Tim Bogar Is Moving To The Bench

by Ben Buchanan on Dec 20, 2011 10:38 PM EST in News

"I know the pitcher has the balland all, but I really think you've got a chance here, Darnell." (Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

Red Sox fans, our long national nightmare is over: according to Rob Bradford (and his sources), Tim Bogar will not be returning to third base in 2012, instead joining new manager Bobby Valentine in the dugout as the new bench coach.

With DeMarlo Hale having been a part of the staff shuffle that inevitably seems to follow any managing change, the spot was left open for the first time in two years. While we had heard at the same time that Tim Bogar was set to stay with the organization, there was no indication whether he would be retaining his duties as third base coach, or taking over a new role.

Tim Bogar has long been considered an impressive baseball mind and potential future managing candidate, but neither of those qualities seemed to have prepared him for his role giving signals at third. The heir to the third base throne of "Wave 'Em In" Wendall Kim and "Suicide Signal" Sveum (alright, that last one is mine), Bogar has been a source of frustration for Sox fans in two seasons marked by runners being gunned down at home with some regularity.

The evaluation of third base coaches is not terribly well developed, and is mostly the purview of your average fan a few beers in shouting at the television. We may never know exactly what sort of effect Bogar had on the team by choosing to send runners in situations that many would have deemed too risky. To be sure, whoever takes over for him will be entering one of the most criticized, least appreciated roles on the team.

But, for now, if only as that fan in front of the television, it feels good to say that the Era of Bogar has come to an end.

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I'm in the midst of the last stretch of the worst finals crunch I've ever experienced

But damn if this wasn’t worth an interruption.

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by Ben Buchanan on Dec 20, 2011 10:38 PM EST reply actions

Hope You Are Killing Those Finals

And I agree, this is cause for a celebration.

Contributor to SB Nation Boston

by Jared Stegall on Dec 20, 2011 10:43 PM EST up reply actions

Something is killing, and something is being killed...

But I’m afraid you have the reverse of it.

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by Ben Buchanan on Dec 20, 2011 11:17 PM EST up reply actions

Which classes are you taking to be destroyed by such finals?

I’ve been lucky enough to have “finals” that were just long papers the last couple semesters.

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.
-Johnny Cash

by TheLoneDavid on Dec 20, 2011 11:40 PM EST up reply actions

Just ones which had a lot of reading I needed to catch up on or review.

Combined with one class which had a 5 page paper due the day before finals, and a 7 page paper due tomorrow (having had another final today). I’ve spent the last week doing nothing but reading and writing.

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by Ben Buchanan on Dec 21, 2011 12:08 AM EST up reply actions

God bless us,

every one.

by Maeamian on Dec 20, 2011 10:48 PM EST reply actions

Great news,

Now they just need to get a few starters and I’ll be a very happy Red Sox fan.

by aubatron2011 on Dec 20, 2011 10:53 PM EST reply actions

Tek

what about Tek??

by raduzyh on Dec 20, 2011 11:19 PM EST reply actions

As third base coach?

You’d have to think he’d be conservative, guessing on whether he’d make it home with his speed before he sends someone like Ellsbury/Crawford…

I kid, I kid.

Actually, would have loved to see Tek take the bench coach role… but maybe an assistant pitching coach, or bullpen coach role??

I thought we’d never win it all. And then we went down 0-3 to the Yankees in 2004, and I thought it was the end of the world.

Wait ’til next year!

by AlohaSox on Dec 21, 2011 5:17 PM EST up reply actions

he wants to play, not coach

and who knows if he’d actually be good at it

by wolf9309 on Dec 21, 2011 5:43 PM EST up reply actions

Oh, I know...

And someone will probably make him a reasonable offer to mentor another young catcher…

However, I think there are some indicators from his major league career, his detailed study of opposing hitters and his own pitchers, his ability to be a calming presence when he’d go out to the mound (whether with rookies or vets)… that he’d be a damn good coach.

I’m also not sure whether he’d really want to (but then again, if guys as successful as Don Mattingly and Kirk Gibson want to manage too, perhaps there’s hope?)…

I thought we’d never win it all. And then we went down 0-3 to the Yankees in 2004, and I thought it was the end of the world.

