Dave Wallace (baseball)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David William (Dave) Wallace (born September 7, 1947 in Waterbury, Connecticut) is a Major League Baseball pitching coach, and a former General Manager and player. Most recently, Wallace was hired as the new pitching coach by the Houston Astros after serving in the same capacity for the Boston Red Sox from 2003 through 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
A high school all-around athlete, Wallace played baseball, basketball and football. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent out of the University of New Haven in 1970. A right handed relief pitcher, Wallace posted a 47-31 record with 60 saves in 355 career minor league outings. In the majors, he made 13 appearances for the Phillies (1973-74) and Toronto Blue Jays (1978) and went 0-1 with 12 strikeouts and a 7.84 ERA in 108 innings. He concluded his playing career with Triple-A Pawtucket (1979).
[edit] Coaching career
As a pitching coach, Wallace is credited with helping develop the talents of pitchers Pedro Martínez, Ramón Martínez, Pedro Astacio, Darren Dreifort, Hideo Nomo, Chan Ho Park, Ismael Valdéz and John Wetteland. Wallace gained notoriety when Orel Hershiser ( http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Orel_Hershiser ) credited him for his early success with the Dodgers in a Sports Illustrated article.
Since 1981, Wallace has been a major league and minor league coach and front office executive. He served as an interim General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had previously worked almost exclusively in the Dodgers and Mets organizations. He won a World Series ring with the Red Sox in 2004.
[edit] Health scare
In February 2006, Wallace became very sick while driving to Spring Training. Twelve years after having his hip replaced, Wallace discovered he was suffering from a severe infection in that replaced hip. [1] He nearly died from the infection, and had it removed immediately. After the infection cleared up, Wallace had the hip replaced in June. [2] Al Nipper was named the interim pitching coach. On August 8, 2006, Wallace made his full-time return to his duties as Red Sox pitching coach.
[edit] External link
- Baseball Reference - Career statistics and analysis
| Preceded by Bob Apodaca |
New York Mets Pitching Coach 1999-2000 |
Succeeded by Charlie Hough |
