Bob Geren

Robert Peter Geren

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 221 lb.
• High School Clairemont High School
• Debut May 17, 1988
• Final Game July 26, 1993
• Born September 22, 1961 in San Diego, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bob Geren has had a long baseball career as a major and minor league player, and as a major league coach and minor league manager and major league manager of the Oakland Athletics. He has most recently been a coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Born in San Diego, CA, Geren was San Diego's High School Baseball Player of the Year as a senior. He was signed as a first-round draft pick by his hometown San Diego Padres and scout Bob Fontaine Jr. in the 1979 amateur draft. He was traded to the the St. Louis Cardinals in December 1980 as the player to be named later in a deal involving ten other players, including Rollie Fingers, Gene Tenace, and Terry Kennedy among others. He didn't break into the majors until he was 26, making his big league debut with the New York Yankees in 1988.

Geren played with the Yankees at a time when the Yankees were not very competitive. His best year was 1989, when he hit .288 in 205 at-bats with 9 home runs. The following season, 1990, he was the Yankees' primary catcher but only hit .213.

Geren was back in the minors in 1992 in the Boston Red Sox organization, and then played in 1993 with the San Diego Padres. Although he had only 5 seasons in the majors, his professional playing days lasted 15 years.

After his playing career ended, Geren managed in the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics farm systems. In 1999, he was California League Manager of the Year. His lifetime minor league managerial record is 452-390, although he never won a post-season series (his team had a 1st round bye in 1999). Geren was also the Red Sox minor league roving catching instructor in 1994 and 1997.

He became an A's coach in 2003. He was bullpen coach until 2005, and bench coach in 2006. Geren was promoted to manager of the Athletics for the 2007 season. The A's never finished with a record better than .500 during his 4+ seasons at the helm, in spite of some good pitching performances. He was dismissed on June 9, 2011 with the club in last place and was replaced by veteran manager Bob Melvin. After his firing, he was criticized by a number of current and former players, such as closers Huston Street and Brian Fuentes, for his lack of communications.

In 2012, he was named bench coach for the New York Mets, staying until their appearance in the 2015 World Series. He then moved on to the Los Angeles Dodgers as bench coach starting in 2016 and until 2022. In 2023 and 2024, his title was major league field coordinator and he was listed as part of the team's coaching staff.

Geren also has some international coaching experience. He managed Tigres del Licey during the 2001/2002 Dominican League season. In 2005/2006 he led the Leones del Escogido squad until he was fired on January 3, 2006. The Dominican is very much a "what have you done for me lately" place to manage.

His main teammates were Steve Sax, Roberto Kelly, Jesse Barfield, Don Mattingly, Lee Guetterman, Alvaro Espinoza and Mel Hall.

Notable Achievements

• 1989 Topps All-Star Rookie Team

Preceded by Ken Macha

Oakland Athletics Manager 2007-2011

Succeeded by Bob Melvin

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
1995	Utica Blue Sox	New York-Penn League	33-40	11th	Boston Red Sox
1996	GCL Red Sox	Gulf Coast League	24-36	14th	Boston Red Sox
1998	Sarasota Red Sox	Florida State League	76-61	5th	Boston Red Sox
1999	Modesto A's	California League	88-52	1st	Oakland A's	Lost in 2nd round
2000	Sacramento River Cats	Pacific Coast League	90-54	2nd	Oakland A's	Lost in 1st round
2001	Sacramento River Cats	Pacific Coast League	75-69	5th	Oakland A's	Lost in 1st round
2002	Sacramento River Cats	Pacific Coast League	66-78	14th	Oakland A's
2007	Oakland Athletics	American League	76-86	3rd	Oakland Athletics
2008	Oakland Athletics	American League	75-86	3rd	Oakland Athletics
2009	Oakland Athletics	American League	75-87	4th	Oakland Athletics
2010	Oakland Athletics	American League	81-81	2nd	Oakland Athletics
2011	Oakland Athletics	American League	27-36	--	Oakland Athletics	Replaced by Bob Melvin on June 9

Related Sites

• BR Manager page