| Bo Porter | |
|---|---|
 Porter with the Astros in 2013 | |
| Outfielder /Manager /Coach | |
| Born: (1972-07-05)July 5, 1972 (age 53) Newark, New Jersey, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 9, 1999, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| August 7, 2001, for the Texas Rangers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .214 |
| Home runs | 2 |
| Runs batted in | 8 |
| Managerial record | 110–190 |
| Winning % | .367 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager As coach | |
Marquis Donnell "Bo"Porter (born July 5, 1972) is an American former professionalbaseball player,manager, andcoach. He is the current first base coach for theLos Angeles Angels ofMajor League Baseball (MLB). He was a special assistant to theAtlanta Bravesgeneral manager and former third base/outfield and base running coach for the Braves. Porter previously served as manager of theHouston Astros for two seasons until his termination on September 1, 2014. Duringspring training in 2018 he ran theMajor League Baseball Players Association free agent camp. In 2019, he became a television broadcaster for theWashington Nationals on theMid-Atlantic Sports Network.
Porter was raised inNewark, New Jersey in the South Ward and is a graduate ofWeequahic High School.[1] While in high school, Porter was an all-state performer in baseball, football, and basketball.[2]
Porter attended theUniversity of Iowa, and played bothbaseball andfootball for theIowa Hawkeyes.[3] He earned All-Big Ten Conference honors in both sports.[4]
Porter was drafted by theChicago Cubs in the 40th round of the1993 Major League Baseball draft.
In 1999, Porter made his major-league debut with the Cubs. Following the season, he was selected by theOakland Athletics in theRule 5 draft. After the 2000 season, he was selected off waivers by theTexas Rangers. He was granted free agency following the 2001 season, and he played the remainder of his career in theAtlanta Braves andColorado Rockies minor league systems.
Porter served as the hitting coach for the Class AGreensboro Grasshoppers in 2005 and manager of the Class A-AdvancedJamestown Jammers in 2006. Porter served asFlorida Marlins' third base coach and outfield and baserunning instructor from 2007 to 2009.[5]
Porter became the Diamondbacks third base coach in 2010,[6] after he declined the Marlins' offer to remain with the organization.[7] Following the dismissal ofmanagerA. J. Hinch and promotion of bench coachKirk Gibson to interim manager in July 2010, Porter was promoted to bench coach.[5]
The Marlins interviewed Porter for their managing job in mid-2010, after they firedFredi González.[8] Porter was fired by the Diamondbacks following the 2010 season.[9]
Porter was a finalist for theFlorida Marlins andPittsburgh Pirates managerial positions after the2010 season. The Marlins position eventually went to Florida's interim manager,Edwin Rodríguez. Porter was hired by the Washington Nationals on November 2, 2010, as their new third base coach, taking over fromPat Listach,[10] and took himself out of consideration for the Pittsburgh managerial job when he accepted his position with the Nats before the Pirates finished their interview process.[11]
On September 6, 2012, Porter was involved in a benches-clearing incident during a game atNationals Park inWashington, D.C., between the Nationals and theChicago Cubs. Chicago bench coachJamie Quirk was yelling, apparently at Porter, from inside the Cubs dugout, causing Porter to leave his position in the third base coach's box and approach the third-base dugout to confront Quirk. Ultimately, both teams came out onto the field and Quirk was ejected by umpireJerry Layne.[12]
On September 27, 2012, Porter was announced as the new manager of theHouston Astros for the2013 season, replacingBrad Mills, who had led the Astros to records of 56–106 and 55–107 in the last two seasons; the Astros had developed a strategy under general managerJeff Luhnow to develop the team through high draft picks that required rebuilding the farm system and utilizing players at cost-effective rates, such asJose Altuve. Porter was chosen over fellow candidatesTony DeFrancesco,Dave Martinez, andTim Bogar.[13] Porter was also the first Astros manager to manage the team in theAmerican League.[14] The Astros won the Opening Day game against the Texas Rangers and then promptly lost six straight games. The win on March 31 was the only time the Astros would be over .500 the whole season, and they finished the season by losing fifteen straight games to go 51–111.[15]
