Grady Little

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Grady Little outside Dodger Stadium. 2006 is Little's first season as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

William Grady Little (born March 30, 1950 in Abilene, Texas) is currently the manager of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers.

Drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1968, Grady played three seasons in the Braves and New York Yankees organizations. In 1980, Little gained his first managerial position for the Baltimore Orioles' Rookie League team in Bluefield, Virginia. He spent 15 full seasons as a manager in the Minor Leagues until 1995. He was inducted in the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.

[edit] Boston Red Sox (2002 - 2003)

In March 2002, the Boston Red Sox hired Little as their manager. Little skippered the Red Sox in the 2002 and 2003 seasons, reaching the playoffs in 2003. Little was enormously popular with his players as he enhanced the loose nature of the clubhouse and supported struggling players. Despite winning 188 games in two seasons with the Red Sox, Little is remembered as Red Sox manager most for his controversial decision during game seven of the 2003 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees. The Red Sox led the game 5-3 in the 8th inning and were five outs away from reaching the World Series. Little visited the mound after starting pitcher Pedro Martinez gave up three straight hits, but he decided against taking out the ace pitcher. The Yankees tied the game on the next hit from Jorge Posada and won the game and the series on Aaron Boone's walk-off home run off of Tim Wakefield in the 11th inning. Little became the scapegoat for the Red Sox loss and was fired during the following offseason.

[edit] Los Angeles Dodgers (2005 - Present)

On 8 December 2005, the Los Angeles Dodgers hired Little to replace their previous manager Jim Tracy. Little became the 25th manager in Dodgers history. As manager of the Dodgers, Little was reunited with several players from the 2002-03 Boston team, including pitcher Derek Lowe, 3B Bill Mueller, and shortstop-turned-first baseman Nomar Garciaparra. The Dodgers won 88 games and earned the NL wild-card spot in the playoffs during Little's first season. The Dodgers were subsequently swept by the New York Mets in three games.

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - managerial record

• Surviving Grady - Red Sox in the Aftermath of Grady Little