George Lombard

George Paul Lombard Sr. (born September 14, 1975) is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder who is the bench coach for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB).

George Lombard
Lombard with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017
Detroit Tigers – No. 26
Outfielder / Coach
Born: (1975-09-14) September 14, 1975
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 4, 1998, for the Atlanta Braves
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 2006, for the Washington Nationals
MLB statistics
Batting average.220
Home runs8
Runs batted in21
Teams
As player

As coach

Career highlights and awards

Lombard, a Parade All America and USA Today All America high school running back, had initially committed to play football for the Georgia Bulldogs before changing his plans in favor of playing baseball.[1][2] Lombard earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Phoenix in 2015.[3]

Baseball career

Playing career

Lombard played baseball and football at The Lovett School in Atlanta. He initially committed to play college football for the Georgia Bulldogs.[4] Lombard was drafted in the second round by the Atlanta Braves in the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft. He signed for $425,000.[5] He played for the Braves, Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Washington Nationals. In 2002, in 241 at bats he batted .241/.300/.373 for Detroit with 5 home runs and 13 stolen bases.[6] In his major league career, in 350 at bats he batted .220 with 8 home runs and stole 23 bases in 25 attempts.[6]

Lombard with Cody Bellinger in 2017

He was the first American baseball player to hit a home run in China during the MLB China Series on March 15, 2008. During the 2008-2009 offseason, Lombard signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians. On July 4, 2009, Lombard was released by the Indians.

Post-playing career

Lombard spent 2010 as the hitting coach for the Lowell Spinners, Short-Season A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and served as manager of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast Red Sox in 2011–2012. His teams compiled a 61–59 (.508) overall record, with the 2012 team winning the GCL's South Division. In December 2012, Lombard was promoted by the Red Sox to roving outfield and baserunning coordinator throughout the team's minor league farm system.[7]

He was hired by the Braves in September 2015 to fill the same role and to serve as overall minor league field coordinator in the Atlanta player development system.[8]

On December 17, 2015, it was announced that Lombard would be joining the Los Angeles Dodgers as first base coach, a position he held through the 2020 season. The Dodgers played in three World Series during that time, winning one of them.[9]

On November 7, 2020, Lombard was named the bench coach for the Detroit Tigers.[10]

Personal life

George's late mother, Posy Lombard, of Weston, Massachusetts, who died in a car accident with his grandfather at the wheel when he was 10 years old, was a noted white civil rights activist and associate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.[2][5][11][12] The Civil Rights Movement Archive lists Posy Lombard on its In Memory page. [13] His maternal grandfather taught at the Harvard Business School for 41 years and was the school's former senior dean and professor of human relations.[5][14]

Lombard's sons, George Jr and Jacob, are athletes.[15]

References
  1. "Josh Booty".
  2. Boston Red Sox – Lombard is one centered center fielder – The Boston Globe
  3. Manager and Coaches | Los Angeles Dodgers
  4. Ching, David (June 4, 2012). "MLB draft, UGA signees no strangers". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  5. Dodger first-base coach George Lombard is a most interesting man
  6. George Lombard Stats | Baseball-Reference.com
  7. "Red Sox announce personnel moves in baseball operations". MLB.com. December 20, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  8. "Braves announce George Lombard as Minor League Field Coordinator". MLB.com. September 4, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  9. Weisman, Jon (December 17, 2015). "Dodgers name coaches for 2016". Dodgers.com. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  10. Beck, Jason (November 7, 2020). "Tigers add bench, hitting, 3B coaches". MLB.com. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  11. Video: Dodgers' George Lombard Honors Mothers' History of Civil Rights Activism | Dodgers Nation
  12. Snow, Chris (February 21, 2005). "Lombard is one centered center fielder". Boston Globe. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  13. "Civil Rights Movement Veterans: In memory of those who have passed".
  14. "George Francis Fabyan Lombard, former senior associate dean, dies at 93". Harvard Gazette. July 22, 2004. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  15. Frisaro, Joe (May 18, 2023). "Gulliver Prep's Lombard brothers enjoying ride as they aim for state titles in two sports". Miami Herald. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
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