Gary Robert Tuck (born September 6, 1954) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player, coach, and

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 ...

. He played one game in

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

as a

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 ...

in 1978. He has coached in the minor leagues and in

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 ...

for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

Early life

Tuck was born in

Amsterdam, New York Amsterdam () is a city in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,219. The city is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam is bordered on the northern and ea ...

, and graduated from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. Tuck has 23 years of professional coaching experience. He started his baseball career as a

for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

organization and played for them during three

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 ...

seasons. Following his playing retirement, he served as an assistant coach at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in 1980, and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

in 1981.

Minor league career

After winning an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

championship with Arizona State, Tuck was hired to coach for the nearby

Tucson Toros The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in ...

, a

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 ...

affiliate of the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

. Tuck spent eight years in the Astros organization. In 1986, he managed the Double-A

Columbus Astros Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo (surname), Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus ...

to a league championship, winning Southern League Manager of the Year honors. By 1989, Tuck was a coach on the

Triple-A team, the

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, merch ...

. In 1991, he was the manager of the Watertown Indians, the Single-A affiliate of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

, a job he held before switching to a Scout for the Indians from 1992 to 1995. Tuck rejoined the Yankees in 1996 as the manager of the Single-A Oneonta Yankees, where he spent the next two seasons.

Major league career

New York Yankees (1990, 1997–99, 2003–04)

With the Yankees, Tuck served as the bullpen coach for the start of the 1990 season under manager Bucky Dent. Tuck, along with Dent, hitting coach Champ Summers and third base coach Joe Sparks, were all fired by the Yankees on June 7, 1990 after an 18-32 start to the season. Tuck worked with Jorge Posada as a young player, and prepped him to eventually take over for starting catcher

Joe Girardi Joseph Elliott Girardi (born October 14, 1964) is an American sports broadcaster and former professional baseball player and Manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Girardi played the catcher position for the Chicago Cubs, C ...

. Posada's workload increased from 60 games in 1997 to 111 and 112 the next two seasons. He eventually took over the starting role in 2000. Tuck won World Series rings as the team catching instructor in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

.Alt URL
/ref> He was not retained following the 1999 season. Tuck returned to the Yankees prior to the 2003 season and spent the next two years as catching instructor. The team defeated the Red Sox in the 2003 American League Championship Series, and lost to them in the 2004 American League Championship Series. He spent the 2005 season out of baseball.

Florida Marlins (2006)

In 2006,

was hired as the Marlins manager, and he hired Tuck as his bench coach. He was known for writing the lineup card in

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

. Girardi was fired following the season despite winning Manager of the Year.

Boston Red Sox (2007–12)

In November 2006, the Boston Red Sox hired Tuck as their new bullpen coach. He joined pitching coach John Farrell and hitting coach Dave Magadan as new members of the Red Sox coaching staff for the 2007 season. He earned another World Series ring as a member of Boston's 2007 championship team. Tuck also served as an organization-wide catching instructor during

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 ...

. The Red Sox won the

2007 World Series The 2007 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2007 season. The 103rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Colorado Rockies and the American ...

with Tuck on the coaching staff. In his final season, he was noted for clashing with manager

Bobby Valentine Robert John Valentine (born May 13, 1950), nicknamed "Bobby V", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He also served as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University. Valentine played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (19 ...

. On January 29, 2013, he notified the Red Sox that he intended to retire effective immediately, ending his six-year tenure with the team. He spent the 2013 season out of baseball.

Return to New York (2014–2015)

Tuck rejoined the Yankees as their bullpen coach during the 2013–14 offseason. The team moved from the ninth best bullpen in 2013, to eighth best under Tuck. Despite the bullpen's success, the Yankees missed the postseason for their second consecutive year. Following the 2015 season, Tuck was let go by the Yankees.

References

External links

Retrosheet
: {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuck, Gary 1954 births Living people Asheville Tourists managers Baseball coaches from New York (state) Baseball players from Montgomery County, New York Boston Red Sox coaches Cleveland Indians scouts Florida Marlins coaches Jamestown Expos players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball bullpen coaches New York Yankees coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball coaches People from Amsterdam, New York 20th-century American sportsmen