John Farrell (manager)

John Edward Farrell (born August 4, 1962) is an American former baseball pitcher, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his eight-season playing career, Farrell was a member of the Cleveland Indians, California Angels, and Detroit Tigers. He was the pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox from 2007 to 2010, before serving as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays from 2011 to 2012. He returned to the Red Sox as their manager in 2013, winning the World Series with them in his first year, and led the team until 2017. Since 2018, he has held a scouting position with the Cincinnati Reds.

John Farrell
Farrell with the Boston Red Sox in 2017
Pitcher / Manager
Born: (1962-08-04) August 4, 1962
Monmouth Beach, New Jersey, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 18, 1987, for the Cleveland Indians
Last MLB appearance
May 22, 1996, for the Detroit Tigers
MLB statistics
Win–loss record36–46
Earned run average4.56
Strikeouts355
Managerial record586–548
Winning %.517
Teams
As player

As manager

As coach

Career highlights and awards

Playing career

Amateur

Farrell grew up in Monmouth Beach, New Jersey,[1] and was a star pitcher for Shore Regional High School. Upon graduating from high school in 1980, Farrell was drafted by the Oakland Athletics, but he did not sign.[2] He played college baseball for Oklahoma State, where he had a 20–6 record for his four-year career.[1] In 1982, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Hyannis Mets of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[3] After graduating from Oklahoma State, he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the second round of the 1984 Draft.

Professional

Farrell made his major league debut with the Indians on August 18, 1987,[4] playing for them until the 1990 season. He enjoyed success as part of the Cleveland starting rotation, but injuries to his right elbow caused him to miss the entire 1991 and 1992 seasons. He returned to action with the California Angels (1993–94), again with Cleveland (1995), and finished his career with the Detroit Tigers (1996).

Post-playing career

In 1997, Farrell joined his alma mater, Oklahoma State University, as assistant coach and pitching and recruiting coordinator. He remained with the college through 2001.

From November 2001 through the end of the 2006 season, Farrell served as the director of player development for the Cleveland Indians. In 2003 and 2004, the Indians were named MLB Organization of the Year by USA Today's Sports Weekly. In 2003, they were also named as having the top farm system in professional baseball by Baseball America.

Following the 2006 season, the Boston Red Sox hired Farrell as its new pitching coach, replacing Dave Wallace.[5] Farrell rejoined Red Sox manager Terry Francona, as they had been teammates together on the Indians.[6]

Toronto Blue Jays

During the 2010 off-season, Farrell was rumored to be one of four finalists for the job of manager of Toronto Blue Jays, along with Brian Butterfield, DeMarlo Hale, and Sandy Alomar Jr.[7] The Blue Jays held a press conference on October 25, 2010, formally introducing Farrell as the team's manager for the 2011 season.[8]

Farrell, during his Blue Jays tenure

Farrell suffered a dislocated jaw while attempting to restrain pitcher Jon Rauch from going after umpire Alfonso Marquez,[9] during a game on July 2, 2011. Both Rauch and Farrell were ejected from the game.[10]

On August 25, 2011, during a home game against the Kansas City Royals, Farrell was forced to leave the dugout in the ninth inning due to a then unknown illness. He was later diagnosed with pneumonia at Mount Sinai Hospital, and was released from the hospital on August 26.[11]

He finished his stint as Toronto Blue Jays manager with a record of 154 wins and 170 losses.[12]

Boston Red Sox

On October 20, 2012, it was reported that Farrell had asked to be allowed to interview for the manager position with the Boston Red Sox. The next day the Blue Jays officially confirmed Farrell had accepted the manager position with Boston.[13] In the same transaction, Toronto sent pitcher David Carpenter to Boston in exchange for infielder Mike Avilés.[13] On October 22, 2013, Farrell was named Sporting News' 2013 AL Manager of the Year.[14] In 2013, Farrell became the fifth first-year Red Sox manager to win the American League pennant. The Red Sox subsequently went on to win the 2013 World Series, going from worst to first under Farrell in just a year's time. It was also the first time in 95 years that the Red Sox won the Series at home, the last time being the 1918 World Series. However, the team struggled during Farrell's second year as manager and subsequently finished last in their division. Farrell accepted responsibility for their poor performance and also attributed their problems to inconsistencies in their offense.[15]

Farrell's 2015 season was cut short in August when he was diagnosed with lymphoma and forced to seek treatment. By the time of his departure, the Red Sox's struggles were continuing and they again found themselves in last place in their division, where they ultimately finished for the second year in a row. Nevertheless, it was announced that Farrell would return as the Red Sox's manager in 2016.[16]

The 2016 season was an improvement for Farrell and the Red Sox, who finished at the top of their division and returned to the playoffs. However, the team would be swept in the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Indians, led by their former manager Terry Francona, under whom Farrell had previously served.

