Timothy Charles Wallach (born September 14, 1957), nicknamed "Eli", is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played seventeen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman, most notably for the Montreal Expos from to . A five-time All-Star, Wallach excelled as an offensive and as a defensive player, winning 2 Silver Slugger Awards and 3 Gold Glove Awards. In addition to the Expos, he also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels and coached for the Dodgers and Miami Marlins.
Early life
Wallach was born on September 14, 1957, in Huntington Park, California, a working-class suburb of Los Angeles. He grew up in Tustin in Orange County, and attended University High School in neighboring Irvine. 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. was named to the all-tournament team, and won the Golden Spikes Award. He was an All-American and named the Sporting News College Player of the Year.
Later career (1993–1996)
Wallach played in 133 games for the Dodgers, getting 106 hits (his lowest since having 112 in 1986), with 19 doubles, 12 home runs and 62 RBIs with a .222 batting average. In the strike shortened 1994 season, he played in 113 games (out of 114 that the Dodgers played), having 116 hits, 21 doubles and 23 home runs (his highest since having 21 in 1990) with 78 RBIs and a .280 batting average. He finished 18th in MVP voting. He played in just 97 games for the Dodgers in 1995, having 87 hits (his lowest since having 50 in 1981) with 22 doubles, nine home runs and 38 RBIs and a .266 batting average. He appeared in the team's postseason run, playing in each game of the NLDS. He went 1-for-12, with no RBIs as the Dodgers were swept in three. After the season ended, he signed as a free agent with the California Angels. He played in 57 games with the team, having 45 hits, seven doubles, eight home runs and 20 RBIs with 47 strikeouts on a .237 batting average. He was granted free agency on July 19, 1996, signing with the Dodgers six days later. He played in 45 games while having 37 hits, three doubles, four home runs and 22 RBIs on a .228 batting average. He appeared in the postseason run, appearing in each game of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves. He went 0-for-11 as they were swept. In his final regular season game on September 29, 1996, he went 1-for-4. In his final at bat (done in the 10th inning), he hit a single off Dario Veras of the San Diego Padres.
Career statistics and achievements
In 8,099 career at-bats, Wallach had 2,085 hits. He batted .257 with 260 home runs and 1,125 RBIs. Wallach had 908 career runs scored. Wallach holds the Expos and Nationals team record for most games played. He held the team records for most runs batted in and hits until in 2017 Ryan Zimmerman surpassed Wallach's runs batted in total and in 2018 Zimmerman surpassed Wallach's hits total.
Wallach 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.
On 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
150px|thumb|left|Wallach as [[Manager (baseball)|manager of the Albuquerque Isotopes, Triple-A affiliates of the Dodgers, in ]]
In and , 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, , 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, a position he held through the conclusion of the 2019 season.
Personal life
Wallach 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 25, 2017, Chad was called up by the Reds.
Wallach's nickname, "Eli", is in reference to actor Eli Wallach.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
- List of Major League Baseball players with a home run in their first major league at bat
- List of second-generation Major League Baseball players