Thomas Jones Goodwin (born July 27, 1968) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

coach and former player. 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 (A ...

(MLB) for 14 seasons, primarily as a

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

, from 1991 to 2004. As a player, he was listed at and ; he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Goodwin has coached in MLB for the

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 lea ...

and

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 eight ...

Playing career

Goodwin attended Central High School in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, and then went on to play for

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

. He was a two-time All-American selection at Fresno State, and was also named to ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' college All-America team in 1989. The

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

drafted Goodwin in the sixth round (134th overall) of the 1986 MLB draft, but he did not sign. In 1988, he was a member of the gold-medal-winning

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 ...

at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

. Goodwin opted to wait until 1989 to sign with a team, agreeing to terms with 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) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

, after being selected in the first round (22nd overall) of the

1989 MLB draft First-round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1989 Major League Baseball draft on June 5. Supplemental first round selections Other notable players * Brian Hunter, 2nd round, 35th overall by the Houston Astros * Ti ...

. Goodwin spent only three seasons in Minor League Baseball before making his MLB debut—he had at least 48

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe o ...

s in each of those seasons. In 1989, he was a member of ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

all-star team, and was a member of the Pioneer League all-star team. In 1990, he was a member of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

all-star team. He made his major-league debut on September 1, 1991, at the age of 23. Goodwin's major-league career highlights include 369 stolen bases over 14 years with the Dodgers,

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, Texas Rangers,

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 Fi ...

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

. He posted a major-league career high 66 stolen bases with the Royals in 1996, and a .290

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with the Rangers in 1998. During the 2000 season, Goodwin had only six home runs: two were grand slams while another was an

inside-the-park home run In baseball, an inside-the-park home run is a play where a batter hits a home run without hitting the ball out of the field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-park home run", or "in-the-park homer". Discussion To score ...

. He played in the

2002 World Series The 2002 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s 2002 season. The 98th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Anaheim Angels and the National Lea ...

, going 0-for-4 as the Giants lost to the

Anaheim Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

in seven games. Goodwin recorded his 1000th career

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

off of

Mike Gallo Michael Dwain Gallo (born April 2, 1977) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Biography He debuted for the Houston Astros on July 2, . Careerwise with the Astros, he was 4-3 with an ERA of 4.11. He attended Long Beach State. In , ...

of the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

on August 20, 2003. Goodwin last played in MLB in 2004. He then played in the independent Atlantic League in 2005 for the

Atlantic City Surf The Atlantic City Surf were a professional minor league baseball team based in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Surf was most recently a member of the Can-Am League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. The Surf played its home games ...

. In a 14-year major-league career covering 1288 games, Goodwin posted a .268

with 24

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 284

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the b ...

(RBIs); he had a .332

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and a .339

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. He recorded a .991

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, di ...

, playing at all three outfield positions. In 21 postseason games, he hit .160 (4-for-25) with one run and two RBIs.

Post-playing career

After retiring as a player, Goodwin managed the Lewisville Lizards of the

Continental Baseball League The Continental Baseball League, based in Addison, Texas, was an independent minor league professional baseball league that operated for four seasons, from 2007 to 2010. The league conceived as a professional, independent baseball organization op ...

, coached for the

Lowell Spinners The Lowell Spinners were a baseball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. With Major League ...

(a minor league affiliate of the

), and served as a roving outfield instructor and base running coach in the Red Sox' minor-league system. On October 29, 2011, Goodwin was named first base coach for the

, succeeding

Mookie Wilson William Hayward "Mookie" Wilson (born February 9, 1956) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder and coach remembered as the Met who hit the ground ball that rolled through Bill Buckner's legs in the bottom of the 10th inning of g ...

. On November 2, 2017, Goodwin returned to the Red Sox organization as major-league first base coach on the staff of new manager

Alex Cora Jose Alexander Cora (born October 18, 1975) is a Puerto Rican baseball manager and former infielder who is the manager of the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for 14 seasons with the Red Sox, Los Angele ...

. Goodwin effectively switched jobs with

Rubén Amaro Jr. Rubén Amaro Jr. (born February 12, 1965) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and General manager (GM). Amaro played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to . He was named the GM of the Philadelphia Phillies on November 3 ...

, who moved from the Red Sox to the Mets. Goodwin was a member of the Red Sox coaching staff when the team won the

2018 World Series The 2018 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 2018 season. The 114th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National L ...

. During Boston's 2021 season, Goodwin missed several games in the first-half of August, after being deemed a

close contact Close may refer to: Music * ''Close'' (Kim Wilde album), 1988 * ''Close'' (Marvin Sapp album), 2017 * ''Close'' (Sean Bonniwell album), 1969 * "Close" (Sub Focus song), 2014 * "Close" (Nick Jonas song), 2016 * "Close" (Rae Sremmurd song), 201 ...

with Red Sox bench coach

Will Venable William Dion Venable (born October 29, 1982) is an American professional baseball coach and former player. He is the associate manager of the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB as an outfielder for the San Diego ...

, after the latter had a positive

COVID-19 test COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2. The two main types of tests detect either the presence of the virus or antibodies produced in response to infection. Molecular tests for viral p ...

. In late August, Goodwin missed several additional games after again being deemed a close contact with personnel who tested positive. Near the end of September,

Ramón Vázquez Ramón Luis Vázquez (born August 21, 1976) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball coach and a former infielder. He is currently the bench coach for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Vázquez played in MLB for the Seattle Mari ...

took over as Boston's first base coach in preparation for the playoffs, as MLB mandated that only COVID-vaccinated staff would be allowed in dugouts and on the field during the 2021 postseason, and Goodwin was not in compliance. On October 25, after the Red Sox' season ended with a loss in the

ALCS The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...

, the team dismissed Goodwin.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Tom 1968 births Living people African-American baseball coaches African-American baseball players Albuquerque Dukes players All-American college baseball players Atlantic City Surf players Bakersfield Dodgers players Baseball coaches from California Baseball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Baseball players from California Boston Red Sox coaches Charlotte Rangers players Chicago Cubs players Colorado Rockies players Fresno Grizzlies players Fresno State Bulldogs baseball players Great Falls Dodgers players Kansas City Royals players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball first base coaches Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Minor league baseball managers New York Mets coaches Olympic gold medalists for the United States in baseball Omaha Royals players San Antonio Missions players San Francisco Giants players Sportspeople from Fresno, California Texas Rangers players Wilmington Waves players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players

Playing career

Post-playing career

See also

References

External links