Red Sox schedule managerial interview with Dodgers’ Tim Wallach
This is really not a 2011 news item, but one from 2012. Now if the Boston Red Sox had been able to act properly in 2011, there would be no need for this managerial déjà vu, but there you are.
A year ago the Red Sox searched for their first post-Theo Epstein manager and decided on Bobby Valentine. Those crazy guys. Perhaps you heard about that implosion.
Valentine barely staggered through the season, mutiny and irate players everywhere, and the Red Sox are once again beginning a managerial search. And once again, one of their first stops is Dodgers third-base coach Tim Wallach.
Maybe this time they get it right.
There were some restraints in Wallach’s contract last year that limited him to the teams with which he could talk, but now his contract has expired. Now they’ve called again, he’s told them he’s interested and they have scheduled an interview.
“It’s the Red Sox,” Wallach said. “It’s one of the top organizations in all of baseball. We all know how last year went. It’s not a picture of who they are. They were a top organization for a long, long time. It’s certainly something I’m not afraid to be a part of.”
Wallach has never concealed his big-league managerial ambitions, though he is interested in returning to the Dodgers should he not land a desired manager’s position.
There were many who thought Wallach -- who had managed at triple-A Albuquerque -- was the best choice to replace Joe Torre two seasons ago, but the position was all but grandfathered to Don Mattingly.
Now Wallach has been able to watch Mattingly grow on the job the last two years, something that can’t hurt his stellar resume.
And last season aside, the Red Sox have been one of baseball’s most desirable franchises for years. Somehow I don’t think this is about trying to reunite with James Loney.
“I wouldn’t say I would manage just to manage,” Wallach said. “This (Red Sox) is what I think is a very good sitaution. It’s something I would be very excited about.”
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