Tim Wallach

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Tim Wallach
Hits
2,085
Home runs260
Runs batted in1,125
Teams
As player

As coach

Career highlights and awards
Member of the Canadian
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2014
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  United States
Amateur World Series
Silver medal – second place 1978 Italy Team

Timothy Charles Wallach (born September 14, 1957), nicknamed "Eli", [1] is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played seventeen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman, most notably for the Montreal Expos from 1980 to 1992. A five-time All-Star, Wallach excelled as an offensive and as a defensive player, winning 2 Silver Slugger Awards and 3 Gold Glove Awards. In addition to the Expos, he also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels and coached for the Dodgers and Miami Marlins.

Early life

Wallach was born in Huntington Park, California, grew up in Tustin in Orange County, and attended University High School in neighboring Irvine.[2] There he played on the school's lower-level baseball team during his freshman and sophomore years before being promoted to the varsity team for his last two years.[2] Wallach was not drafted by a major league team out of high school. He enrolled at Saddleback College and transferred to California State University, Fullerton to play college baseball for the Cal State Fullerton Titans.[2]

Wallach played for the

Sporting News College Player of the Year.[2]

Career

Montreal Expos (1980–1992)

A St. Louis runner breaks from first base as the Expos pitcher throws to the plate.
Wallach, in the foreground, playing third base for the Expos against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1991

Wallach made his major league debut at the age of 22 on September 6, 1980, against the San Francisco Giants after replacing Ron LeFlore at left field. In his first plate appearance in the top of the 5th inning, he was walked, but in his second plate appearance in the 8th, he hit a home run. Wallach and Brett Pill (September 6, 2011) are the only two players from Cal State Fullerton to hit a home run in their first at bat. Wallach appeared in four other games in that season. He appeared in 71 games in the following season, hitting .236 with 4 home runs and 13 RBIs in 71 games. He appeared in the Expos' only postseason run while in Montreal, appearing in five games. In Game 1 of the 1981 National League Division Series, he went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk while scoring a run. In the other four games that he appeared in, he went hitless.

1982 was Wallach's first full-time season, when he hit .268 with 28 home runs, 31 doubles, and 97 RBIs in 158 games. He slightly regressed the following year, hitting .269 with 33 doubles, 19 home runs, and 70 RBIs in 156 games. Wallach earned his first

Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger
awards. He regressed a bit the next season, playing in 134 games while having 112 hits, 22 doubles, 18 home runs and 71 RBIs with a .233 batting average, although he led the league in being hit by pitch with 10.

In 1987, Wallach was named to the All-Star Game again while winning his second Silver Slugger Award and finishing fourth in Most Valuable Player voting, doing so in 153 games while setting career highs with a .298 batting average, 123 RBIs and 42 doubles, with the latter leading the major leagues. He regressed a bit the next season, hitting .257 with 32 doubles, 12 home runs and 69 RBIs in 159 games, although he did win his second Gold Glove. He rebounded in 1989, being named to the All-Star Game, playing in 154 games and hitting .277 with 13 home runs, 77 RBIs and a league-leading 42 doubles. He continued his success in 1990, earning his fourth and final All-Star Game appearance, playing in a career high 161 games and hitting .296 with 37 doubles, 21 home runs and 98 RBIs, as well as winning the Gold Glove for the third and final time. He was named team captain prior to the 1991 season, being the first team captain in franchise history. He regressed in production in his final two seasons with the Expos, playing in 301 combined games while having a total of 250 hits, 51 doubles, 22 home runs and 132 RBIs while hitting under .230 both seasons. On December 24, 1992, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tim Barker.[5]

Later career (1993–1996)

Wallach played in 133 games for the Dodgers, getting 106 hits (his lowest since having 112 in 1986), with 19 doubles, 12 home runs and 62 RBIs with a .222 batting average. In the strike shortened 1994 season, he played in 113 games (out of 114 that the Dodgers played), having 116 hits, 21 doubles and 23 home runs (his highest since having 21 in 1990) with 78 RBIs and a .280 batting average. He finished 18th in MVP voting. He played in just 97 games for the Dodgers in 1995, having 87 hits (his lowest since having 50 in 1981) with 22 doubles, nine home runs and 38 RBIs and a .266 batting average. He appeared in the team's postseason run, playing in each game of the

Dario Veras of the San Diego Padres.[6]

