Kevin Cash
| Kevin Cash | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Cash with the Boston Red Sox | |||
| Tampa Bay Rays – No. 16 | |||
| Catcher / Manager | |||
|
Born: December 6, 1977 Tampa, Florida | |||
| |||
| MLB debut | |||
| September 6, 2002, for the Toronto Blue Jays | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| October 3, 2010, for the Boston Red Sox | |||
| MLB statistics (through July 31, 2016) | |||
| Batting average | .183 | ||
| Home runs | 12 | ||
| Runs batted in | 58 | ||
| Games managed | 264 | ||
| Win–loss record | 148–176 | ||
| Winning percentage | .457 | ||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
| |||
Kevin Forrest Cash (born December 6, 1977) is a former American professional baseball catcher and coach. He is currently the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB).
During his playing career, Cash played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. He served as the bullpen coach for the Cleveland Indians, before being hired as the Rays' manager in December 2014.
Early life
Cash played for Northside Little League in Florida when they made it to the Little League World Series in 1989. Cash played college baseball for the Florida State University Seminoles under head coach Mike Martin. He bats and throws right-handed. In the summer of 1999, he played for the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Played in College World Series 1998 and NCAA Runner-Up in 1999 at Florida State. He played sports video games but according to a person who was in his group of friends he was not that good.
Major league career
2002–04: Toronto
Cash played a total of 101 games from 2002 to 2004 with the Toronto Blue Jays, serving mainly as a backup and defensive replacement.
2005: Tampa Bay
Cash joined the Devil Rays in 2005. On April 5, 2006, the Devil Rays designated Cash for assignment, and after clearing waivers, reported to Triple-A Durham where he spent the entire 2006 season.
2007–08: Boston
Cash signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox on January 24, 2007.
On August 17, 2007, Red Sox backup catcher Doug Mirabelli pulled a calf muscle rounding third base in the first game of a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Cash was flown to Boston from Ottawa (where the Pawtucket Red Sox were playing the Ottawa Lynx) to catch in the nightcap of the doubleheader. He made it to Fenway Park after the game had started. He started the game on August 19 against the Angels.[1]
On November 2, 2007, Cash opted for free agency after refusing to accept an outright assignment to AAA Pawtucket. On December 13, 2007, Cash re-signed with the Red Sox to a minor league contract and an invitation to spring training.
On March 25, 2008, Cash's contract was purchased. He acted as the personal catcher for knuckleball pitcher Tim Wakefield after Doug Mirabelli left the Sox. He was also notable for wearing his plastic catcher's cap forward (similar to how a field player wears a normal baseball cap) under his mask; normally, catchers will turn the cap around to provide stability for their mask. In Boston, Cash wore the uniform number 36, except from August 16, 2008 to the end of the 2008 season, due to Paul Byrd's joining the Red Sox and wearing his customary number 36. During this period, Cash switched to number 30. On December 12, 2008, Cash was non-tendered by the Red Sox, officially making him a free agent.[2]
2009: New York
On December 23, 2008, Cash signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees with an invitation to Spring Training.[3] He began the 2009 season with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. On May 8, Cash was called up due to injuries to both Jorge Posada and José Molina. He was optioned to AAA Scranton on May 29 and was placed on the injured reserve list after undergoing surgery to repair a torn rotator .
Released by the New York Yankees' organization on September 5, 2009, Cash announced his retirement from baseball. However, he soon changed his mind, and on January 22, 2010, Cash signed a minor league contract with the Houston Astros.
2010: Houston/Second stint with Boston
On May 5, 2010, Cash was called up to the Astros to replace a struggling J. R. Towles. He had 11 hits in 54 at bats with Houston.
On July 1, 2010, Cash was acquired by the Red Sox for Ángel Sánchez after Jason Varitek went on the disabled list. As the backup catcher for the Red Sox for part of the season, he had 60 at bats and a .133 batting average, compiling just eight hits with the team. He finished the year with .167 average (AL and NL stats combined). He refused a minor league assignment on October 12, and became a free agent. He signed a minor-league contract with the Texas Rangers on November 11, 2010, and played the entire 2011 season at their Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock.
Post-playing career
2012–14: Scouting and coaching
On January 8, 2012, Cash announced his retirement. He was announced as an advanced scout for the Blue Jays during the 2012 season.[4]
Shortly after the 2012 season ended, Cash joined Terry Francona's staff with the Cleveland Indians as their bullpen coach.[5] Cash played for Terry Francona during his stints with the Red Sox, and joined fellow Red Sox alumnus Brad Mills, who became Cleveland's bench coach. Mills was Terry Francona's bench coach while Cash played for the Red Sox, as well as Cash's manager with the Houston Astros in 2010. While in Cleveland, Cash recommended Yan Gomes to Chris Antonetti, the team's general manager.[6]
2015–present: manager of the Tampa Bay Rays
On December 5, 2014, the Tampa Bay Rays hired Cash as their manager, succeeding Joe Maddon.[7] He became the first home-grown player of Tampa to become manager[8] and became the first former Rays player to manage the team.[9]
Managerial record
- As of games played on September 14, 2016
| Team | From | To | Regular season record | Post–season record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | Win % | W | L | Win % | |||
| Tampa Bay Rays | 2015 | Present | 148 | 176 | .457 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Reference:[10] | ||||||||
Family
Cash, his wife Emily and their two daughters and son reside in Cleveland, Ohio.
Cash is also the nephew of MLB player Ronald Forrest Cash who played under the name Ron Cash.
Awards and honors
- 1999 College World Series - Tallahassee Regional MVP
- 2001 Florida State League All-Star Team
- 2002 All-Star Futures Game
- 2007 World Series - Boston Red Sox
- 2009 World Series - New York Yankees
References
- ↑ Lefort, David (August 17, 2007). "Ellsbury in Game 2 lineup". boston.com. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- ↑ Lefort, David (December 12, 2008). "Sox don't tender contract to Cash". The Boston Globe.
- ↑ Sherman, Joel (December 23, 2008). "Yanks Sign Cash To Minor League Deal". New York Post.
- ↑ Cafardo, Nick (January 8, 2012). "Good starting point for Red Sox is 200 innings". The Boston Globe.
- ↑ Bastian, Jordan (October 31, 2012). "Familiar faces among Francona's coaching staff". MLB.com.
- ↑ http://m.indians.mlb.com/news/article/40162812/
- ↑ http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11983654/tampa-bay-rays-hire-kevin-cash-next-manager
- ↑ Elliot, Bob (December 7, 2014). "Kevin Cash first homegrown Blue Jay to make it to manager's office". Toronto Sun. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
- ↑ Chastain, Bill (December 6, 2014). "Homecoming king: Cash chosen to manage Rays". MLB.com. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
- ↑ "Kevin Cash". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Joe Maddon |
Tampa Bay Rays manager 2015 – present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Preceded by Dave Miller |
Cleveland Indians bullpen coach 2013 – 2014 |
Succeeded by Jason Bere |