Glenn Hoffman


Glenn Edward Hoffman is an American Major League Baseball coach and a former MLB shortstop and manager. Currently the third base coach for the San Diego Padres, Hoffman had a nine-year playing career in the Majors, and was manager of the 1998 Los Angeles Dodgers for the last 88 games of the season. The native of Orange, California, threw and batted right-handed; he stood tall and weighed during his playing career.

Playing career

Hoffman attended Savanna High School of Anaheim, California, and was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the second round of the 1976 June draft. He played primarily at shortstop for the Red Sox from 1980 to 1987, when he was traded to the Dodgers on August 21. In 1988, he returned to the Red Sox' organization as a free agent but spent the entire season in the minor leagues. In 1989, he signed with the California Angels, but was limited to 48 games in his final MLB season. In 766 games played in the Majors, Hoffman collected 524 hits, with 106 doubles, nine triples and 23 home runs. He batted.242.

Coaching/managing career

After his playing career, Hoffman began coaching, and spent 4½ years as a manager in the Dodger farm system; in between those terms he was field coordinator of instruction for the Dodgers' player development organization.
He was in the midst of his second season as manager of the Triple-A Albuquerque Dukes in 1998 when the parent Dodgers, sitting in third place at 36–38 and 12½ games out of the lead in the National League West Division, fired manager Bill Russell and general manager Fred Claire. Hoffman was named interim manager on June 22. Hoffman led the Dodgers for the remainder of the season, compiling a 47–41 win-loss record; the team finished 83–79 and in third place, 15 games behind the eventual NL champion Padres. Davey Johnson was then named manager for 1999, and Hoffman was retained as third base coach, serving seven full seasons in the post for Johnson and his successor, Jim Tracy.
Hoffman interviewed for the vacant Red Sox managerial job after the season when Grady Little's contract expired, but Boston instead hired Terry Francona. Coincidentally, after the season, when Little was hired to replace Tracy as the Dodgers' manager, Hoffman departed for the Padres, where he has served as a coach under four different managers since.

Personal

Glenn Hoffman is the older brother of Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman, the former all-time leader in saves, who spent 15½ seasons with the Padres. Their late father, Ed, was a longtime usher at Anaheim Stadium and a professional singer who would often perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Angel games—especially as a "pinch hitter" when the scheduled singer could not appear.