David William Wallace (born September 7, 1947) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, pitching coach and front-office executive. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

. After his playing career he was a pitching coach for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

, Houston Astros and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

Playing career

An all-around athlete at Sacred Heart High School of

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...

, Wallace played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and football. Wallace had a Hall of Fame collegiate career at the University of New Haven, where he went 24–7 with a 2.18

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

and 311

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

in his four-year career. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 1970. A right-handed

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

, Wallace posted a 47–31 record with 60 saves in 355 career minor league outings. In the Majors, he made 13 appearances for the Phillies (1973–74) and

(1978) and went 0–1 with 12 strikeouts and a 7.84

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

in 20 innings. He concluded his playing career with Triple-A Pawtucket (1979).

Coaching career

After his retirement as a player, Wallace became a pitching coach in the Dodgers' organization for Class A

Vero Beach Vero Beach is a city in and the seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. Vero Beach is the second most populous city in Indian River County. Abundant in beaches and wildlife, Vero Beach is located on Florida's Treasure Coast. It is thi ...

(1981–82), Double-A

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

(1983) and Triple-A

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

(1984–86). He also managed San Antonio for part of the 1983 season and put himself into four games as a pitcher in both 1984 and 1986 with the Dukes. He was then the Dodgers' minor league pitching coordinator from 1987 to 1994 until he replaced

Ron Perranoski Ronald Peter Perranoski (April 1, 1936 – October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed relief pitcher from to , most prominently as a member of the Los Angeles Dodg ...

as the Dodgers' Major League pitching coach in 1995. As a coach, Wallace is credited with helping develop the talents of pitchers

Pedro Martínez Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to . At the time o ...

, Ramón Martínez,

Pedro Astacio Pedro Julio Astacio (born November 28, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He has played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1992–1997), Colorado Rockies (1997–2001), Houston Astros (2001), New York Mets (2002–2003), Boston Red Sox (20 ...

, Darren Dreifort,

Hideo Nomo is a Japanese former baseball pitcher who played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He achieved early success in his native country, where he played with the Kintetsu Buffaloes from to . He then exploited a l ...

, Chan Ho Park, Ismael Valdéz and

John Wetteland John Karl Wetteland (born August 21, 1966) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (1989–2000). He pitched for four teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos, New York Yankees, and Texas Rang ...

. He was also credited by

Orel Hershiser Orel Leonard Hershiser IV (born September 16, 1958) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983 to 2000. He later became a pitching coach for the Texas Rangers from 2002 to 2005 and a bro ...

for his early success with the Dodgers in a ''Sports Illustrated'' article. Wallace left the Dodgers after the 1998 season and became the pitching coach of the

from 1999 to 2000, under

Bobby Valentine Robert John Valentine (born May 13, 1950), nicknamed "Bobby V", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He also served as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University. Valentine played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1 ...

, including New York's 2000 National League championship club. But he and Valentine did not have a close working relationship, and Wallace resigned after the

2000 World Series The 2000 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2000 season. The 96th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between crosstown opponents, the two-time defending World Series champions and ...

to rejoin the Dodgers as senior vice president, baseball operations.Los Angeles Times
/ref> He then served as an interim

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the Dodgers in 2001 after

Kevin Malone Kevin Malone is a fictional character in the American television series ''The Office''. He is portrayed by Brian Baumgartner. Kevin's counterpart in the UK TV series is Keith Bishop, who shares Kevin's lack of communication skills, musical int ...

was forced to resign at midseason. Wallace left the Dodger front office to become the pitching coach for the

on June 10, 2003, replacing Tony Cloninger, who at the time was (successfully) battling bladder cancer. Wallace then won a

World Series ring A World Series ring is an award given to Major League Baseball players who win the World Series. Since only one Commissioner's Trophy is awarded to the team, a World Series ring is an individual award that players and staff of each World Series ...

with the Red Sox in 2004. In February 2006, while driving to spring training, Wallace was hospitalized in

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Off ...

, with intense pain in his right hip. Twelve years after having hip replacement surgery, Wallace discovered he was suffering from a severe infection in the replaced joint. He nearly died from the infection, and underwent immediate surgery. He had a second replacement surgery in June and was able to resume his duties with the Red Sox on August 8, 2006, through the end of the season, when he resigned. Wallace was hired as the new pitching coach by the Houston Astros in 2007, but left that job in October 2007 when he was hired by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

organization as a special assistant to the general manager. On January 13, 2009, he was named the Mariners minor league pitching coordinator. After completing the 2009 season in this position, Wallace was hired by the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

to serve in the same capacity for them. He briefly filled in as the Braves pitching coach in 2011 while

Roger McDowell Roger Alan McDowell (born December 21, 1960) is an American former professional baseball right-handed relief pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1985 to 1996. He played for the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dod ...

was on suspension. In November 2013, he was named as the Baltimore Orioles pitching coach replacing interim coach Bill Castro. Wallace's retirement from the Orioles was announced at a press conference on October 6, 2016, however, Wallace immediately rejoined the Braves as a pitching consultant. In April 2021, Wallace was named as a coach for the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball t ...

, for the team's final efforts to qualify for baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. The team qualified, with Wallace serving as the team's pitching coach for the Olympics. The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
o
Pelota Binaria (Venezuelan Winter League)
: {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Dave 1947 births Living people Albuquerque Dukes players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves coaches Baltimore Orioles coaches Baseball coaches from Connecticut Baseball players from Connecticut Boston Red Sox coaches Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Eugene Emeralds players Houston Astros coaches Los Angeles Dodgers coaches Los Angeles Dodgers executives Major League Baseball executives Major League Baseball general managers Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Minor league baseball coaches Minor league baseball managers New Haven Chargers baseball players New York Mets coaches Oklahoma City 89ers players Pawtucket Red Sox players Peninsula Phillies players Philadelphia Phillies players Reading Phillies players Santo Domingo Azucareros players Seattle Mariners executives Spartanburg Phillies players Sportspeople from Waterbury, Connecticut Syracuse Chiefs players Toledo Mud Hens players Toronto Blue Jays players