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Thursday, December 16, 2004
Tosca returns to his roots
Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||
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Carlos Tosca, who managed the Portland Sea Dogs through the first three years of their existence and went on to become manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, has found a new home in Arizona. Tosca will coach third base for the Diamondbacks, the organization that gave him his first major-league job. He spent the 1999 and 2000 seasons as Buck Showalter's bench coach. "I had left on real good terms with (Arizona General Manager) Joe Garagiola Jr.," Tosca said in a telephone interview from his home in Florida. "I called and mentioned to him that I would like to be part of their staff as third-base coach. He recommended me and I was hired about a week later." The rest of Manager Bob Melvin's staff includes hitting coach Mike Aldrete, first-base coach Brett Butler, pitching coach Mark Davis, bullpen coach Glenn Shurlock and bench coach Jay Bell, who played for Tosca and Showalter. Tosca was the first candidate to interview with the New York Mets for their managerial opening, a position filled by former New York Yankees coach Willie Randolph. Tosca also spoke with Yankees GM Brian Cashman about the possibility of joining their staff, but the Yankees already were in the process of hiring Joe Girardi as bench coach. Yankees Manager Joe Torre thought enough of Tosca to invite him to be one of the coaches of the American League All-Star team in Houston. "It was a tremendous experience," Tosca said. "It was like being a little kid again." The Blue Jays fired Tosca in early August despite a rash of injuries that included Carlos Delgado, Vernon Wells and Cy Young winner Roy Halladay. "I look at it in a couple of ways," Tosca said. "First of all, you can contact all 32 major-league managers and ask them how they can prevent, A, your most productive players from being injured all at the same time and, B, how to stop a slump." Tosca won't be exchanging holiday cards with Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi, who lowered the boom after Tosca had spoken with reporters following a game and most of the players and coaches had left the clubhouse, preventing the manager from saying goodbye to his players. "I'm certain that, in all the jobs I've had and all of the years that I managed," Tosca said, "I was never second-guessed and told what to do and who not to play as those 2 1/2 years in Toronto. And yet, it was the one thing I was held most accountable for." Tosca has spent the past few months at home, accompanying his mother to dialysis treatments, teaching his 15-year-old son Matt to drive and playing an occasional round of golf. He watched baseball's playoffs with interest, particularly the exploits of former Sea Dogs first baseman Kevin Millar and former Diamondbacks ace Curt Schilling in helping the Red Sox to their improbable comeback against the Yankees and eventual World Series victory against the Cardinals. "The one thing they always had," Tosca said of his two-plus seasons of managing against the Red Sox, "was that they could care less about the score or the inning. They played the same way: relentlessly. For a couple years there, all they needed was someone to finish the game for them." The Red Sox got their man in closer Keith Foulke. One player Tosca tried to get during his Toronto tenure was former Sea Dogs catcher Mike Redmond. Almost concurrent with Tosca's hiring, the Minnesota Twins signed Redmond, a free agent who spent seven years with the Marlins, to a two-year contract worth a reported $1.8 million. Tosca protege Ken Joyce remains in the Toronto organization as manager of the new Class A affiliate in Michigan, the Lansing Lugnuts. Joyce, who managed the Charleston (W. Va.) Alley Cats to a division title last season, recently moved back to Portland with his family. "Hopefully, I'll go from Lansing to Manchester," said Joyce, referring to Toronto's Double-A Eastern League affiliate in New Hampshire. Until spring training begins, Joyce will be substitute teaching in the Portland school system and giving private lessons at The Bat Cave in Portland. Staff Writer Glenn Jordan can be contacted at 791-6425 or at:
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