American baseball executive and manager
Baseball player
John E. Boles Jr.
(born August 19, 1948) is an American former
professional baseball
front-office executive,
manager
in
minor league
and
Major League Baseball
, and
college baseball
head coach. As of
2013
, he was the senior adviser to the
general manager
for player development for the
Kansas City Royals
.
Boles spent two terms?
1996
(July 11?end of the season), and (
1999
?
May 28, 2001
)?as manager of the
Florida Marlins
, compiling a
win?loss record
of 205?241 (.460). He also served two separate terms as a member of the Royals' front office, held executive positions with the Marlins,
Montreal Expos
,
Los Angeles Dodgers
and
Seattle Mariners
, and was a manager in both the
Chicago White Sox
and Royals organizations.
Early career
[
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]
Boles graduated from
Leo Catholic High School
in Chicago in 1966, and
Lewis University
,
Romeoville, Illinois
, in 1970. He did not play professional baseball, and began his career as a college baseball coach at
St. Xavier University
(1973?79) and the
University of Louisville
(1980?81). He joined the White Sox system as manager of their Rookie League affiliate, the
GCL White Sox
, in 1981.
By 1986, Boles had risen through the ranks in his managerial career to
Triple-A
. Having grown up as a White Sox fan, Boles wanted the chance to coach or manage his hometown team. In
1986
, ChiSox third-base coach
Jim Leyland
was appointed manager of the
Pittsburgh Pirates
. White Sox skipper
Tony La Russa
wanted Boles to be Leyland's replacement, but
Ken Harrelson
, newly named the club's director of baseball operations, hired
Doug Rader
instead. So Boles departed for the Royals' organization as manager of Triple-A
Omaha
. After one season, he was promoted by the Royals' general manager,
John Schuerholz
, to director of player development.
Meanwhile, former White Sox executive
Dave Dombrowski
(also forced out of the organization by Harrelson) had moved on to the Montreal Expos, where he eventually became general manager. In
1989
, Dombrowski hired Boles as the Expos' vice president/player development. At the end of the
1991
season, Dombrowski was recruited by the
National League
's new
expansion team
, the Florida Marlins, to become their first general manager. Boles accompanied Dombrowski to Florida as the Marlins' first vp/player development.
Managerial career
[
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]
Boles was still in that position in 1996 when, on July 7, Marlins manager
Rene Lachemann
was fired, and Boles was named interim manager. He led the Marlins to a 40?35 record in the second half of that season. However, during the offseason, then-Marlins owner
H. Wayne Huizenga
decided to sign several marquee
free agents
to make a run at the
World Series
. In addition to
Gary Sheffield
,
Jeff Conine
,
Edgar Renteria
,
Robb Nen
and
Kevin Brown
, among others, who were already with Florida, the Marlins signed free agents
Alex Fernandez
,
Moises Alou
and
Bobby Bonilla
?then named Jim Leyland, highly successful with the small-market Pirates (with three
National League East Division
titles from 1990 to 1992), as manager. Leyland's signing returned Boles to his previous position as vp/player development. The talented
1997 Marlins
then won the National League pennant and the
World Series
.
A year after the championship season, Huizenga?intent on selling the franchise?ordered a "fire sale" in which nearly every marquee player was traded away. Leyland remained the manager, and in
1998
, he led the team to a dismal 54?108 record, making the team the first defending
World Series
champion to lose 100 games the next season. After the season, Leyland resigned to manage the
Colorado Rockies
, and Boles returned to manage the Marlins for the
1999
season.
[1]
He led them to a 64?98 record that year, then followed it up with an improved
2000
record of 79?82. But on May 29, 2001, one day after
relief pitcher
Dan Miceli
publicly criticized Boles, citing the fact that the Marlins' manager had never played
professional baseball
, Boles was fired.
[2]
At 22?26, the Marlins were in third place in the NL East, eight games out of the lead. He was replaced by special assistant to the general manager
Tony Perez
.
Post-managerial career
[
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]
The Marlins also were undergoing massive front-office changes, with Huizenga's successor as owner,
John W. Henry
, selling the team and Dombrowski leaving to become president of the
Detroit Tigers
. In
2002
, Boles resumed his executive career. He was hired by the Dodgers as senior advisor for baseball operations. Then, in
2005
, he joined the Mariners as special assistant to the executive vice president and general manager, serving also as a
scout
. In
2012
, he rejoined the Royals as a senior advisor to general manager
Dayton Moore
.
His son,
Kevin Boles
, is a manager in Minor League Baseball with the
Binghamton Rumble Ponies
.
[3]
Managerial records
[
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]
Team
|
Year
|
Regular season
|
Post season
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Win %
|
Finish
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Win %
|
Result
|
FLA
|
1996
|
40
|
35
|
.533
|
3rd in
NL East
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
FLA
|
1999
|
64
|
98
|
.395
|
5th in
NL East
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
FLA
|
2000
|
79
|
82
|
.491
|
3rd in
NL East
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
FLA
|
2001
|
22
|
26
|
.458
|
3rd in
NL East
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
(fired)
|
Total
|
|
205
|
241
|
.460
|
|
|
|
|
|
References
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]
External links
[
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]