DETROIT -- Chris Bosio didn't meet Joe Jimenez until spring training, but he had already been speaking to the Detroit Tigers young reliever for months.
Days after his hiring, the new Tigers pitching coach was already breaking down video and using FaceTime and text messages to groom Jimenez for a resurgence in 2018.
Jimenez's emergence as the Tigers' top reliever stands as one of Bosio's most vivid success stories during his brief eight-month tenure that ended on Wednesday.
The Tigers dismissed Bosio for making "insensitive comments" to a team employee.
Bosio, 55, was known as an unconventional and sometimes acerbic presence who was given a large degree of autonomy by manager Ron Gardenhire to direct the pitching staff as he saw fit.
He was hired on Oct. 27, 2017, just days after he was released as pitching coach for the Chicago Cubs, where he spent six seasons.
Earlier, Bosio served in a variety of coaching positions with Seattle, Tampa Bay, Cincinnati and Milwaukee. He played in 11 Major League seasons with Milwaukee (1986-92) and Seattle (1993-96), compiling a 94-93 career record.
"When I was called in, (the Cubs) told me that they were going to go a different direction," Bosio said when he was hired by the Tigers. "It was six years in Chicago. A lot of really great memories, a lot to be proud of from everybody in the organization. Everybody involved had one common goal and that was to win a world championship."
Bosio said he saw that same commitment in the Tigers, even though the team was in a rebuilding phase.
"There's a lot of similarities record-wise with the Tigers and where we were six years ago (in Chicago)," Bosio said. "Everybody was on the same page, and that was impressive. That was very impressive to me in our conversations."
There were occasionally signs, even as early that Bosio and Gardenhire weren't entirely on the same page. Bosio favored a group of flexible relievers, while Gardenhire was eager to establish well-defined roles for the bullpen.
But in general, Gardenhire and Bosio seemed to get along well, especially since he was the lone outsider on the coaching staff, the only coach who hadn't previously been with the Tigers or served under Gardenhire at Minnesota.
Not all of Bosio's projects went as well as Jimenez. Daniel Norris' velocity was down dramatically in spring training and none of Bosio's unconventional schemes could get him back on track. Norris ultimately elected to undergo groin surgery in April and is still on the disabled list.
Veteran Jordan Zimmermann, another one of Bosio's top priorities in 2018, has shown glimmers of progress but has also battled injuries and inconsistency.
Bosio missed several games in mid-April due to an undisclosed health issue. He was advised by doctors to take two weeks off to rest but elected to return to the team just days later.
He granted an interview with reporters upon his return only upon the condition that his medical issue not be discussed.
Bosio was still contending with a foot injury suffered in 2017. He walked gingerly and sometimes limped slightly while walking to the mound.
He made his last trip on Tuesday night. After the game, he was interviewed by general manager Al Avila in Gardenhire's office about allegations that he had used insensitive language to a team employee.
The inquiry was swift. When Bosio arrived for work on Wednesday, Avila told him he was fired.
The author
No comments: