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Magadan: Saving The Best For Now

Tribune photo by CHRIS URSO

Dave Magadan won the 1980 Saladino Award, given to the best senior baseball player in Hillsborough County.

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 21, 2009

From his playing days to his coaching career, Dave Magadan has been with eight organizations in Major League Baseball.

"That's a lot of stops," he said.

But the latest chapter of his well-traveled story might be the best.

Magadan, the former Jesuit High standout, is entering his third season as hitting coach with the Boston Red Sox. He earned a World Series ring in 2007 and had designs on a repeat, but the Rays toppled the Red Sox last season in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series at Tropicana Field.

The Red Sox, back in their Fort Myers spring-training outpost, ranked third in AL batting (.279) in 2007 and finished second (.280) last season. Both years, Boston led the league in drawing walks.

But how often do you hear about Magadan's impact? That's the life of a hitting coach.

Generally, they are only noticed when things go wrong.

You don't need to remind Magadan. Once, he lived that tale of woe.

On June 15, 2006, in his fourth season as batting coach with the Padres, he was fired after the team sunk to a .252 average, worst in the National League.

Magadan was stunned.

"I was as down as I've ever been in my baseball career," said Magadan, 46. "I was completely blindsided. Obviously, when your team isn't hitting the way you want them to hit, anything can happen. You become expendable at that point. But there was no indication they were looking to make a change, especially in the middle of a season.

"We packed everything up and I was gone in two days. I don't think I had been back home Magadan and his wife, Monique, live in Palm Harbor in the summer since about 1981. It was strange. And I really didn't know what direction my career was going to go at that point."

Little did Magadan know it would lead to one of the best jobs in baseball.

Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein worked in the Padres' organization when Magadan played in San Diego. They were only acquaintances, but thanks to a mutual friend, Magadan got an interview in 2006, only about a month after his firing in San Diego, but "an eternity in baseball terms."

Magadan spoke with Epstein while the Red Sox visited the Rays in St. Petersburg. Things went well, and Magadan was hired as a special assistant. When Boston hitting coach Ron Jackson was fired, Magadan was offered a chance for that job.

He got it.

And he hasn't looked back.

"My style is learning what guys do well at the plate," Magadan said. "Everybody's different. When they get away from doing well, I have to step in. You're really not doing a lot of teaching. You've got to have a good eye when a guy's getting outside of what he's doing well.

"Dustin Pedroia's swing is getting way too big. Somebody else is not staying inside the ball or getting ready on time. Whatever is special for that hitter, you've got to know what it is. These guys aren't stupid. They know when you're feeding them a line. You've got to be familiar with what they're doing at the plate. They appreciate it when you're educated."

That was always Magadan's strength as a player.

He was the ultimate well-educated hitter.

He won the 1980 Saladino Award, given to the best senior baseball player in Hillsborough County, and the 1983 Golden Spikes Award, given to the best player in college baseball. At the University of Alabama, Magadan had a .439 career batting average (10th-best in NCAA history) and a .525 average in 1983 (fifth-best single-season mark).

Magadan landed with the Mets, where his best season was 1990 (starting first baseman, .328 average, third in the NL). His role was never again as prominent. He bounced to the Marlins, Mariners, Astros, Cubs, Athletics and Padres. But he remained famously patient at the plate, resulting in walks or getting the proper pitch to hit.

And those are the qualities he tries to impart upon his Red Sox pupils.

"I love where I am right now," Magadan said. "It has been awesome. Your job description, really, is doing anything I can do to help the organization improve."

It doesn't matter that he's generally anonymous now, operating in the shadows of Boston's dugout. Baseball has been Magadan's life. Right now, it's a great life.

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353.

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