James David Riggleman (born November 9, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) manager and bench coach who coached with several teams between 1989 and 2019.
During his playing career, Riggleman was an infielder and outfielder in the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinalsminor league systems from 1974 to 1981. After his playing career ended, he managed in the Cardinals and San Diego Padres minor league systems until 1992, when he became the Padres' manager. From 1992 to 2011 Riggleman managed the Padres, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, and Washington Nationals, and also served as a major league coach with the Dodgers, Mariners, and Nationals between his managerial stints. His most recent major league managerial job was with the Nationals, a post he resigned from on June 23, 2011. Subsequently, he was employed as a scout with the San Francisco Giants. In 2015 he became a coach with the Cincinnati Reds. On April 19, 2018, he became the Reds' interim manager after Bryan Price was fired.[1]
In 1983, Riggleman became manager of the St. Petersburg Cardinals, a Class-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, in the Florida State League.
He next managed at the Double-A level in the Cardinals organization—including with the Arkansas Travelers, the team which he spent most of his playing career with.[6]
San Diego Padres (1992–1994)
Riggleman made his major league managerial debut with the San Diego Padres late in the 1992 season—after already managing a full season with the Triple-A Las Vegas Stars—due to the late season departure of Greg Riddoch, and was retained through the 1994 season.[7] He finished with a record of 112 wins and 179 losses.[7]
Riggleman began the 2008 season as the bench coach for the Seattle Mariners under new manager John McLaren. He was promoted to interim manager upon McLaren's dismissal on June 19, 2008,[8] but was not retained by the Mariners after the season ended. He finished with a record of 36 wins and 54 losses.[7]
Washington Nationals (2009–2011)
Riggleman with the Nationals
Riggleman was named bench coach for the Washington Nationals for the 2009 season, and was promoted to interim manager on July 12, 2009, following Manny Acta's midseason dismissal.[9] Riggleman picked McLaren as his bench coach. Riggleman hired Burton Rocks as his agent to negotiate his managerial deal with the Washington Nationals in November 2009.[10][11] The Nationals retained Riggleman as manager for the 2010 and 2011 seasons, but on June 23, 2011, he resigned as manager of the Nationals after a win against the Seattle Mariners and after the team won 11 of its previous 12 games. Riggleman was unhappy the team had yet to pick up his contract option for the 2012 season. He said he told team management before the game he "wanted to have a conversation" about his contract before the team left for a series against the Chicago White Sox, but "they didn't want to do that", so he offered his resignation. "I'm 58, I'm too old to be disrespected", he said.[12][13] He finished with a record of 140 wins and 172 losses.[7]
Cincinnati Reds (2012–2018)
For the 2012 season, Riggleman managed the Cincinnati Reds AA minor league affiliate, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, ending the season with a 68–70 record.[14] On December 12, 2012, Riggleman was promoted to manage the Reds' Class AAA team, the Louisville Bats, in 2013.[15] On January 6, 2014, the Reds announced Riggleman would return as manager of the Bats in 2014.[16] On November 10, 2014, the Reds announced Riggleman would be their third base coach for the 2015 season[17] replacing Steve Smith. On April 19, 2018, Riggleman was named interim manager after the firing of Bryan Price.[1] He was not retained as the manager after the 2018 season.[18]
New York Mets (2019)
Riggleman was named the bench coach of the New York Mets on November 26, 2018, and was not retained after the 2019 season ended.
