Joel Patrick Skinner (born February 21, 1961) is an American former professional baseball manager, coach, and catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). Skinner mostly has managed at the minor-league level, save for one half of one season at the helm of the Cleveland Indians. He is the son of Bob Skinner, a National League outfielder in the 1950s and 1960s, and himself a former MLB coach and skipper.

In , Skinner became the manager of the Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. He was replaced by Toby Gardenhire for the 2020 season.

High school career

At Mission Bay High School in San Diego, Skinner played baseball and water polo. He was drafted following his senior year and was the first player taken in the free-agent compensation draft.

Major league playing career

Skinner was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 37th round (842nd overall) of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft. He played two minor league seasons in the Pirates organization before he was acquired by the Chicago White Sox on February 2, 1982.

Skinner made his major league debut on June 12, 1983 against the Oakland Athletics, appearing as a defensive replacement at catcher in the ninth inning. He also recorded his first career at bat in the game, grounding out to pitcher Mike Warren in the 10th inning. After brief call-ups to the majors over the next three years, Skinner was slated to start 1986 with the White Sox.

New general manager Hawk Harrelson had taken a liking to Skinner, and decided to make him the starting catcher in place of Carlton Fisk. This made some sense on paper; Fisk was 38 years old, and conventional wisdom then as now held that catchers at that age don't have many years left. Harrelson wanted to have Fisk's successor in place when Fisk retired. To ease the transition, Fisk was moved to left field. The move backfired when Skinner batted only .171 in April. On May 10, Fisk became the regular catcher, and Skinner only made 25 more starts behind the plate before being traded to the New York Yankees on July 30.

After the trade to the New York, Skinner bounced between the majors and minors with the Yankees and Cleveland Indians until he retired as a player on May 18, 1994. The Indians immediately named him a minor league instructor upon his retirement.

Minor league managing career

Skinner spent six seasons managing in the Indians minor league system from 1995–2000. Overall, he compiled a record of 448–333 (.574) and took his teams to the playoffs in five of six seasons. In 1995, Skinner managed the Watertown Indians to a record of 46–27 and a New York–Penn League title, and received Manager of the Year honors. With the Columbus Redstixx (South Atlantic League) in 1996, he managed them to a second half title and a regular season record of 79–63. In 1997, Skinner managed the Class A Kinston Indians (Carolina League) as they won titles in both the first and second halves with an 87–53 record overall, earning him Carolina League Manager of the Year honors. Skinner then managed the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons to the best record in the International League in 2000, including an IL North Division title with a record of 86–59 (.593).

In 2016, Skinner was the manager of the Winston-Salem Dash of the Carolina League.

On January 17, 2018, Skinner was named as the 45th manager of the International League's Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

Major League managing/coaching career

Skinner was named to the coaching staff of the Cleveland Indians on November 10, 2000, succeeding Jim Riggleman as third base coach. He was named interim manager of the Tribe on July 11, 2002 after Charlie Manuel was let go in a contract dispute. Skinner remained on the Indians' coaching staff until the end of the 2009 season.

On October 20, 2010, Skinner was hired as the Oakland Athletics bench coach for the 2011 season, replacing Tye Waller. On September 30, 2011, it was announced that he would not be retained for the 2012 season.

Managerial records

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason

|-

!Games!!Won!!Lost!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !! Win % !! Result

|-

|-

!CLE||

||76|||| 3rd in AL Central || – || – || – || –

|-

! colspan="2"|Total ||76|||| || ||

|}

Career statistics

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! G

! AB

! R

! H

! RBI

! HR

! AVG

|-

| 564

| 1441

| 119

| 329

| 136

| 17

| .228

|}

See also

  • List of second-generation Major League Baseball players

References

  • MLB.com Bio