's long minor playing career —1,433 games with 1,193 hits, and a batting average of .267[2] — included extended stays with the Toledo Mud Hens, Columbus Clippers and Buffalo Bisons; he would later return to manage in both Buffalo and Columbus.

Minor league manager

Lovullo's off-field career began in the Cleveland organization in 2001 as a minor league infield coach.[3] After Farrell joined the Indians' front office as director of player development that November, Lovullo became the manager of the 2002 Columbus (Georgia) RedStixx of the Class A South Atlantic League, and guided them to the finals of the SAL playoffs. He then moved up to the High Class A Kinston Indians (2003–04) and the Double-A Akron Aeros (2005), which he piloted to an 84–58 win-loss record and the Eastern League championship. His 2005 success led to his first MLB managerial audition, when he was invited to interview for the vacant managerial job for the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to the 2006 season. When the Dodgers settled on Grady Little for their manager position, Lovullo resumed managing in the Indians' organization as skipper of the Buffalo Bisons, the Tribe's Triple-A affiliate.

During Lovullo's playing career, he had spent all or parts of three seasons (1995; 1997–98) as a player for the Bisons and won two championships: one in the American Association and one in the International League. In 2003, he also had received the highest honor awarded to an alumnus of Buffalo baseball, as he was inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame, alongside his teammate from the 1997 and 1998 championship squads, Jeff Manto. In three campaigns (2006–08) as the Bisons' manager, he led the club to two winning records, and compiled a mark of 214–212. He also interviewed for the Pittsburgh Pirates' managerial vacancy after the 2007 season.

In 2009, the Indians changed their Triple-A affiliation from Buffalo to the Columbus (Ohio) Clippers of the International League. Lovullo had played for the Clippers in 1991–92 when the team was the Yankees' top farm club. The Clippers were the International League champions in both seasons Lovullo played in Columbus, winning back-to-back Governors' Cup trophies. In 2009, his only season as the Clippers' manager, the team compiled a 57–85 (.401) record, but Lovullo was recruited by the Boston Red Sox to take over their Triple-A team, the Pawtucket Red Sox, for 2010.[4] It was his first season in the Boston organization, although both Farrell (as pitching coach) and another former Cleveland farm system official, Mike Hazen (as director of player development), were playing key roles with the Red Sox. Lovullo's 2010 PawSox finished 66–78 (.458) and out of the playoffs, fourth in the Northern Division of the International League.

During his minor league managing career, Lovullo was named "Manager of the Year" in both the Carolina League (2004) and the Eastern League (2005). For the latter season, he also was named Double-A Manager of the Year by Baseball America.[3] His nine-year (2002–10) win-loss record as a manager is 661–609 (.520).

Major League coach

At the close of the 2010 season, Farrell, then considered a top Major League managerial candidate, was hired as the pilot of the Toronto Blue Jays for 2011. He named Lovullo to his Toronto coaching staff on November 8, 2010, to replace Omar Malavé as the club's first-base coach,[5] and he served two seasons in that capacity.

After the 2012 season, the Red Sox began negotiations with the Blue Jays to release Farrell from his contract so that he could return to Boston as manager for 2013. Ultimately, the Red Sox acquired the rights to Farrell in an October 21 trade for infielder Mike Avilés. Upon being named the Red Sox' manager, Farrell hired Lovullo on October 26, 2012, as his bench coach.[6] After the Red Sox won the 2013 World Series, Lovullo was mentioned as a potential candidate to succeed Dale Sveum as manager of the Chicago Cubs for 2014,[7] but he returned as Boston's bench coach.[8] Then, upon the close of the 2014 season, Lovullo interviewed for managerial openings with the Texas Rangers[9] and Minnesota Twins,[10] but was a runner-up in each case. The 2016 season will mark Lovullo's fourth consecutive season with the Red Sox, his sixth straight overall as an aide to Farrell.

Interim manager

On August 11, 2015, Farrell underwent hernia surgery, leaving Lovullo in charge of the team. Three days later, Farrell announced that during the surgery, it was found that he had stage 1 lymphoma.[11] The Red Sox named Lovullo manager for the balance of the season while Farrell underwent chemotherapy.[12]

The Red Sox showed a significant improvement in performance under Lovullo, scoring 37 runs in their first 2 games after he took over, and recording a .636 winning percentage through the end of September, compared with a .439 winning percentage on the season under Farrell.[13] A high point came near the end of the season when the Red Sox posted a six-game winning streak and moved up to third place in the AL East. However, the team lost their last four games and ultimately finished at the bottom of their division for the second year in a row.

On October 1, 2015, it was reported that, if healthy, Farrell would return to his position as Red Sox manager at the beginning of the 2016 season,[14] leaving Lovullo's position with the organization uncertain after his performance as interim manager.[15] It was announced that Lovullo would resume his bench coach duties for the 2016 season on October 4, 2015, with Farrell returning as manager. Lovullo was also given a two-year contract extension in exchange for forgoing his right to pursue managerial job offerings.[1]

Managerial records

Team Level From To Regular season record Post–season record
W L Win % W L Win %
Columbus Red Stixx A 2002 0 0 – 0 0 –
Kinston Indians A 2003 2004 0 0 – 0 0 –
Akron Aeros AA 2005 84 58 .592 0 0 –
Buffalo Bisons AAA 2006 2008 0 0 – 0 0 –
Columbus Clippers AAA 2009 0 0 – 0 0 –
Pawtucket Red Sox AAA 2010 66 78 .458 0 0 –
Boston Red Sox MLB 2015 28 21 .571 0 0 –
Total 28 21 .571 0 0 –

References

External links

Preceded by
Brad Komminsk		 Akron Aeros manager
2005 		Succeeded by
Tim Bogar
Preceded by
Marty Brown		 Buffalo Bisons manager
2006–2008 		Succeeded by
Ken Oberkfell
Preceded by
Tim Foli		 Columbus Clippers manager
2009 		Succeeded by
Mike Sarbaugh
Preceded by
Ron Johnson		 Pawtucket Red Sox manager
2010 		Succeeded by
Arnie Beyeler
Preceded by
Omar Malavé		 Toronto Blue Jays first-base coach
2011–2012 		Succeeded by
Dwayne Murphy
Preceded by
Tim Bogar		 Boston Red Sox bench coach
2013– 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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