Al Pedrique
| Al Pedrique | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Shortstop / Coach | |
| Born: August 11, 1960 Aragua State, Venezuela | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 14, 1987, for the New York Mets | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 21, 1989, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .247 |
| Home runs | 1 |
| Runs batted in | 36 |
| Teams | |
| |
Alfredo José Pedrique García (Spanish pronunciation: [peˈðɾike], born August 11, 1960) is a Venezuelan professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop for the New York Mets (1987), Pittsburgh Pirates (1987–88), and Detroit Tigers (1989).
Pedrique served as the Houston Astros bench coach and as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He also served as the first base coach of the Oakland Athletics a season before being shuffled to third base coaching for two further seasons.
He is currently the manager for the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils.
Playing career
[edit]Pedrique was signed by the New York Mets in 1978 and made his MLB debut nine years later. After five games with the 1987 Mets team he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates where he hit .301 in his rookie season but only managed a .188 cumulative batting average after that.
Pedrique was a career .247 hitter with one home run, 36 runs batted in (RBI), 32 runs, 18 doubles, one triple, and five stolen bases in 174 games.
Managerial and coaching career
[edit]
After retiring, Pedrique managed in the minors for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Houston Astros, and Kansas City Royals organizations from 2000 to 2002. He came back to the majors in 2003 as a third base coach for the Diamondbacks. In 2004, Pedrique began the season as manager of the Tucson Sidewinders, the Diamondbacks Triple-A affiliate, but was hired as manager of the Diamondbacks on an interim basis when Bob Brenly was fired in July. Pedrique compiled a 22–61 record. He was replaced by Wally Backman, and then Bob Melvin, at the end of the season.
Pedrique created some controversy as manager when he ordered the Diamondbacks pitching staff to intentionally walk Barry Bonds throughout an entire three-game series against the San Francisco Giants from September 10–12, since Bonds was on the verge of hitting his 700th career home run, which Pedrique did not want to happen at Bank One Ballpark (in total for the series, Bonds was walked eight times (twice intentionally) while hitting one home run, and Bonds would hit his 700th on September 17th). [1][2] Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated called the incident one of "professional cowardice."[3]
While serving as a special assistant for the Houston Astros in 2007, Pedrique was in Venezuela and championed a 16-year old Jose Altuve to the front office, convincing them that he had the talent and strength to eventually play in the major leagues. Altuve had been dismissed by scouts as being too short and thought he was lying about his age.[4]
The Astros hired Pedrique as their bench coach on October 31, 2009, after previously serving as their Minor League Field Coordinator and third base coach.[5] In 2013, he was hired as manager of the Yankees' Class-A affiliate Charleston RiverDogs. In 2014, the New York Yankees promoted Pedrique to the manager of the Tampa Yankees.[6] In 2015, he was promoted to manager of the Trenton Thunder. On January 6, 2016, Pedrique was announced as the manager of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.[7] In his first season as manager, he led the RailRiders to a North Division title. Pedrique then led the RailRiders to the International League's Governors' Cup championship and won. After that, he then led the RailRiders to win Triple-A National Championship Game and won that as well. In his second and final season as RailRiders manager, Pedrique led the RailRiders to a North Division title once again. The RailRiders ended up losing to the Durham Bulls, who went on to win the Triple A National Championship at the RailRiders PNC Field, in the Governors' Cup Championship.
On December 4, 2017, Pedrique was hired by the Oakland A's as first base coach. He then shifted to third base after one season. [8] He was let go after the 2020 season. [9]
On March 29, 2021, he was named as the new manager for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, the Triple-A affiliate for the Miami Marlins.[10] On November 17, 2021, the Marlins hired Pedrique as their third base and infield coach for the 2022 season.[11]
He was named manager of the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils for the 2023 season.
Managerial records
[edit]| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| ARI | 2004 | 22 | 61 | .265 | 5th in NL West | – | – | – | – |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Barry Bonds 2004 Batting Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
- ^ Richards, Jim (September 12, 2004). "Notes: Avoiding Bonds at all costs". MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 5, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
- ^ Verducci, Tom (September 27, 2004). "Tom Verducci's View: Crossing the Line". SI.com. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
- ^ Justice, Richard (April 29, 2018). "Altuve 'went against all the odds' to reach Majors: Pedrique knew then-16-year-old Venezuelan had what it takes". MLB.com. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
- ^ "Astros add trio of coaches on Friday". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. October 30, 2009. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
- ^ "Tampa Yankees - Tampa Yankees News". Tampa Yankees. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
- ^ "Pedrique Headlines SWB Field Staff Changes - Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders News". Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
- ^ Lee, Jane (December 4, 2017). "Athletics add Al Pedrique to coaching staff". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
- ^ "Athletics Part Ways with Third Base Coach al Pedrique". October 24, 2020.
- ^ "Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp name al Pedrique manager".
- ^ "Miami Marlins announce additions to coaching staff". MLB.com.
External links
[edit]- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Oakland Athletics first base coach 2018–2020 |
Succeeded by Mike Aldrete
|
- 1960 births
- Arizona Diamondbacks coaches
- Arizona Diamondbacks managers
- Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players
- Detroit Tigers players
- Edmonton Trappers players
- Houston Astros coaches
- Jackson Mets players
- Little Falls Mets players
- Living people
- Lynchburg Mets players
- Major League Baseball bench coaches
- Major League Baseball first base coaches
- Major League Baseball players from Venezuela
- Major League Baseball shortstops
- Major League Baseball third base coaches
- Navegantes del Magallanes players
- New York Mets players
- Oakland Athletics coaches
- Omaha Royals players
- Sportspeople from Aragua
- Pittsburgh Pirates players
- Spokane Indians managers
- Tacoma Tigers players
- Tiburones de La Guaira players
- Tidewater Tides players
- Tigres de Aragua players
- Toledo Mud Hens players
- Trenton Thunder managers
- Venezuelan baseball coaches
- Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Canada
- Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States