Dave Magadan

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Dave Magadan bigraphy, stories - American baseball player and coach

Dave Magadan : biography

September 30, 1962 –

David Joseph Magadan (born September 30, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball first and third baseman and current Texas Rangers hitting coach. He is the cousin and godson of former manager, Lou Piniella.

Early years

Magadan is 6’4" tall, weighs 245 lbs, batted from the left side, and threw from the right. While a student at Jesuit High School of Tampa, Magadan was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the twelfth round of the 1980 Major League Baseball Draft, but elected not to sign and remain in school. His status as a prospect improved after he led West Tampa Memorial Post No. 248 to a win against a team from Richmond, Virginia in the American Legion World Series and was named series Most Valuable Player. He also received the George W. Rulon American Legion Baseball Player of the Year award.

After high school, Magadan attended the University of Alabama, where, in , his .525 batting average led the entire National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), while setting an SEC Southeastern Conference record, and is still the fifth best in NCAA history. After defeating Michigan and Arizona State University twice, Alabama lost to the University of Texas at Austin in the 1983 College World Series. Magadan was named the All-Tournament Team’s first baseman. He also was selected as an AP All-American, was named the starting designated hitter on The Sporting News’s college All-America team, received College Player of the Year honors from Baseball America and won USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award as the best amateur baseball player. His .439 career batting average is the SEC record and tenth best in NCAA history.

Minor leagues

Following his breakthrough season at Alabama, Magadan was selected by the New York Mets with the 32nd overall pick of the 1983 Major League Baseball Draft, early in the second round. He was assigned to the South Atlantic League’s Columbia Mets, with whom he batted .336 with three home runs.

Magadan did not hit any home runs his next two seasons, and really didn’t display much power as a prospect, but he consistently hit for a high batting average and displayed excellent plate discipline, with a low strikeout rate and twice as many walks as strikeouts. He advanced steadily through the system, and was a September call-up for the championship squad.

Coaching career

After his retirement as a player, Magadan was hired by the Padres as their minor league hitting instructor in , and served as their major league batting coach from to . On June 15, 2006, with the Padres batting .252 as a team (last in the National League), Magadan was fired by Padres GM Kevin Towers and replaced by former Padres hitting coach Merv Rettenmund. Their .322 in on base percentage and .391 slugging percentage was second to last to the Chicago Cubs.

On October 20, 2006, Magadan was named hitting coach for the Boston Red Sox. In his first season on the job, Magadan’s Red Sox would go on to see great improvements in batting average (.269 to .279), slugging percentage (.435 to .444) and on base percentage (.351 to .362), and led the American League with 689 walks. In , Boston would finally end their arch rival New York Yankees’ nine year run as American League Eastern division champions, and went on to sweep the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 World Series. The team batted .333 in the World Series.

The Red Sox were among the league leaders in all batting categories again in , leading the major leagues with a .358 on-base percentage and 646 walks, and ranking second in the American League in batting average (.280), runs (845), doubles (353), RBIs (807) and total bases (2,503), and finishing third in slugging percentage (.447).

Magadan was suspended for one game on June 26, for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire Bob Davidson on June 24. While still making the post season as a wild card, the Red Sox saw a substantial dip in all categories in 2009, and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Angels.