The Red Sox again finished at the top of their division under Farrell in the 2017 season, but were also eliminated in the divisional round for a second consecutive year, this time against the Houston Astros. On October 11, 2017, the Red Sox announced Farrell's termination after serving five years as manager.[17]

Cincinnati Reds

In March 2018, the Reds announced that Farrell had joined their organization as a scout, his role to be "evaluating the club's system and also serving on special assignments".[18]

Managerial records
As of games played on October 9, 2017.
TeamYearRegular seasonPostseason
GamesWonLostWin %FinishWonLostWin %Result
TOR2011 1628181.5004th in AL East––––
TOR2012 1627389.4514th in AL East––––
TOR total324154170.47500–
BOS2013 1629765.5991st in AL East115.688Won World Series (STL)
BOS2014 1627191.4385th in AL East––––
BOS2015 1627884.4815th in AL East––––
BOS2016 1629369.5741st in AL East03.000Lost ALDS (CLE)
BOS2017 1629369.5741st in AL East13.250Lost ALDS (HOU)
BOS total810432378.5331211.522
Total[12]1134586548.5171211.522

Broadcasting

In March 2018, it was announced that Farrell would join ESPN's Baseball Tonight as an analyst, in time for the start of the regular season.[19] He has also appeared as an analyst on Fox Major League Baseball during the 2019 season.[20]

Personal life

Farrell's father, Tom, pitched in the Cleveland Indians farm system in the 1950s until an injury ended his baseball career.[21]

As of the 2019 baseball season, Farrell spends 10 days a month working as a minor league pitching scout for the Cincinnati Reds, and at other times works lobster fishing near Ipswich, Massachusetts, on his boat Seaweed.[22]

Farrell has three sons, all of whom were selected in the MLB Draft. Jeremy, an infielder, played college baseball at Virginia, then was in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system from 2008 through 2012, and in the Chicago White Sox system from 2013 through 2015.[23][24] Shane, a right-handed pitcher out of Marshall, was taken in the 46th round by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011, and then worked for the Chicago Cubs in their baseball operations department.[25][26] His youngest, Luke, a Northwestern right-hander, was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the sixth round of the 2013 draft and has pitched in MLB for the Royals, Reds, Cubs and Twins. In 2018, two of Farrell's sons worked in the Cubs organization: Shane as an area scout, Jeremy as the Assistant Director of Baseball Development.[27] Shane was named Amateur Scouting Director for the Blue Jays before the 2020 season.[28]

References
  1. Edelson, Stephen (November 6, 2013). "John Farrell's Shore mentors proud of Red Sox manager's World Series championship". Asbury Park Press. Archived from the original on November 7, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  2. "1980 Oakland Athletics Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  3. "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). Cape Cod Baseball. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  4. "Cleveland Indians 9, Milwaukee Brewers 8". Retrosheet. August 18, 1987.
  5. "Red Sox appoint John Farrell major league pitching coach". Boston Red Sox. October 16, 2006. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  6. Cafardo, Nick (October 17, 2006). "Red Sox hire Farrell to be pitching coach". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
  7. Miller, Mark J. (October 22, 2010). "Did Boston's Farrell win Jays job?". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on October 25, 2010. Retrieved October 25, 2010.
  8. Chisholm, Gregor (October 25, 2010). "Blue Jays name Farrell new manager". MLB.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  9. Calcaterra, Craig (July 5, 2011). "John Farrell had his jaw knocked out of place by Jon Rauch". NBC Sports. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
  10. "Boxscore: Phillies 5, Blue Jays 3". MLB.com. July 2, 2011. Retrieved April 27, 2012.
  11. "Jays' Farrell leaves game early, diagnosed with pneumonia". The Sports Network. August 26, 2011. Archived from the original on September 10, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  12. "John Farrell". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  13. "Blue Jays complete deal with Red Sox". Toronto Blue Jays. October 21, 2012. Archived from the original on June 14, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
  14. Juckett, Ron (October 22, 2013). "John Farrell Named AL Manager of the Year". Sports Media 101. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  15. Shaughnessy, Dan (September 4, 2014). "Manager John Farrell takes share of blame for Red Sox season". Boston Globe. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  16. Edes, Gordon (October 4, 2015). "John Farrell to return as Red Sox manager in 2016". ESPN. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  17. Browne, Ian (October 11, 2017). "Red Sox dismiss Farrell after five seasons". MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  18. Castrovince, Anthony (March 14, 2018). "Farrell joins Reds as scout". MLB.com. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  19. Cafardo, Nick (March 22, 2018). "John Farrell joins ESPN's 'Baseball Tonight' cast". Boston.com. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  20. Moore, Tamir (February 22, 2019). "2019 MLB on FS1 Schedule". Blogspot. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  21. "Thomas Farrell Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  22. Grossfeld, Stan (June 25, 2019). "John Farrell goes lobstering". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  23. Shetler, Jason (April 6, 2013). "White Sox Sign Jeremy Farrell". Bucco Nation. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  24. "Jeremy Farrell". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  25. Lott, John (June 8, 2011). "Jays Draft Sons of Manager, Bench Coach". National Post. Toronto.
  26. "Cubs announce Baseball Operations Staff structures, extend the contract of Assistant GM Randy Bush". MLB.com. October 23, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  27. Sullivan, Paul (January 18, 2018). "John Farrell's family thriving in Cubs organization". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  28. "Shane Farrell named Amateur Scouting Director". MLB.com. January 9, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
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