Bo Porter

Marquis Donnell "Bo" Porter (born July 5, 1972) is a former MLB player. He is also a coach who was most recently a special assistant to the Braves GM and former third base/outfield and base running coach for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. Porter previously served as manager of the Houston Astros for two seasons until his termination on September 1, 2014. During spring training in 2018 he ran the Major League Baseball Players Association free agent camp. In 2019, he became a television broadcaster for the Washington Nationals on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.

Early life

Porter was raised in Newark, New Jersey in the South Ward and is a graduate of Weequahic High School. While in high school, Porter was an all-state performer in baseball, football and basketball.

Porter attended the University of Iowa, and played both baseball and football for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He earned All-Big Ten Conference honors in both sports.

Playing career

Porter was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 40th round of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft.

In 1999, Porter made his major-league debut with the Cubs. Following the season, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the Rule 5 draft. After the 2000 season, he was selected off waivers by the Texas Rangers. He was granted free agency following the 2001 season, and he played the remainder of his career in the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies minor league systems.

Post-playing career

Early career

Porter served as the hitting coach for the Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers in 2005 and manager of the Class A-Advanced Jamestown Jammers in 2006. Porter served as Florida Marlins' third base coach and outfield and baserunning instructor from 2007 to 2009.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Porter became the Diamondbacks third base coach in 2010, after he declined the Marlins' offer to remain with the organization. Following the dismissal of manager A. J. Hinch and promotion of bench coach Kirk Gibson to interim manager in July 2010, Porter was promoted to bench coach.

The Marlins interviewed Porter for their managing job in mid-2010, after they fired Fredi González. Porter was fired by the Diamondbacks following the 2010 season.

Washington Nationals

Porter was a finalist for the Florida Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates managerial positions after the 2010 season. The Marlins position eventually went to Florida's interim manager, Edwin Rodríguez. Porter was hired by the Washington Nationals on November 2, 2010, as their new third base coach, taking over from Pat Listach, and took himself out of consideration for the Pittsburgh managerial job when he accepted his position with the Nats before the Pirates finished their interview process.

On September 6, 2012, Porter was involved in a benches-clearing incident during a game at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., between the Nationals and the Chicago Cubs. Chicago bench coach Jamie Quirk was yelling, apparently at Porter, from inside the Cubs dugout, causing Porter to leave his position in the third base coach′s box and approach the third-base dugout to confront Quirk. Ultimately, both teams came out onto the field and Quirk was ejected by umpire Jerry Layne.

Houston Astros

On September 27, 2012, Porter was announced as the new manager of the Houston Astros for the 2013 season, replacing Brad Mills, who had led the Astros to records of 56–106 and 55–107 in the last two seasons; the Astros had developed a strategy under general manager Jeff Lunhow to develop the team through high draft picks that required rebuilding the farm system and utilizing players at cost-effective rates, such as Jose Altuve. Porter was chosen over fellow candidates Tony DeFrancesco, Dave Martinez, and Tim Bogar. Porter was also the first Astros manager to manage the team in the American League. The Astros won the Opening Day game against the Texas Rangers and then promptly lost six straight games. The win on March 31 was the only time the Astros would be over .500 the whole season, and they finished the season by losing fifteen straight games to go 51-111.

The following season, the Astros made marginal improvement, albeit at a cost. The 2014 team was over .500 for two days in the year, starting and ending with their first two wins of the season. By the end of August, they had eclipsed their win total from the past three seasons with 59, and they had their first full month with a winning record for the first time since 2010 in May and August. On September 1, 2014, the Astros fired Porter with the team at a record of 59–79, reportedly due to growing tension between Porter and Lunhow, as Porter did not appreciate perceived challenges to his authority as manager, with Porter stating his gripes at being second-guessed to club owner Jim Crane. One notable annoyance came with the team bringing Mark Appel (the top pick of the previous MLB draft by Houston) to throw a July bullpen session in Houston in the presence of the team pitching coach Brent Strom, which raised objections from Astro players due to perceived special treatment and objections from Porter due to not being notified of the session before it happened. Lunhow was quoted as stating "When you look at the sum total of wins and losses over the last two years, that’s on me. That isn’t on Bo.” while stating a need for a new direction in the clubhouse. Porter was replaced on an interim basis by Tom Lawless, who managed the final 24 games of the year that resulted in Houston finishing in fourth place in the division, their first non-last place finish in four years with the help of fresh players such as Dallas Keuchel and Chris Carter. Porter was the youngest manager in the majors prior to being fired. A. J. Hinch would later assume the position as permanent manager in 2015.

Atlanta Braves

On October 3, 2014, the Atlanta Braves announced coaching changes for the 2015 season which included hiring Porter as third base coach, a position which also included outfield and base-running coaching responsibilities. After the 2016 season concluded, Ron Washington replaced Porter as the Braves′ third base coach, and Porter was named a special assistant to Braves general manager John Coppolella.

Free agent camp

On February 8, 2018, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, Tony Clark, announced that the MLBPA would open its first spring training camp for unemployed MLB players since 1995 because an historically slow free-agent market during the 2017–2018 offseason had left more than 100 MLB free agents unsigned as MLB teams opened their spring training camps for the 2018 season.Nightengale, Bob, "All eyes on jobless camp as MLB spring training opens: 'Not one player wants to be there'," usatoday.com, February 12, 2018, 12:45 p.m. EST Retrieved March 29, 2019
/ref>
/ref> This "free agent" camp was intended to provide unsigned free agents who wished to attend it with a simulation of a normal spring training experience and allow them to get in shape for the 2018 season while awaiting a contract offer from a team. Clark announced that Porter would run the free agent camp for the MLBPA.Lennon, David, "Away from MLB’s normal spring training, a camp nowhere of sorts for baseball’s long list of free agents," newsday.com, March 10, 2018, 7:00 p.m. Retrieved March 29, 2019
/ref> Porter had approximately one week to assemble a staff, find a baseball facility for the camp, and secure temporary housing for the players attending it. Nicknamed "Camp Jobless" by the players,Nightengale, Bob, "For free agents at MLB's Camp Jobless, it's 'not about money. Just an opportunity'," usatoday.com, February 14, 2018, 7:08 p.m. EST Retrieved March 29, 2019
/ref> the camp was held at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, with temporary housing in nearby Sarasota. It officially opened on February 11, 2018, with workouts beginning on February 12, the same day MLB teams began their spring training workouts. Porter′s coaching staff included former MLB players Chris Chambliss, Tom Gordon, Brian Jordan, Reid Nichols, Dave Winfield, and Dmitri Young. The camp shut down on March 9, 2018.

Mid-Atlantic Sports Network

On January 25, 2019, the Washington Nationals and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) announced that Porter would replace Ray Knight in 2019 as co-anchor and analyst on the ''Nats Xtra'' pre-game and post-game shows that air on MASN before and after Nationals games. His first ''Nats Xtra'' broadcast took place on Opening Day on March 28, 2019.

Managerial record

Personal

Porter has lived in Houston, Texas, since 1996, and founded and is CEO of Future All-Stars Sports Development Academy since 1998. In January 2012, he founded The Bo Porter SELF Foundation in Houston. SELF stands for Sports, Education, Life Skills, and Faith. Porter is the founder and chairman of the board for Bo Porter Charities, a nonprofit philanthropic foundation. Porter has a son, Bryce.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Bo
Houston Astros managers
Major League Baseball bench coaches
Major League Baseball third base coaches
African-American baseball coaches
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1972 births
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