Dana Alan LeVangie (born August 11, 1969) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

and coach, who was the pitching coach for 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 ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) in and . Formerly a

and

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

, as an active player he both batted and threw right-handed and was listed at and .

Early years

A native of

Whitman, Massachusetts Whitman is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,121 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located approximately south of Boston on the western edge of the ...

, LeVangie graduated from Whitman-Hanson Regional High School in 1987; he then attended Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable, Massachusetts (1987–1989), and

American International College American International College (AIC) is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts. History American International College was originally established on July 18, 1885 by Calvin E. Amaron who sought to create an institution of higher ...

(AIC) in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

(1989–1991). He was a catcher on the AIC Yellow Jackets baseball team for two seasons (1990–1991). As a senior, LeVangie batted .473 with 13

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 87 RBIs, and was named 1991 Division II Northeast Player of the Year. He was selected by the Red Sox in the 14th round of the 1991 MLB draft.

Playing career

LeVangie signed with the Red Sox in June 1991, and played in the Boston

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

through 1996. He mostly played at the

Class A-Advanced High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

and Double-A levels, along with eight games in Triple-A. He was a career .196 hitter with seven home runs and 78 RBIs in 351 games played. LeVangie participated in

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

replacement games in 1995, during the 1994–95 MLB strike.

Post-playing career

LeVangie became the bullpen catcher for the 1997 Red Sox, and served in that role for eight years, through the 2004 Red Sox

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

season. He then worked as a scout for the Red Sox for eight seasons, serving as a pro scout in 2005 and an advance scout from 2006 through 2012. In 2013, LeVangie was named to succeed Gary Tuck as bullpen coach for the Red Sox. He held that role until mid-August 2015, when he became interim bench coach for the Red Sox, one of several coaching reassignments caused by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

John Farrell's medical leave of absence for the successful treatment of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

. LeVangie returned to his role as the Red Sox' bullpen coach for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. LeVangie replaced Carl Willis as Boston pitching coach on November 8, 2017, on the staff of new manager Alex Cora. The first non-pitcher to hold that role for the Red Sox since Mike Roarke in 1994, LeVangie received credit for his contributions to Boston's 108-win regular season, its

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

pennant, and

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

championship. The Red Sox finished third in their league in team

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(3.75), then won 11 of 14 post-season games to capture their ninth world title. On October 8, 2019, the Red Sox announced that LeVangie would not return as the team's pitching coach for the 2020 season, but would stay with the team as a pro scout.

Personal life

LeVangie was inducted to the AIC Yellow Jackets Hall of Fame in 2006. As of November 2017, LeVangie lives in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, with his wife and two children.

Notes

References

External links

* Coaching information fro
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levangie, Dana 1969 births Living people American International College alumni Baseball coaches from Massachusetts Baseball players from Plymouth County, Massachusetts Boston Red Sox coaches Boston Red Sox scouts Elmira Pioneers players Fort Lauderdale Red Sox players Lynchburg Red Sox players Major League Baseball bullpen catchers Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball pitching coaches New Britain Red Sox players Pawtucket Red Sox players People from Whitman, Massachusetts Trenton Thunder players Whitman-Hanson Regional High School alumni Winter Haven Red Sox players 20th-century American sportsmen