Career statistics and achievements

In 8,099 career

at-bats, Wallach had 2,085 hits. He batted .257 with 260 home runs and 1,125 RBIs. Wallach had 908 career runs scored. Wallach holds the Expos and Nationals team record for most games played.[7] He held the team records for most runs batted in and hits until in 2017 Ryan Zimmerman surpassed Wallach's runs batted in total and in 2018 Zimmerman surpassed Wallach's hits total.[7] Wallach was one of the last Major League Baseball players to wear a flapless batting helmet, after Tim Raines and Gary Gaetti and equal with Ozzie Smith.[8]

Wallach won three

Silver Slugger awards for offensive excellence. He was named to five All-Star teams. Wallach spent the majority of his career with the Expos, forming a potent lineup with teammates Tim Raines, Gary Carter and Andre Dawson. He was voted the Montreal Expos Player of the Year in 1987, 1989 and 1990. Bill James has referred to Wallach as a "poor man's Brooks Robinson", largely because of his defensive skills.[9]

On June 21, 2014, Tim Wallach was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ontario, along with former Montreal Expos play-by-play announcer Dave Van Horne and former Montreal Expos general manager Murray Cook.[10]

Coaching career

Wallach as manager of the Albuquerque Isotopes, Triple-A affiliates of the Dodgers, in 2010

In 2004 and 2005, Wallach was the hitting coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Grady Little became the manager and replaced Jim Tracy in December 2005, Wallach remained hitting coach until he was replaced by Eddie Murray. On January 12, 2009, he was named the manager for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes in the Dodgers organization.[11] He led the Isotopes into the playoffs with a franchise record 80 wins and was named as Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year.[12]

On November 22, 2010, he was named the new third base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. In late 2013, Wallach interviewed for managerial jobs with the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners. When he missed out on those jobs, the Dodgers announced that he would be promoted to bench coach for the 2014 season.[13]

On December 4, 2015, he was announced as the new bench coach for the Miami Marlins,[14] a position he held through the conclusion of the 2019 season.[15]

Personal life

Wallach has three sons (Matt, Brett and

2013 MLB draft and was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 2014. Chad was named Miami Marlins Minor League Player of the Month for June 2014 and was the starting catcher for the South Atlantic League Northern Division All-Stars in June 2014 as a member of the Greensboro Grasshoppers
. On August 25, 2017, Chad was called up by the Reds.

Wallach's nickname, "Eli", is in reference to actor Eli Wallach.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Actor gets to meet namesake". The Daily News. Middlesboro, Kentucky. Associated Press. September 14, 1992. p. 2.
  2. ^
    Orange County Register
    . Retrieved February 13, 2013.
  3. ^ "Fullerton wins CWS". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. June 9, 1979. p. 12.
  4. ^ "Fullerton State wins NCAA title". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. June 9, 1979. p. 2C.
  5. ^ "Tim Wallach - Society for American Baseball Research". sabr.org.
  6. ^ "San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers Box Score, September 29, 1996 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  7. ^ a b "Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals team records". mlb.com. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  8. ^ La Point of It All; in Newsday; April 11, 1993; p. 07
  9. ^ Bill, James (2001). The new Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. The Free Press / Simon & Schuster.
  10. ^ "Wallach inducted into Canadian Baseball Hall". ESPN.com. Associated Press. June 21, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  11. ^ "Isotopes name new manager". kob.com. January 12, 2009. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
  12. MiLB.com
    . Minor League Baseball. January 3, 2009.
  13. ^ Gurnick, Ken (November 11, 2013). "Shifting Wallach to bench, Dodgers finalize staff". mlb.com. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
  14. ^ Spencer, Clark (December 4, 2015). "Miami Marlins hire Barry Bonds as hitting coach". Miami Herald. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  15. ^ Frisaro, Joe (September 27, 2019). "Bench coach Wallach stepping away from Miami". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  16. ^ "Actor gets to meet namesake". The Daily News. Middlesboro, Kentucky. Associated Press. September 14, 1992. p. 2.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by National League Player of the Month
May, 1982 		Succeeded by
Sporting positions
Preceded by Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach
2004-2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Los Angeles Dodgers third base coach
2011-2013 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Los Angeles Dodgers bench coach
2014-2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Miami Marlins bench coach
2016-2019 		Succeeded by
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