Tim Wallach

Early life

Wallach grew up in Tustin, California and attended high school at University High School in neighboring Irvine, California. The young student did not attend his hometown Tustin High School and instead was enrolled at University High School in an effort by the school district to increase the student population of the then-newly opened Irvine high school. There he played on the school's lower level baseball team during his freshman and sophomore years before being promoted to the varsity team for his last two years. Upon graduating in 1975, the aspiring young baseball player enrolled at the nearby Saddleback College and transferred to California State University, Fullerton.

Though Wallach was passed over from being signed to the major leagues out of high school, he soon caught the attention of scouts as a member of the university's Titans baseball team. He led the team to its first Division I title in 1979 while being awarded the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, selected on the 1979 College Baseball All-America Team and named the Sporting News College Player of the Year.

Career

He won three Gold Glove awards for defensive excellence and two Silver Slugger awards for offensive excellence. He was named to five All-Star teams. Wallach spent the majority of his career with the Expos, forming a potent lineup with teammates Tim Raines, Gary Carter and Andre Dawson. He was voted the Montreal Expos Player of the Year in 1987, 1989 and 1990. Bill James has referred to Wallach as a "poor man's Brooks Robinson", largely because of his defensive skills.

With the Expos on September 6, 1980, Wallach hit a home run in his first major league at bat. He was the first player from Cal State Fullerton to do this. On September 6, 2011, Brett Pill of the San Francisco Giants became the second player from Cal State Fullerton to also hit a home run in his first at bat in the major league.

In 8099 career at-bats, Wallach had 2085 hits. He batted .257 with 260 home runs and 1125 RBI. Wallach had 908 career runs scored. He was the one of the last Major League Baseball player to wear a flapless batting helmet, after Tim Raines and Gary Gaetti and equal with Ozzie Smith.

On Saturday June 21, 2014, Tim Wallach was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, in St. Marys, Ontario, along with former Montreal Expos play-by-play announcer Dave Van Horne and former Montreal Expos general manager Murray Cook.

Coaching career

In 2004 and 2005, Wallach was the hitting coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers. When Grady Little became the manager and replaced Jim Tracy in December 2005, Wallach remained hitting coach until he was replaced by Eddie Murray. On January 12, 2009, he was named the manager for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes in the Dodgers organization. He led the Isotopes into the playoffs with a franchise record 80 wins and was named as Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year.

On November 22, 2010, he was named the new third base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. In late 2013, Wallach interviewed for managerial jobs with the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners. When he missed out on those jobs, the Dodgers announced that he would be promoted to bench coach for the 2014 season.

On December 4, 2015, he was announced as the new bench coach for the Miami Marlins.

Family

Tim has three sons (Matt, Brett and Chad) with his wife, Lori. Matt was drafted by the Dodgers in the 22nd round of the 2007 MLB draft as a catcher out of California State University Fullerton. Brett was drafted by the Dodgers as a pitcher in the 3rd round of the 2009 MLB draft out of Orange Coast College and then traded to the Chicago Cubs in 2010. Chad was a catcher for California State University Fullerton who was selected by the Miami Marlins in the 5th round of the 2013 MLB draft and was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 2014. Chad was named Miami Marlins Minor League Player of the Month for June 2014 and was the starting catcher for the South Atlantic League Northern Division All-Stars in June 2014 as a member of the Greensboro Grasshoppers. On August 25th, 2017 Chad Wallach was called up by the Reds.