The followingseason, the Astros were over .500 for two days in the year, starting and ending with their first two wins of the season. By the end of August, they had eclipsed their win total from the past three seasons with 59, and they had their first full month with a winning record for the first time since 2010 in May and August.[16] On September 1, 2014, the Astros fired Porter with the team at a record of 59–79, reportedly due to growing tension between Porter and Luhnow, as Porter did not appreciate perceived challenges to his authority as manager, with Porter stating his gripes at being second-guessed to club ownerJim Crane. One notable annoyance came with the team bringingMark Appel (the top pick of the previous MLB draft by Houston) to throw a July bullpen session in Houston in the presence of the team pitching coachBrent Strom, which raised objections from Astro players due to perceived special treatment and objections from Porter due to not being notified of the session before it happened.[17] Porter was replaced on an interim basis byTom Lawless, who managed the final 24 games of the year that resulted in Houston finishing in fourth place in the division, their first non-last place finish in four years with the help of fresh players such asDallas Keuchel andChris Carter. Porter was the youngest manager in the majors prior to being fired.[18]
Hinch, formerly manager of the Diamondbacks in 2010 while Porter was third base coach, succeeded him as permanent manager of the Astros for the2015 season.[19]
On October 3, 2014, the Atlanta Braves announced coaching changes for the2015 season which included hiring Porter as third base coach, a position which also included outfield and base-running coaching responsibilities. After the2016 season concluded,Ron Washington replaced Porter as the Braves' third base coach, and Porter was named a special assistant to Braves general managerJohn Coppolella.[20]
On February 8, 2018, the executive director of theMajor League Baseball Players Association,Tony Clark, announced that the MLBPA would open its firstspring training camp for unemployed MLB players since1995 because an historically slow free-agent market during the 2017–2018 offseason had left more than 100 MLB free agents unsigned as MLB teams opened their spring training camps for the2018 season.[21][22] This "free agent" camp was intended to provide unsigned free agents who wished to attend it with a simulation of a normal spring training experience and allow them to get in shape for the 2018 season while awaiting a contract offer from a team.[21] Clark announced that Porter would run the free agent camp for the MLBPA.[23] Porter had approximately one week to assemble a staff, find a baseball facility for the camp, and secure temporary housing for the players attending it.[23] Nicknamed "Camp Jobless" by the players,[24] the camp was held atIMG Academy inBradenton,Florida, with temporary housing in nearbySarasota.[23] It officially opened on February 11, 2018,[22] with workouts beginning on February 12,[22] the same day MLB teams began their spring training workouts.[22] Porter's coaching staff included former MLB playersChris Chambliss,Tom Gordon,Brian Jordan,Reid Nichols,Dave Winfield,[21] andDmitri Young.[24] The camp shut down on March 9, 2018.[23]
On January 25, 2019, theWashington Nationals and theMid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) announced that Porter would replaceRay Knight in2019 as co-anchor and analyst on theNats Xtra pre-game and post-game shows that air on MASN before and after Nationals games.[25] His firstNats Xtra broadcast took place onOpening Day on March 28, 2019.
On November 13, 2023, it was reported that theLos Angeles Angels would be hiring Porter as their first base coach.[26]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| HOU | 2013 | 162 | 51 | 111 | .315 | 5th in AL West | – | – | – | – |
| HOU | 2014 | 138 | 59 | 79 | .428 | Fired | – | – | – | – |
| Total[27] | 300 | 110 | 190 | .367 | – | – | – | |||
Porter is from Newark, New Jersey, but has lived inHouston, Texas, since 1996,[14] and founded and is CEO of Future All-Stars Sports Development Academy since 1998.[28]
Porter founded Bo Porter Academy, which opened in August 2022.[29] It is a college preparatory private school for baseball scholar-athletes in middle school and high school.[30] Porter is also the CEO of Bo Porter Enterprise and CORE Multimedia Group.[31]
Porter's wife, Dr. Heather Brown, is an orthodontist,[32] and they have three sons: Bryce, Jaxon, and Jace.[33]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) · ESPN · Baseball Reference · Fangraphs · Baseball Reference (Minors) · Retrosheet · Baseball Almanac| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Florida Marlins Third base coach 2007–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Arizona Diamondbacks Third base coach→bench coach 2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Washington Nationals Third base coach 2011–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Atlanta Braves Third base coach 2015–2016 | Succeeded by |