Ron Roenicke

Ronald Jon Roenicke (/ˈrɛnᵻki/ REN-i-kee; born August 19, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He is the current third base coach of the Los Angeles Angels. He was previously the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers and a coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is also the younger brother of former Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles outfielder Gary Roenicke. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds.

Early life and playing career

Roenicke attended Edgewood High School in West Covina, California and Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California. He was drafted four times (by the Oakland Athletics in 1974, the San Francisco Giants in 1975, the Detroit Tigers in 1976 and the Atlanta Braves in 1976) but declined to sign each time. He played college baseball at UCLA in 1977 where he hit .284 with 9 home runs and 40 RBIs.^[1]

In 1977 he was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1st round (17th overall), and decided to join the Dodgers organization. He spent time in the Dodgers' farm system until making his major league debut with the club on September 2, 1981, where he remained until released by the club in 1983. He signed with the Seattle Mariners in 1983 and played for the 1984 National League Champion San Diego Padres. He played in two games of the 1984 World Series against the Detroit Tigers, serving as an outfielder^[2] and pinch runner.^[3]

Roenicke continued to bounce around the major leagues, playing as an outfielder for the San Francisco Giants (1985), Philadelphia Phillies (1986–87) and Cincinnati Reds (1988). In his playing career, he compiled a .238 batting average, 17 home runs and 113 RBIs.^[4]

Coaching career

From 1992 to 1993, Roenicke served on the coaching staff of the Dodgers' major league team. He began his managerial career in 1994 with the rookie-level Great Falls Dodgers, and was named California League Manager of the year as he led the single-A San Bernardino Spirit to a league title in 1995. He served as the hitting instructor for triple-A Albuquerque in 1996 before being named Manager of the Year for guiding the double-A San Antonio Missions to the Texas League Championship in 1997. He managed San Antonio until 1998 when Glenn Hoffman's elevation as the Dodgers' interim manager led to his return to Albuquerque, this time as manager.

In 1999, Roenicke left the Dodgers organization after seven seasons to manage the triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, the Fresno Grizzlies. He led them to a 73–69 record, only one game behind the eventual league champion, Los Angeles Angels affiliate Salt Lake.

Roenicke switched allegiances once again in 2000, joining the Angels organization as the third base coach for the major league club. After six seasons in that role, he was promoted to bench coach in 2006 after long-time bench coach Joe Maddon departed to manage the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

After a brawl between the Angels and the Texas Rangers on August 16, 2006 led to a four-game suspension for Angels skipper Mike Scioscia, Roenicke served as the club's acting manager. He compiled a 4–0 record during his tenure, leading the team to its first four-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners since 1986. He served his one-game suspension immediately afterwards.

Brewers manager

Roenicke was interviewed by the Milwaukee Brewers for their managerial opening in October 2010. He was a finalist along with Bob Melvin, Bobby Valentine, and Joey Cora. He was hired as Brewers manager on November 2, 2010.^[5]

Roenicke's first season as the Brewers manager was a resounding success as the Brewers finished the season 96–66, the most wins in franchise history, and also won the National League Central Division title, the first divisional title for the team in 29 years. The Brewers went on to win the NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks but lost the NLCS to the St. Louis Cardinals. Roenicke is only the 4th manager in Brewers history to have a winning season in his first full season as manager, joining George Bamberger, Tom Trebelhorn, and Phil Garner.

Roenicke is also only the 4th Brewers manager to make the playoffs and the only manager to make the playoffs while managing the team for a full season: Harvey Kuenn and Dale Sveum each took over for a fired manager during their playoff seasons, and Buck Rodgers managed the team during a season shortened by a players' strike. The Brewers' success in 2011 resulted in Roenicke finishing in second in NL Manager of the Year voting.

Roenicke and the Brewers looked to try to capitalize on their success in 2012, but inconsistent play from several players caused the Brewers to scuffle for most of the season. However, the team was able to rebound and finish the season 83–79, the first time since 2008 that the Brewers had finished with back-to-back winning seasons. In 2014, the Brewers led the NL Central for much of the season, but collapsed in late August and September, resulting in an 82-80 record and failure to make the postseason. On May 3, 2015, Roenicke was fired after a poor 7-18 start to the season.^[6][7]

Return to coaching

On August 17, 2015, he was hired by the Dodgers to be their new third base coach.^[8] After the season, he left the Dodgers for the Angels in a deal to be their third base coach on November 18.

Managerial record

As of May 3, 2015

Personal life & family

Roenicke's nephew, Josh Roenicke (son of Gary Roenicke), has also played in the major leagues while his son, Lance, has played and coached in the minor leagues. Roenicke's wife, Karen was a P.E. teacher at Chino Hills High School. Roenicke is a Christian.^[10]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)