Dave Wallace (baseball)

Dave Wallace
Pitcher
Born: September 7, 1947 (1947-09-07) Waterbury, Connecticut
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 18, 1973 for the Philadelphia Phillies
Last MLB appearance
May 19, 1978 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Career statistics
Win-Loss	0-1
Earned run average	7.84
Strikeouts	12
Teams
Philadelphia Phillies (1973-1974) Toronto Blue Jays (1978)

David William Wallace (born September 7, 1947 in Waterbury, Connecticut) was the interim pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves. He spent the majority of his career working for the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets organizations.

Playing career

A high school all-around athlete, Wallace played baseball, basketball and football. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent out of the University of New Haven in 1970. A right-handed relief pitcher, Wallace posted a 47-31 record with 60 saves in 355 career minor league outings. In the majors, he made 13 appearances for the Phillies (1973–74) and Toronto Blue Jays (1978) and went 0-1 with 12 strikeouts and a 7.84 ERA in 20 and 2/3 innings. He concluded his playing career with Triple-A Pawtucket (1979).

Coaching career

As a pitching coach, Wallace is credited with helping develop the talents of pitchers Pedro Martínez, Ramón Martínez, Pedro Astacio, Darren Dreifort, Hideo Nomo, Chan Ho Park, Ismael Valdéz and John Wetteland. Wallace gained note when Orel Hershiser credited him for his early success with the Dodgers in a Sports Illustrated article.

Since 1981, Wallace has been a major league and minor league coach and front office executive. He served as an interim General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had previously worked almost exclusively in the Dodgers and Mets organizations. He won a World Series ring with the Boston Red Sox in 2004. Wallace was hired as the new pitching coach by the Houston Astros after serving in the same capacity for the Red Sox from 2003 through 2006. In October 2007 he was hired by the Seattle Mariners organization as a special assistant to the general manager. On January 13, 2009, he was named the Mariners minor league pitching coordinator. After completing the 2009 season in this position, Wallace was hired by the Atlanta Braves to serve as their Minor League pitching coordinator. On April 29, 2011 it was announced Wallace would serve as the Atlanta Braves' interim major league pitching coach while Roger McDowell was on administrative leave for inappropriate comments towards fans in San Francisco a week prior.

Health scare

In February 2006, Wallace became very sick while driving to Spring Training. Twelve years after having his hip replaced, Wallace discovered he was suffering from a severe infection in that replaced hip. He nearly died from the infection, and had it removed immediately. After the infection cleared up, Wallace had the hip replaced in June. Al Nipper was named the interim pitching coach. On August 8, 2006, Wallace made his full-time return to his duties as Red Sox pitching coach.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ron Perranoski	Los Angeles Dodgers Pitching Coach 1995-1997	Succeeded by Glenn Gregson
Preceded by Bob Apodaca	New York Mets Pitching Coach 1999-2000	Succeeded by Charlie Hough
Preceded by Claude Osteen	Los Angeles Dodgers Pitching Coach 2000	Succeeded by Jim Colborn
Preceded by Kevin Malone	Los Angeles Dodgers General Manager 2001	Succeeded by Dan Evans
Preceded by Tony Cloninger	Red Sox Pitching Coach 2003-2006	Succeeded by John Farrell
Preceded by Roger McDowell	Atlanta Braves Pitching Coach (interim) April 29, 2011-May 14, 2011	Succeeded by Roger McDowell