Tom Kotchman
John Thomas Kotchman
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.
- School Chipola College
- Born August 14, 1954 in Grafton, ND USA
Biographical Information[edit]
Tom Kotchman has been a minor league manager since 1979 and played two years in the minors. He was drafted in the 8th round of the 1973 amateur draft by the Baltimore Orioles and in the 8th round of the 1974 amateur draft by the Cincinnati Reds.
Kotchman played for the 1977 Eugene Emeralds and batted .296/~.347/.391 in 60 games. He made the Northwest League All-Star team at third base. In 1978, he struggled with the Tampa Tarpons, batting .191/~.250/.191 in 43 contests, mostly at first base.
He managed the co-op Auburn Red Stars in the 1979 New York-Penn League, moved the Detroit Tigers organization for two years, then to the Boston Red Sox organization for two years. Since 1984, he managed in the minors for the Angels. He spent 3 years in the California League (1984-1986), 3 years in the Pacific Coast League (1987-1989), then moved to the Northwest League (1990-2000), where he won 4 league championships with the Boise Hawks. He has managed in the Pioneer League since 2001, when he took over as skipper of the Provo Angels. He won a league championship with the club in 2004, and then captured another title after they became the Orem Owlz.
Kotchman also served briefly as a coach for the Angels at the end of the 1999 season.
Over the years, some of the stars he has managed include Roger Clemens, Garret Anderson, and Troy Percival. He has also served as an Angels scout, helping sign Austin Adams, Tyson Auer, Jon Bachanov, Dwayne Bailey, Barret Browning, Bobby Cassevah, Ryan Chaffee, Patrick Corbin, Jorge Fabregas, Chris Garcia, Carmine Giardina, Jeremy Haynes, John Hellweg, David Herndon, Howie Kendrick, Stephen Locke, Nick Maronde, Jeff Mathis, Bobby Mosebach, Darren O'Day, Orlando Palmeiro, Eduardo Perez, Nick Pugliese, Will Smith, Michael Snyder, Daniel Tillman, John Wiedenbauer and Bobby Wilson.
Kotchman left the Angels' organization after 29 years at the end of 2012 [1]. He became a coach for the GCL Red Sox in 2013 and then managed the team from 2014-2019. Kotchman was slated to return to the GCL in 2020 before COVID-19 shut down the minor league season. He also continued his scouting work during these years, initially as an area scout (2013-2014) and then as a Florida crosschecker (2015-2019). Kotchman returned in 2021 as the manager of the newly minted Florida Complex League, the successor to the Gulf Coast League. In 2022 he co-managed the FCL Red Sox with Jimmy Gonzalez.
His son Casey Kotchman was drafted in the first round by the Angels in the 2001 amateur draft. His brother Randy Kotchman also played pro ball.
We're Social...for Statheads
Every Sports Reference Social Media Account
Site Last Updated:
Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction?
Subscribe to our Free Email Newsletter
Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE
Your All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database
Do you have a sports website? Or write about sports? We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Find out more.