Joseph Alan Vavra (born November 16, 1959) is an American

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. Vavra previously served as a coach for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

from 2006 to 2017, and as the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

quality control coach in 2018 and 2019, and hitting coach in 2020.

Playing career

Vavra graduated in 1978 from

Chippewa Falls High School Chippewa Falls Senior High School is a public high school located in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. To locals, the high school is referred to as "Chi-Hi". The school belongs to the Big Rivers Conference of the WIAA. The school mascot is the Cardinal. ...

, where he was a captain and MVP baseball player his senior season. He played collegiate baseball for the

University of Wisconsin–Stout The University of Wisconsin–Stout (UW–Stout or Stout) is a public university in Menomonie, Wisconsin. A member of the University of Wisconsin System, it enrolls more than 9,600 students. The school was founded in 1891 and named in honor of it ...

from 1978 to 1982. He graduated with a degree in industrial technology. Vavra was selected by 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 ...

in the 1982 amateur player draft out of college. He played five years in the Dodger farm system, making it to the

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...

level in 1986. He never played in the major leagues due to two injuries. The first happened in his last triple A game when a runner's cleat shattered his thumb when Vavra attempted to tag the runner. The second and final setback was when Vavra fell ill with desert fever (

Coccidioidomycosis Coccidioidomycosis (, ), commonly known as cocci, Valley fever, as well as California fever, desert rheumatism, or San Joaquin Valley fever, is a mammalian fungal disease caused by '' Coccidioides immitis'' or ''Coccidioides posadasii''. Coccid ...

), a disease that eats at the lungs. Vavra finished the year and had to stop playing.

Coaching career

Beginning in 1987, Vavra coached in the Dodgers' minor league system. While at

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninco ...

in Class A, he was named Manager of the Year for 1994 and 1996 for the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

after winning the division title in 1994 and the League championship in 1996. Vavra coached for ten years in the minors before moving to the Dodgers' major league staff. He served in special assignments and as a roving coach before becoming the permanent bunting and baserunning coach in 2000. After a brief stint as the head coach of UW–Stout baseball, Vavra joined the Twins' staff in 2002. On October 27, 2005, Vavra was named the Twins' hitting coach. Vavra attended the 2008 MLB Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium to pitch for

Justin Morneau Justin Ernest George Morneau (born May 15, 1981) is a Canadian former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and Chicago White Sox. At and , ...

. Morneau beat

Josh Hamilton Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from to , most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers teams that won two consecutive Americ ...

to win the Home Run Derby. During Vavra's tenure in Minnesota, the Twins consistently ranked among the best in the league for both individual and team hitting stats. In 2012, it was announced that Vavra would be reassigned from the Twins hitting coach to the Twins third base coach and infield instruction coach in 2013. He was the Twins bench coach from 2015 through 2017. On November 2, 2017, Vavra was named the quality control coach for the

for the 2018 season. Vavra was promoted to hitting coach prior to the 2020 season.

Personal life

Vavra and his wife Lesa have three sons: Tanner, Treysen and Terrin. His son Tanner has played at Valparaiso University and Treysen plays for the Eastern Illinois University baseball team. Tanner was drafted in 30th round of

2013 Major League Baseball draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

by the Twins. In 2016, Tanner was an infielder for the independent minor-league St. Paul Saints. Terrin was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n with the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

before getting drafted in the third round of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In a ...

by the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

, who traded him to the

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) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in August 2020.

References

External links

Tigers coaching bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vavra, Joe 1959 births Living people Albuquerque Dukes players Baseball coaches from Wisconsin Baseball infielders Baseball players from Wisconsin Detroit Tigers coaches Lodi Dodgers players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball hitting coaches Major League Baseball third base coaches Minnesota Twins coaches Minor league baseball managers People from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin San Antonio Dodgers players University of Wisconsin–Stout alumni Wisconsin–Stout Blue Devils baseball players