| Ron Roenicke | |
|---|---|
 Roenicke as manager of the Brewers | |
| Outfielder /Manager | |
| Born: (1956-08-19)August 19, 1956 (age 69) Covina, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 2, 1981, for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 21, 1988, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .238 |
| Home runs | 17 |
| Runs batted in | 113 |
| Managerial record | 366–367 |
| Winning % | .499 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Ronald Jon Roenicke (/ˈrɛnɪki/REN-i-kee; born August 19, 1956) is an American former professionalbaseballoutfielder,coach, andmanager. During his playing career, Roenicke played eight seasons inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theLos Angeles Dodgers,Seattle Mariners,San Diego Padres,San Francisco Giants,Philadelphia Phillies, andCincinnati Reds. He later served as a coach for the Dodgers,Los Angeles Angels, andBoston Red Sox, and as manager for theMilwaukee Brewers and Red Sox. He is the younger brother of former MLB outfielderGary Roenicke.
Roenicke attendedEdgewood High School inWest Covina, California, andMt. San Antonio College inWalnut, California. He was drafted four times (Oakland Athletics in 1974;San Francisco Giants in 1975;Detroit Tigers in 1976; andAtlanta Braves in 1976) but declined to sign each time. He playedcollege baseball atUCLA in 1977 where he hit .284 with 9home runs and 40runs batted in (RBI).[1]
In the1977 Major League Baseball draft, Roenicke was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1st round (17th overall), and decided to join the Dodgers organization. He spent time in the Dodgers' farm system until making his major league debut with the club on September 2,1981, where he remained until released by the club in1983. He signed with the Seattle Mariners in 1983 and played for the1984National League Champion San Diego Padres. He played in two games of the1984 World Series against theDetroit Tigers, serving as an outfielder[2] andpinch runner.[3]
Roenicke continued to bounce around the major leagues, playing as an outfielder for the San Francisco Giants (1985), Philadelphia Phillies (1986–87), and Cincinnati Reds (1988). In his playing career, he compiled a .238batting average, with 17 home runs, and 113 RBI.[4]
From1992 to1993, Roenicke served on the coaching staff of the Dodgers' major league team. He began his managerial career in 1994 with the Rookie-levelGreat Falls Dodgers, and was namedCalifornia League Manager of the year as he led the Single-ASan Bernardino Spirit to a league title in 1995. He served as the hitting instructor for Triple-AAlbuquerque in 1996 before being namedTexas League Manager of the Year for guiding the Double-ASan Antonio Missions to theTexas League championship in 1997. He managed San Antonio until 1998 whenGlenn Hoffman's elevation as the Dodgers' interim manager led to his return to Albuquerque, this time as manager.
In 1999, Roenicke left the Dodgers organization after seven seasons to manage the Triple-A affiliate of theSan Francisco Giants, theFresno Grizzlies. He led them to a 73–69 record, only one game behind the eventual league champion,Los Angeles Angels affiliateSalt Lake.
Roenicke switched allegiances once again in2000, joining the Angels organization as the third base coach for the major league club. After six seasons in that role, he was promoted to bench coach in 2006 after long-time bench coachJoe Maddon departed to manage theTampa Bay Devil Rays.
After a brawl between the Angels and theTexas Rangers on August 16, 2006, led to a four-game suspension for Angels skipperMike Scioscia, Roenicke served as the club's acting manager. He compiled a 4–0 record during his tenure, leading the team to its first four-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners since 1986. He served his one-game suspension immediately afterwards.
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Roenicke was interviewed by theMilwaukee Brewers for their managerial opening in October 2010. He was a finalist along withBob Melvin,Bobby Valentine, andJoey Cora. He was hired as Brewers manager on November 2, 2010.[5]
Roenicke's first season as the Brewers manager was a resounding success as the Brewers finished the season 96–66, the most wins in franchise history, and also won the National League Central Division title, the first divisional title for the team in 29 years and their first as a National League team. The Brewers went on to win theNLDS against theArizona Diamondbacks but lost theNLCS to theSt. Louis Cardinals. Roenicke became the fourth manager in Brewers history to have a winning season in his first full season as manager, joiningGeorge Bamberger,Tom Trebelhorn, andPhil Garner.
