James Edwin Tracy (born December 31, 1955) is a former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB)

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

and player. He played for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

in 1980 and 1981, and has managed the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, and

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

. Tracy was named

Manager of the Year Manager of the Year may refer to: * Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award * League Managers Association Manager of the Year * Premier League Manager of the Season The Premier League Manager of the Season is an annual association footba ...

in 2009, only the second manager to win the award after being hired mid-season, joining Jack McKeon for the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

Playing career

Tracy was an All-America baseball player at Marietta College, an

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their ...

institution in

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. In 1976, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Chatham A's The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in t ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

and was named a league all-star. He played as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for parts of two seasons with the

in 1980–81. He also played two seasons in Japan with the Yokohama Taiyo Whales in 1983–84.

Managing career

Tracy worked as a minor league manager for several organizations including the

Ottawa Lynx The Ottawa Lynx were a Minor League Baseball team that competed in the Triple-A International League (IL) from 1993 to 2007. The team's home field was Lynx Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. Over 15 seasons, the team was an affiliate of the Montreal ...

in 1994. He is featured as the manager of the 1988

Peoria Chiefs The Peoria Chiefs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team was established in 1983 as the Peoria Suns. They are located in Peoria, Illinois, and are named for the Peo ...

in the book "The Boys Who Would Be Cubs", by Joseph Bosc

Tracy later served as the bench coach of the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in ...

(under manager

Felipe Alou Felipe Rojas Alou (born May 12, 1935) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder, first baseman, and manager. He managed the Montreal Expos (1992–2001) and the San Francisco Giants (2003–2006). The first Dominican to play regularly in th ...

), and the Dodgers (under manager Davey Johnson) in 1999 and 2000.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Tracy was manager of the

from

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

, compiling four winning seasons and a 427–383 record. With Tracy as manager, the Dodgers won the

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West division in 2004 but lost 3-1 to the

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in the

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. On October 3, 2005, after finishing the season at 71-91, Tracy and the Dodgers agreed to part ways citing "philosophical differences."

Pittsburgh Pirates

Tracy was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates on October 11, 2005. In two disappointing seasons in Pittsburgh, he compiled a 135–189 record. Tracy was fired by the Pirates on October 5, 2007.

Colorado Rockies

Tracy was hired as

bench coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisi ...

for the Colorado Rockies in November 2008. On May 29, 2009,

Clint Hurdle Clinton Merrick Hurdle (born July 30, 1957) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and manager. Hurdle played for the Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals, and managed the Colorado Rock ...

was fired with an 18–28 record, and Tracy was named to replace him. Tracy led the Rockies to the postseason, with a 74–42 (.638) record after taking over as manager, but lost the

NLDS In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring e ...

to the

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by a score of 3 games to 1. For his efforts in the 2009 season, Tracy won the National League

Manager of the Year Award In Major League Baseball, the Manager of the Year Award is an honor given annually since 1983 to two outstanding managers, one each in the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner is voted on by 30 members of the Baseball Writ ...

as voted on by the

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. He was also named the NL

by ''

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''. On November 19, 2009, Tracy was rewarded with a three-year contract extension. In 2010, the Rockies lost 13 of their last 14 games, collapsing from a game deficit in the wild card race to finish 7 games behind an

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

team that went 6-8 in the same span. In 2011, the Rockies began the season with an 11-2 record before finishing the season with a 62-87 (.416) run that landed them in 4th place. After the 2011 season, the Rockies rewarded Tracy with an "indefinite" contract extension. The Rockies went on to accumulate a 37-65 record (.363) through August 1, leading to a front office reshuffle that left Jim Tracy and his staff intact. Tracy resigned as manager of the Rockies on October 7, 2012, following a disappointing and injury plagued 2012 season that saw the Rockies finish 64-98, the worst record in franchise history.

Managerial record

Personal life

His oldest son, Brian, played baseball at UC Santa Barbara, and was drafted in 2007 by the Pirates. He is now a scout for the Pirates. His son

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

played in Triple-A for multiple organizations. He was the first catcher drafted in the 2006 draft when he was drafted in the third round. Chad, along with Bryan LaHair and Nick Stavinoha, led the Triple-A in runs batted in with 109 in 2011. He now manages in the minor leagues. His youngest son, Mark, also played minor league ball from 2010 to 2013.

References

External links

BucsDugout.com
– article about Tracy's tendencies as manager of the Dodgers {{DEFAULTSORT:Tracy, Jim 1955 births Living people Colorado Rockies (baseball) coaches Colorado Rockies managers Chicago Cubs players Los Angeles Dodgers coaches Los Angeles Dodgers managers Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball outfielders Manager of the Year Award winners Marietta Pioneers baseball players Montreal Expos coaches Baseball players from Ohio Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ohio Pittsburgh Pirates managers Pompano Beach Cubs players Midland Cubs players Wichita Aeros players Tucson Toros players Iowa Cubs players Chatham Anglers players Chattanooga Lookouts managers American expatriate baseball players in Japan Yokohama Taiyō Whales players