Chad Tracy sits at .500 after his first few games as interim Red Sox manager.
The vibes are bleak around the team following the firing of Alex Cora, the third-winningest manager in franchise history, with an insufficient roster that has more than struggled out of the gate.
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We’ve talked at length about the Cora decision, so let’s take some time to dive deeper into what the promotion means for Tracy, his family and the chance for remarkably unique managerial history.
Chad’s father, Jim, managed for 11 seasons in the big leagues and made it to Baltimore for his son’s first MLB managerial win (500th career) last Sunday. The 70-year old has his own experience taking over the skipper’s seat as well, a great path for Chad to follow.
The Colorado Rockies were 18-28 when the team fired Clint Hurdle in late May 2009. The roster remained mostly intact from the group that miraculously won 22 of 23 games to reach the 2007 World Series. Dan O’Dowd served as general manager back then and reflected on the chain of events that led to a shakeup.
“I think every one is unique,” O’Dowd, currently an analyst for MLB Network, told OverTheMonster.com. “That’s what really happened in 2009. Going to the World Series in 2007, a pretty big step back in 2008 with the same core of players. We felt in 2009, from spring training on, there was just something off.”
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Just like with this recent move with Cora and the Red Sox, the move didn’t go over perfectly throughout the organization. Ultimately, the front office felt a move was needed.
“There were people probably more passionate about that we needed to change than I was,” O’Dowd shared. “Not getting into names. Of course, I was the one to deliver the news.”
Colorado acted swiftly to give the team time to respond under Tracy, who the organization elevated from bench coach.
“It did turn out to be a really good decision because we rebounded and we played exceptionally well,” O’Dowd said.
Dexter Fowler played his first full MLB season in 2009 and experienced exactly what that type of change can do to impact a franchise but also give the clubhouse a needed reset.
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“Being a rookie, being a young guy, I didn’t really understand the magnitude of it until it really happens,” Fowler, now an analyst for NBC Sports’ MLB coverage, told OverTheMonster.com. “And then you sit there and you got a new guy coming in, but Jim Tracy was our bench coach. So we were kind of familiar with him. But the changes he came in and made, I think he saw throughout the season before the manager got fired and he saw what we needed to change. We always believed in him coming in.”
The most important change under Tracy became transparency and a better plan for players to go out and focus on their ability to impact the game.
“Well, first off, I think Jim did a great job,” O’Dowd said. “Jim was an experienced baseball man. He managed the Dodgers for years. And I think the best thing that Jim did, believe it or not, was he didn’t really say a lot. He just kind of let them go.”
“Yeah, I think it was consistency,” Fowler said. “I think Jim, when he first came in, he sat us down and kind of told us our roles and what everybody was going to do. …I think that’s key. We’re creatures of habit and going back and forth to different (roles) catching us off guard is never the move.”
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Hey, doesn’t that sound familiar?
The Red Sox inflicted several roster issues upon themselves under Craig Breslow, maybe none more glaring than the outfield logjam. This season brought the most obvious consequences with five players being cycled in and out of the lineup, costing them valuable playing time.
“Like I said, at the end of the day, it starts at the top with Jim,” Fowler continued. “Those guys that were in the clubhouse then, they weren’t used to the back and forth either. Some guys are playing this time, some guys aren’t playing, you never know. I think we had like 29 different lineups in 30 days. It was something crazy like that. Jim gave us a level of consistency. We could trust him.”
Don’t you think Jarren Duran might be hitting better than .170 if he didn’t sit days at a time during the rotation with Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida? When hitters have no idea when their next at-bats will come, you better believe it’s hard to perform in the big leagues.
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Changes like that helped the 2009 Rockies catch fire. Colorado went 74-42 after Tracy took over. That’s a remarkable .638 winning percentage in that stretch. The Rockies earned the National League Wild Card spot and set a franchise record with 92 wins.
The Philadelphia Phillies, who eventually won the NL pennant for the second straight year, eliminated Colorado in four games. Nonetheless, playing in October marked a remarkable turnaround for the team and gave young players like Fowler a first taste of the ultimate mission.
“It’s like a drug, it’s something you get addicted to,” Fowler said. “You want to be in that position at all times. You never want to miss that opportunity because you don’t know when you’re going to get back.”
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Fowler did get back four more times in his career and won a World Series championship with the Chicago Cubs in 2016. The outfielder led off Game 7, one of the greatest games in baseball history, with a solo home run.
Jim Tracy showed the impact of the right in-season switch. Can his son get another team to the playoffs 17 years later?
The stories would write themselves in one of the more fascinating intertwingings in recent baseball history.
Ultimately, these situations aren’t totally the same and the Red Sox roster has arguably more to overcome than Colorado did.
“I think you can’t paint every situation with the same brush,” O’Dowd commented while discussing the differences, including the initial decisions with Hurdle in Colorado and Cora in Boston.
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For Chad Tracy in the meantime, however, the ex-Colorado executive believes in the Red Sox interim given the baseball path his family set for him to follow one way or another.
“Jim and Debbie are just wonderful people,” O’Dowd explained. “So I just know the character of Chad is going to be off the chart. I would guarantee you in the Tracy household that they didn’t talk world politics much. They probably talked baseball nonstop. Jim just knew about the game of baseball from every angle. He’d fill up hours just sitting down and talking about the game. So I know that, Chad, it’s no different than. Players that grow up around the sport, they seem to have a slower heartbeat to the fast-paced demands of the big-league level. I feel the same way about Chad.”
What the Red Sox will need beyond Tracy’s new approach is actual veteran presence and accountability in the clubhouse. We all know how much of that Alex Bregman brought to his lone season in Boston, and while he hasn’t produced like an All-Star for the Cubs so far, this area of his absence is on full display.
“It’s a young team and I think that that young core really missed some (leadership),” O’Dowd said. “It doesn’t react as well. I know Trevor (Story) really well, having drafted and developed Trevor. And Trevor’s a really, really good kid. He’s not a vocal leader. He’s a quiet performer who really shows up every day and leads by the way he tries to go out and prepare and compete himself. I think they missed a particular individual that probably was (vocal).”
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Fowler named Tracy’s father as one of his favorite managers he played for. O’Dowd hopes his son comes into his own with the Red Sox.
“I think he’s gonna do a good job, I hope he does,” O’Dowd added. “I’m thrilled for his mom and dad. I’m thrilled for them.”
Will history be on the side of the Red Sox in this Tracy timeline? They should hope they are.
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