Wait ’til next year!

by AlohaSox on Dec 21, 2011 5:47 PM EST up reply actions

well, when asked he's said

something along the lines of “maybe, years and years from now”

For now, he’s got 2 kids, a new wife, and if he retires from playing will probably relax and spend some time with them. I think players don’t get interested in coaching until, in a few years, they realize that gets boring.

by wolf9309 on Dec 21, 2011 6:10 PM EST up reply actions

Right...

Good point too, as Mattingly and Gibson took a while to return to coaching.

I thought we’d never win it all. And then we went down 0-3 to the Yankees in 2004, and I thought it was the end of the world.

Wait ’til next year!

by AlohaSox on Dec 21, 2011 6:42 PM EST up reply actions

If I know my Lovecraft

then this is merely the prelude for the degenerate, deranged Bogar to seclude himself from prying eyes. In his privacy, the desperate sorcerer will verse himself in the blackest verses of the foul Necronomicon, slaughter pigeons in ritualistic sacrifices, and commune with eldritch powers. When the stars are right and the playoffs near, he will unleash a wave of unspeakable decision making that will cause the earth to cease spinning and the very stars to vanish from the sky, and more importantly lead to a disastrous September collapse.

The Call of Bogar: “In his red clubhouse at Fenway, Tim Bogar waits dreaming.”

Monster carcass in Fens this morning, bat splinters on burst stuffing. This team is afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The players are inveterate quitters and the pitchers are full of fail, and when the playoffs are within reach, they will all choke. The accumulated filth of all their beer and clubhouse rivalries will foam up about their waists, and all the fat Texans and horrid relievers will look up and shout, "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper, "NO."

by 0157H7 on Dec 20, 2011 11:37 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Amen

Check out my blog at http://conor-soxrox.blogspot.com

by Conor Duffy on Dec 21, 2011 7:38 AM EST reply actions

We're gonna hate the next guy just as much.

by Jake_W on Dec 21, 2011 9:47 AM EST reply actions

Unlikely

Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.

@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
OTM | Silver Seven

by Bloggy on Dec 21, 2011 10:00 AM EST up reply actions

I've watched many a third base coach

It’s rare that anyone ever LIKES the third base coach, but few have been AS bad as Bogar. We probably won’t love whoever is there next, but they’ll almost certainly be a step up.

by wolf9309 on Dec 21, 2011 11:21 AM EST up reply actions

If you say so

People hated Sveum just as much, if not more, and hated Kim only marginally less than Bogar and Sveum.

I’m not saying I wanted Bogar to stay—I hated him, too!—I’m just pointing out that this joy will be short-lived.

by Jake_W on Dec 21, 2011 12:43 PM EST up reply actions

The season is saved!!

Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.

@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
OTM | Silver Seven

by Bloggy on Dec 21, 2011 10:01 AM EST reply actions

I could make a pretty solid argument that with someone else instead of Bogar, we would've been in the playoffs

probably wouldn’t have gotten far in em, but would’ve gotten in. Interesting to think that if it weren’t for Bogar, there’s a good chance Francona would still be manager and we, as Red Sox fans, wouldn’t have to shudder everytime we hear the phrase “fried chicken and beer”

by wolf9309 on Dec 21, 2011 11:23 AM EST up reply actions

I agree.

There is nothing irrational about Red Sox Nation’s disdain for Tim Bogar. He was horrible and cost us plenty.

Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.

@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
OTM | Silver Seven

by Bloggy on Dec 21, 2011 11:25 AM EST up reply actions

i'm starting to think that though kim, sveum and bogar

obviously killed more than their share of rallies, their poor image has a lot more to do with the fan base and the high risk attached to being a third base coach. Maybe fenway’s a factor, as well (maybe one of you statheads could dig into that? parks with most outs at home?). i could almost guarantee royston is not going to be very popular with the fans in boston, to say the least, starting with the first runner out at home under his watch. i wouldn’t take that job with an alias and a mask.

by soxfanabroad on Dec 21, 2011 10:20 PM EST reply actions