Bo Porter

Marquis Donnell "Bo" Porter (born July 5, 1972) is a former MLB player. He is also a coach who was most recently a special assistant to GM and former third base/outfield and base running coach for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. Porter previously served as manager of the Houston Astros for two seasons until his termination on September 1, 2014. During spring training in 2018 he ran the Major League Baseball Players Association free agent camp. In 2019, he became a television broadcaster for the Washington Nationals on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.

Bo Porter
Porter with the Astros in 2013
Coach / Manager
Born: (1972-07-05) July 5, 1972
Newark, New Jersey
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 9, 1999, for the Chicago Cubs
Last MLB appearance
August 7, 2001, for the Texas Rangers
MLB statistics
Batting average.214
Home runs2
Runs batted in8
Games managed300
Won–loss record110–190
Winning %.367
Teams
As Player

As Coach

As Manager

Early life

Porter was raised in Newark, New Jersey in the South Ward and is a graduate of Weequahic High School.[1] While in high school, Porter was an all-state performer in baseball, football and basketball.[2]

Porter attended the University of Iowa, and played both baseball and football for the Iowa Hawkeyes.[3] He earned All-Big Ten Conference honors in both sports.[4]

Playing career

Porter was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 40th round of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft.

In 1999, Porter made his major-league debut with the Cubs. Following the season, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the Rule 5 draft. After the 2000 season, he was selected off waivers by the Texas Rangers. He was granted free agency following the 2001 season, and he played the remainder of his career in the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies minor league systems.

Post-playing career

Early career

Porter served as the hitting coach for the Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers in 2005 and manager of the Class A-Advanced Jamestown Jammers in 2006. Porter served as Florida Marlins' third base coach and outfield and baserunning instructor from 2007 to 2009.[5]

Arizona Diamondbacks

Porter became the Diamondbacks third base coach in 2010,[6] after he declined the Marlins' offer to remain with the organization.[7] Following the dismissal of manager A. J. Hinch and promotion of bench coach Kirk Gibson to interim manager in July 2010, Porter was promoted to bench coach.[5]

The Marlins interviewed Porter for their managing job in mid-2010, after they fired Fredi González.[8] Porter was fired by the Diamondbacks following the 2010 season.[9]

Washington Nationals

Porter was a finalist for the Florida Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates managerial positions after the 2010 season. The Marlins position eventually went to Florida's interim manager, Edwin Rodríguez. Porter was hired by the Washington Nationals on November 2, 2010, as their new third base coach, taking over from Pat Listach,[10] and took himself out of consideration for the Pittsburgh managerial job when he accepted his position with the Nats before the Pirates finished their interview process.[11]

On September 6, 2012, Porter was involved in a benches-clearing incident during a game at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., between the Nationals and the Chicago Cubs. Chicago bench coach Jamie Quirk was yelling, apparently at Porter, from inside the Cubs dugout, causing Porter to leave his position in the third base coach′s box and approach the third-base dugout to confront Quirk. Ultimately, both teams came out onto the field and Quirk was ejected by umpire Jerry Layne.[12]

Houston Astros

On September 27, 2012, Porter was announced as the new manager of the Houston Astros for the 2013 season. Porter was also the first Astros manager to manage the team in the American League.[13]

On September 1, 2014, the Astros fired Porter along with bench coach Dave Trembley, who was replaced by Adam Everett. Tom Lawless was named interim manager and replaced Porter for the remaining month of the 2014 season.

Atlanta Braves

Porter at spring training in 2015

On October 3, 2014, the Atlanta Braves announced coaching changes for the 2015 season which included hiring Porter as third base coach, a position which also included outfield and base-running coaching responsibilities. After the 2016 season concluded, Ron Washington replaced Porter as the Braves′ third base coach, and Porter was named a special assistant to Braves general manager John Coppolella.[14]

Free agent camp

On February 8, 2018, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, Tony Clark, announced that the MLBPA would open its first spring training camp for unemployed MLB players since 1995 because an historically slow free-agent market during the 2017–2018 offseason had left more than 100 MLB free agents unsigned as MLB teams opened their spring training camps for the 2018 season.[15][16] This "free agent" camp was intended to provide unsigned free agents who wished to attend it with a simulation of a normal spring training experience and allow them to get in shape for the 2018 season while awaiting a contract offer from a team.[15] Clark announced that Porter would run the free agent camp for the MLBPA.[17] Porter had approximately one week to assemble a staff, find a baseball facility for the camp, and secure temporary housing for the players attending it.[17] Nicknamed "Camp Jobless" by the players,[18] the camp was held at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, with temporary housing in nearby Sarasota.[17] It officially opened on February 11, 2018,[16] with workouts beginning on February 12,[16] the same day MLB teams began their spring training workouts.[16] Porter′s coaching staff included former MLB players Chris Chambliss, Tom Gordon, Brian Jordan, Reid Nichols, Dave Winfield,[15] and Dmitri Young.[18] The camp shut down on March 9, 2018.[17]

Mid-Atlantic Sports Network

On January 25, 2019, the Washington Nationals and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) announced that Porter would replace Ray Knight in 2019 as co-anchor and analyst on the Nats Xtra pre-game and post-game shows that air on MASN before and after Nationals games.[19] His first Nats Xtra broadcast took place on Opening Day on March 28, 2019.

