James Edwin Tracy (born December 31, 1955, in Hamilton, Ohio) is the current field manager of the Colorado Rockies. Tracy was named manager of the Rockies after previous manager, Clint Hurdle, was fired on May 29, 2009.^[1]

[edit] History

He was an All-American baseball player at Marietta College, a NCAA Division III institution in Ohio.

Before managing, Tracy played as an outfielder for two years with the Chicago Cubs in 1980–81. He also played two seasons in Japan with the Taiyo Whales in 1983–84. He eventually worked as a minor league manager for several organizations. Tracy later served as the bench coach of the Montreal Expos (under manager Felipe Alou), and the Dodgers (under manager Davey Johnson) in 1999 and 2000.

[edit] Los Angeles Dodgers

Tracy was manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2001 to 2005 (4 winning seasons out of 5), compiling a 427–383 record. With Tracy as manager, the Dodgers won the National League's West division in 2004 but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series. On October 3, 2005, Tracy stepped down a day after the end of his first losing season as manager.^[2]

[edit] Pittsburgh Pirates

He was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates on October 11. In two disappointing seasons in Pittsburgh, he compiled a 135–189 record. Tracy was fired by the Pirates on October 5, 2007.

[edit] Colorado Rockies

Tracy was hired as bench coach for the Colorado Rockies in November 2008. On May 29, 2009, Clint Hurdle was fired after compiling an 18-28 record, and Tracy was named to replace him. Tracy led the Rockies to the postseason for the second time in three years, with a 74-42 (.638) record since taking over as manager, season record of 92-70 (.568) which is a franchise record, but lost the NLDS to the Philadelphia Phillies after 4 games on October 12, 2009 with a final score of 5-4. During the series the Rockies were outscored 20 to 15.

For his efforts in the 2009 season, Tracy was named Sporting News' Manager of the Year for the National League.

On November 18, 2009, Tracy received on an honor he deserved -- the National League Manager of the Year Award, as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. It was also announced that he will be the Rockies skipper through the 2012 season.

[edit] Personal life

His oldest son, Brian, played baseball at UC Santa Barbara, and was drafted in 2007 by the Pirates. His son, Chad, plays in the minor leagues with the Texas Rangers organization.

His youngest son, Mark, currently plays baseball for Duquesne University. He transferred from Pepperdine University to the Pittsburgh, Pa. school after his dad was hired by the Pirates. Mark was drafted by the Rockies in the 2009 Rule 4 draft. He has returned to Duquesne for his fourth year of college eligibility (2009-10).^[3]

Tracy is not related to the Chad Tracy who has played in the major leagues with the Arizona Diamondbacks. ^[4]

[edit] Managerial records

Statistics current through October 12, 2009

Statistics for 2009 season, are from May 29, 2009 when Jim Tracy took over as manager.

[edit] See also

• List of Major League Baseball managers in 2006
• List of Major League Baseball managers in 2007
• List of Major League Baseball managers in 2008

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - managerial record and playing statistics
• BucsDugout.com - article about Tracy's tendencies as manager of the Dodgers