Chad Tracy will be back here at some point, hopefully later rather than sooner, since he is a sure bet for the WooSox Hall of Fame some day. Until then, he has some unfinished business on his to-do list.
The Boston Red Sox interim manager has to roll at least a couple of strings of candlepin bowling. He also has to stop on Sever Street to visit the monument recognizing where the first perfect game in baseball history was pitched.
Those are Page 2 things. Managing the big league Red Sox back into contention and establishing himself as a permanent major league manager are at the top of the list.
The last Boston manager to be hired on an interim basis was Joe Morgan in July, 1988. After being told by team president John Harrington that this was an interim appointment, Morgan memorably responded, “Mr. Harrington, the world ‘interim’ is not in my vocabulary.”
Morgan’s Magic followed and he became the first of only two managers to take over an underachieving team during the season and lead it into the playoffs. The other was Jim Tracy, father of Chad. That’s one of the things that makes the game so great, its spider web of connections.
Tracy’s promotion established several milestones.
It marked the first time Boston has ever moved a manager up from Triple-A during a season. He is the first WooSox manager to manage Boston. He is the first Sox Triple-A manager to manage the big league team since Pawtucket’s Butch Hobson replaced Morgan, also a former PawSox manager, in 1992.
Other Triple-A promotions to Boston include Darrell Johnson (1974, Pawtucket), Eddie Kasko (1970, Toronto), Dick Williams (1967, Toronto), Johnny Pesky (1962, Seattle) and Mike Higgins (1955, Louisville).
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo managed Pawtucket in 2010 and was later acting Boston manager during John Farrell’s illness in 2015. Since Farrell returned to the dugout in 2016, Lovullo is not considered to be an interim manager, and Farrell gets credit for the entire season.
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CATCHING UP WITH…
Former WooSox pitching coach Paul Abbott is in the same role with the Las Vegas Aviators. They are the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate in th Pacific Coast League.
Nick Lovullo, who played at Holy Cross from 2013-16 and played for Pawtucket in 2019, is the bench coach for the Iowa Cubs in the International League’s West Division.
Michael Chavis, a member of the 2021 WooSox who had also previously played for Pawtucket, is seeing action at third base for the Louisville Bats, also in the IL’s West Division. He is tied for third in the IL with seven home runs.
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TRIPLE-A TRIVIA
Questions.
1. Who holds the WooSox record for most home runs hit in a single season at Polar Park by a left-handed batter?
2. Who holds the WooSox record for most home runs hit in a single season by a right-handed batter
Answers below.
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It is road, sweet road for the WooSox this week. They are in Rochester, where they are 33-17 through the years and 17-6 in their last 23 games. Worcester batters have hit 66 home runs in 50 games there. The Red Wings’ roster includes former WooSox pitchers Zach Penrod and Luis Perales. Their hitting coach is, again, ex-Red Sox slugger Brian Daubach. … WooSox pitchers did their part in helping Iggy Suarez pick up a win in his first game Sunday as acting manager after Tracy went to the big club. They did not issue a base on balls. The WooSox are 15-4 all-time when their pitchers don’t give out any freebies. … This will take a little more research but WooSox reliever Eduardo Rivera seems to be only the third Red Sox player in the last 50 years to bypass Triple-A on the way to the major leagues. Pitcher Bob Stanley spent 1976 at Double-A Bristol and made the opening day roster in 1977. He did not play a Triple-A game until a rehab stint at Pawtucket in 1988. Andrew Benintendi went from Double-A Portland in 2016 directly to Boston. He didn’t play Triple-A until a two-game rehab stint with Charlotte last season. Rivera major league stay was brief and he is now with the WooSox.
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Tracy’s promotion overshadowed a couple of oddities that in a different week might have been the main topics of discussion. One was Saturday when Syracuse lost a triple in the top of the third on one of the rarest calls in baseball, batting out of turn.
Official scorer Bruce Guindon, who has done games at both the Major League and Triple-A levels, had never seen that happen before and had no idea how to score it. After a few innings of pressbox-wide research, the rule was discovered. It was called a ground ball to the catcher.
The night before the Mets lost a run on a timing play. With runners on second and third and one out in the fourth inning, Yonny Hernandez lined out to left fielder Allan Castro. Christian Pache went for home on a sacrifice fly but Jackson Cluff was out trying for third.
Cluff was tagged out before Pache crossed the plate, so the potential run did not count.
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Since the team moved into Fenway Park in 1912, the Red Sox have made 14 managerial changes during the season. The last three newcomers have won their first game — Tracy, Joe Kerrigan and Morgan. Combined, the 14 replacements have a 7-7 record.
Some of them were just placeholders, not even officially interim. They included Johnny Pesky in 1980, Eddie Popowski in 1969 and 1973, Del Baker in 1960, and Rudy York in 1959. Pete Runnels managed the last 16 games in 1966 and was offered the job for ’67 but declined.
Managers who became full-time after being hired during the season include Kerrigan (2001), Morgan (1988), Don Zimmer (1976), Mike Higgins (1960), Steve O’Neill (1950), Marty McManus (1932) and Bill Carrigan (1913).
Morgan, O’Neill, Zimmer and Carrigan all did well after taking over in mid-season. Carrigan had a Worcester connection. He played college baseball at Holy Cross.
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TRIVIA ANSWERS
1. Wilyer Abreu hit 13 homers at Polar Park in 2023, 12 of them to right field.
2. Bobby Dalbec hit 13 home runs at Polar Park in 2023. Six were to left or left-center, five to center field and two to right.