Managerial record

TeamFromToRegular season recordPost–season record
GWLWin %GWLWin %
Houston Astros20132014 300110190.367
Total 300110190.367 000
SOURCE:

Personal

Porter has lived in Houston, Texas, since 1996,[13] and founded and is CEO of Future All-Stars Sports Development Academy since 1998.[20] In January 2012, he founded The Bo Porter SELF Foundation[13] in Houston. SELF stands for Sports, Education, Life Skills, and Faith. Porter is the Founder and Chairman of the Board for Bo Porter Charities, a nonprofit philanthropic foundation.[21] Porter has a son, Bryce. [22]


References

  1. Carr, Rob (October 5, 2012). "D'Alessandro: Newark's Bo Porter hopes to help revive baseball in the city by succeeding as Astros manager". NJ.com. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  2. McTaggart, Brian. "Hometown honors manager with 'Bo Porter Day'". MLB.com. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  3. "Former Two-Sport Standout Bo Porter is Honorary Captain". University of Iowa Athletics. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  4. Sullivan, Paul Francis. "Houston Astros Will Name Bo Porter as Their New Manager". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  5. "Arizona Diamondbacks name Bo Porter bench coach". Azcentral.com. April 5, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  6. "Diamondbacks add Williams, Porter as coaches". NevadaAppeal.com. November 12, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  7. "Florida Marlins: More coaching staff vacancies – Florida Marlins – Sun-Sentinel". Blogs.sun-sentinel.com. October 9, 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  8. Berry, Adam. "Porter talks to Marlins about manager job | dbacks.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  9. "Gibson signs 2-year deal; staff changes « Inside the D-backs". Taoofsteve.mlblogs.com. October 5, 2010. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  10. "Nationals name Porter third-base coach | nationals.com: News". Washington.nationals.mlb.com. May 24, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  11. Alper, Josh (November 2, 2010). "Bo Porter Joins Nats Coaching Staff, Out of Running in Pittsburgh, Florida". Mlb.fanhouse.com. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  12. Fiammetta, Mike. Cubs drop tense game in Washington. MLB.com. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  13. Castillo, Jorge (April 4, 2014). "Astros manager Bo Porter, a Newark native, remains positive in his second season". The Star-Ledger. New Jersey On-Line LLC (NJ.com). Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  14. O'Brien, David, "Braves bringing back Gonzalez as manager for 2015," ajc.com, October 3, 2014 Retrieved March 29, 2019
  15. Nightengale, Bob, "All eyes on jobless camp as MLB spring training opens: 'Not one player wants to be there'," usatoday.com, February 12, 2018, 12:45 p.m. EST Retrieved March 29, 2019
  16. Blum, Ronald, "MLB players union to open free-agent camp in Bradenton," February 8, 2018, 7:20 p.m. Retrieved March 29, 2019
  17. Lennon, David, "Away from MLB’s normal spring training, a camp nowhere of sorts for baseball’s long list of free agents," newsday.com, March 10, 2018, 7:00 p.m. Retrieved March 29, 2019
  18. Nightengale, Bob, "For free agents at MLB's Camp Jobless, it's 'not about money. Just an opportunity'," usatoday.com, February 14, 2018, 7:08 p.m. EST Retrieved March 29, 2019
  19. Allen, Scott, "," washingtonpost.com, January 24, 2019, 2:00 p.m. EST. Retrieved January 25, 2019
  20. "About Bo Porter". Bo Porter's Future All-Stars Sports Development Academy. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  21. "Bo Porter Charities Website". Bo Porter Charities. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  22. "2014 Houston Astros Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved March 14, 2014.

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Bobby Meacham
Florida Marlins Third base coach
2007–2009
Succeeded by
Joey Espada
Preceded by
Chip Hale
Kirk Gibson
Arizona Diamondbacks
Third base coach→bench coach

2010
Succeeded by
Joel Youngblood
Alan Trammell
Preceded by
Pat Listach
Washington Nationals Third base coach
2011–2012
Succeeded by
Trent Jewett
Preceded by
Doug Dascenzo
Atlanta Braves Third base coach
2015–2016
Succeeded by
Ron Washington
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