Roenicke was also only the fourth Brewers manager to make the playoffs and the first to do so while managing the team for a full season:Harvey Kuenn andDale Sveum each took over for a fired manager during their playoff seasons, andBuck Rodgers managed the team during a season shortened by a players' strike. The Brewers' success in 2011 resulted in Roenicke finishing in second in NL Manager of the Year voting, which went toKirk Gibson of theDiamondbacks.
Roenicke and the Brewers looked to try to capitalize on their success in 2012, but inconsistent play from several players caused the Brewers to scuffle for most of the season. However, the team was able to rebound and finish the season 83–79, the first time since 2008 that the Brewers had finished with back-to-back winning seasons. In 2014, the Brewers led the NL Central for much of the season, but collapsed in late August and September, resulting in an 82-80 record and failure to make the postseason. On May 3, 2015, Roenicke was fired after a poor 7–18 start to the season.[6][7] He finished with a record of 342 wins and 331 losses in 673 games as Brewers manager.[8] He also had five wins and six losses in 11 post–season games.[8]
On August 17, 2015, with seven weeks left in the season, Roenicke was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers to be their third base coach.[9] In November 2015, he joined the Los Angeles Angels as their third base coach;[10] he was with the team for the2016 and2017 seasons. On November 2, 2017, he was announced as the bench coach for theBoston Red Sox, serving under rookie managerAlex Cora.[11]
Following the mutual decision of the Red Sox and Alex Cora to part ways in January 2020, in the wake of theHouston Astros sign stealing scandal,[12] Roenicke was named interim manager of the Red Sox on February 11, 2020.[13] The "interim" tag was removed in April, following MLB's investigation about sign-stealing by the2018 Red Sox.[14] During the start-delayed 60-game season, the2020 Red Sox finished last in theAmerican League East with a record of 24–36,[15] a .400winning percentage, the lowest for the franchise since the1965 Red Sox finished with a .383 winning percentage (62–100).[16] On September 27, 2020, prior to the team's final regular season game, the Red Sox announced that Roenicke would not return as manager for the 2021 season. He was replaced by Cora, the manager he had replaced a year earlier.[17]
In February 2021, the Los Angeles Dodgers hired Roenicke as a special assistant to the general manager.[18]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| MIL | 2011 | 162 | 96 | 66 | .593 | 1st in NL Central | 5 | 6 | .455 | LostNLCS (STL) |
| MIL | 2012 | 162 | 83 | 79 | .512 | 3rd in NL Central | – | – | – | – |
| MIL | 2013 | 162 | 74 | 88 | .457 | 4th in NL Central | – | – | – | – |
| MIL | 2014 | 162 | 82 | 80 | .506 | 3rd in NL Central | – | – | – | – |
| MIL | 2015 | 25 | 7 | 18 | .280 | fired | – | – | – | – |
| MIL total | 673 | 342 | 331 | .508 | 5 | 6 | .455 | |||
| BOS | 2020 | 60 | 24 | 36 | .400 | 5th in AL East | – | – | – | – |
| BOS total | 60 | 24 | 36 | .400 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| Total[8] | 733 | 366 | 367 | .499 | 5 | 6 | .455 | |||
Roenicke's nephew,Josh (his brotherGary's son), has also played in the major leagues while his son, Lance, has played and coached in the minor leagues. Roenicke's wife, Karen, was aphysical education teacher atChino Hills High School in California. Roenicke is aChristian.[19]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Los Angeles Dodgers bench coach 1992–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Anaheim/Los Angeles Angelsthird base coach 2000–2006 2016–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Los Angeles Angelsbench coach 2006–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Los Angeles Dodgersthird base coach 2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Boston Red Soxbench coach 2018–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Boston Red Soxmanager 2020 | Succeeded by |