Anthony Joseph Iapoce (born August 23, 1973) is an American former baseball player, who is the current

first base 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 decisio ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

Career

Iapoce played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the ...

and was drafted by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

in the 33rd round of the

1994 Major League Baseball Draft The 1994 Major League Baseball draft took place in June 1994. The draft saw the New York Mets select Paul Wilson first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1994 Major League Baseball draft. Supplem ...

. He played in the Brewers organization until 2000 and spent 2002 and 2003 in 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 team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

organization, after which he spent 2004 and 2005 playing with the

Gary SouthShore Railcats The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a professional baseball team based in Gary, Indiana, in the United States. The RailCats are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. The Ra ...

of the independent Northern League.

Coaching career

Prior to the 2016 season, Iapoce was hired by the Texas Rangers to be their hitting coach, a position he held through the 2018 season. On October 15, 2018, the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

hired Iapoce to be their hitting coach. Iapoce began the 2019 season wearing number 43, but switched to number 4 on June 23 upon the call up of Tony Barnette. Iapoce and the Cubs parted ways following the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. On February 3, 2022, Iapoce was hired by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

to serve as the senior hitting coordinator. On January 9, 2023, Iapoce was hired by the

to be the new manager for the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

. On December 1, 2023, the Detroit Tigers promoted Iapoce to

References

External links

1973 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players 21st-century American sportsmen Arizona League Brewers players Baseball players from Queens, New York Beloit Snappers players Chicago Cubs coaches El Paso Diablos players Gary SouthShore RailCats players Helena Brewers players Huntsville Stars players Indianapolis Indians players Lamar Cardinals baseball players Louisville RiverBats players Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball hitting coaches People from Astoria, Queens Portland Sea Dogs players Stockton Ports players Texas Rangers coaches Tucson Toros players {{US-baseball-outfielder-1970s-stub