Richard Avina Renteria (born December 25, 1961) is a Mexican-American former professional baseball

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

and former manager of 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 ...

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

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). Renteria played in parts of five seasons between 1986 and 1994 with the

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

, and

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 ...

. He then coached and managed in the Marlins organization until 2001, and in the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

organization until 2013. He was the manager of the

in 2014. Renteria was also the

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 decision ...

for the

in 2016.

Playing career

After playing for

South Gate High School South Gate High School is a 9–12 high school in South Gate, California, United States and is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. History South Gate High School opened in January 1930. It was in the Los Angeles City High School Di ...

South Gate, California South Gate is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, with . It is located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. South Gate is part of the Gateway Cities region of southeastern Los Angeles County. The city was incorporated on J ...

, Renteria was drafted by the

with the 20th overall pick in the

1980 Major League Baseball draft The 1980 Major League Baseball draft took place in June 1980. The draft saw the New York Mets select Darryl Strawberry first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1980 Major League Baseball draft. C ...

. He made his Major League debut for the Pirates on September 14, 1986. That December he was traded to the

, and played for them for the 1987 and 1988 seasons. Renteria spent 1989 playing for the Mariners

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 ...

affiliate the

Calgary Cannons The Calgary Cannons were a minor league baseball team located in Calgary, Alberta, for 18 seasons, from 1985 until 2002. They were a member of the Triple-A (baseball), AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL) and played at Foothills Stadium. The Cannons ...

, and the 1990 and 1991 seasons with the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

's Jalisco Charros. For 1993 and 1994, he returned to the majors, playing for the

. While with the Marlins, he was nicknamed "The Secret Weapon" for his versatility on the field and his timely pinch hitting. In his five Major League seasons, he played in 184 games and had 422

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s and a .237

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

Coaching career

After his playing career, Renteria has remained in baseball. His first minor league managerial job was in with the

Brevard County Manatees The Brevard County Manatees were a minor league baseball team of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League from 1994 to 2016. They were based in Viera, Florida, Viera, Florida, and played their home games at Space Coast Stadium. The team left Brev ...

in the Marlins organization. He continued to manage in the Marlins system until . In , he was named the hitting coach for the

Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team based in Lake Elsinore, California. The Storm compete in the California League as the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond, w ...

in the Padres organization, and in he became the Storm's manager. After three seasons with the Storm, in he was moved up to the Triple-A

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams h ...

. He was promoted to a major league coaching job in . Renteria moved to being the Padres bench coach for 2011. He also managed the

Mexico national baseball team The Mexico national baseball team (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de México'') is the baseball team that represents Mexico in international tournaments. It is currently the 2nd-ranked baseball team in the world. Current rost ...

in the

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike the tw ...

. On November 7, 2013, Renteria was hired as the manager of the

. After one season on the job, he was terminated on October 31, 2014, one week after his Cubs successor

Joe Maddon Joseph John Maddon (born February 8, 1954) is an American former professional baseball manager (baseball), manager and coach. He has managed the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). After playing ...

opted out of his contract with the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

. For the 2016 season, Renteria was hired by the Chicago White Sox to serve as their bench coach. For the 2017 season, Renteria replaced White Sox manager

Robin Ventura Robin Mark Ventura (born July 14, 1967) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager. Ventura played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles D ...

. Renteria was the second manager in Chicago baseball history, after

Johnny Evers John Joseph Evers (July 21, 1881 – March 28, 1947) was an American professional baseball second baseman and manager (baseball), manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1902 through 1917 for the Chicago Cubs, Boston Braves (baseba ...

, to manage both the city's franchises. In 2017, he was ejected seven times, more than any other manager in the major leagues. In 2020, he took the White Sox to the playoffs for the first time since

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. They went off to a 18-12 midway point in the COVID-affected season of 60 games; despite being in the lead for the division, they would fade down the stretch, which included losing eight of their last ten games. A 2-8 record against Cleveland meant that not only did they finish a game behind Minnesota for the division, it also meant that the White Sox finished in third place and thus were relegated to the first wild card spot. They played in the

Wild Card Series The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason. A single wild card game was instituted in 2012. This became a best ...

against the AL West champion

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

. The White Sox won Game 1 but failed to win either of the next two and were thus eliminated. On October 12, the White Sox announced that Renteria would not return as manager, ending his tenure with the team with one year remaining on his contract. His overall record in four seasons with the Sox was 236-309.

Managerial record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renteria, Rick 1961 births Living people Alexandria Dukes players American baseball players of Mexican descent American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from Los Angeles Calgary Cannons players Charros de Jalisco players Chicago Cubs managers Chicago White Sox coaches Chicago White Sox managers Diablos Rojos del México players Edmonton Trappers players Florida Marlins players Greenwood Pirates players Gulf Coast Marlins players Gulf Coast Pirates players Hawaii Islanders players Indianapolis Indians players Lynn Pirates (1983) players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball infielders Nashua Pirates players People from Harbor City, Los Angeles Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers managers Portland Sea Dogs managers Seattle Mariners players World Baseball Classic managers Sportspeople from South Gate, California