Former Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padrs catcher Carlos Hernández wants to fill the Padres’ managerial void.
After manager Mike Shildt surprisingly stepped down earlier this month, the divisional foes will need a new skipper, and Hernández recently told The Athletic’s Dennis Lin why he thinks he is the man for the job.
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“I want to see the San Diego Padres win a championship,” Hernández said. “And, man, I got too close. Too close as a player, and even here, too, as a broadcaster. But I want to make it as a manager.”
Hernández made his debut with the Dodgers in 1990 and was in LA until the 1996 season. His manager during this stint was none other than Hall of Famer and Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda.
He made his way to the Padres in 1997, and made it to the World Series in 1998, only to get swept by the New York Yankees.
Nowadays, Hernández is still around the game as a broadcaster. He recently finished up his 14th season as the primary color analyst for Spanish-language television and radio broadcasts.
In terms of a resume to deem him worthy of being a manager, he worked three years as a catching coordinator for the Padres, was the manager of a Mexican Summer League team, was a Venezuelan winter-ball manager from 2006-08, and was a catching coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2010-13.
“I want to be a champion in San Diego. I want to be a champion manager,” Hernández said. “I (won) as a player. And I don’t want to have just the name ‘manager.’ I want to have the name of a winning manager. … I don’t want to compare myself to somebody else, but I want to do it because I was born to play baseball, man. I come here to play baseball. All my years, all my career that I have in this beautiful country is baseball.”
Although Hernandez’s story and desire are commendable, the Dodgers will do everything in their power for his dreams of winning a championship to be foiled, at least as long as he is working in the same division as LA.
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Photo Kelly Gavin/MLB Photos via Getty Images
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One Response
Two of the three managers Hernández has played for are in the Hall of Fame (Tommy Lasorda for 7 seasons and 25 games for Tony La Russa). The other is Bruce Bochy for 2.5 seasons in San Diego.