Tim Bogar: Mid Nineties Mets Utility Player Turned MLB Coach (1993-1996)

Timothy Paul Bogar was born October 28, 1966, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Bogar attended East Illinois University getting drafted by the New York Mets in the 8th round of the 1987 draft.

He spent six years in the minors having his best year at A ball Columbia in 1988 batting .282. Bogar was a member of the last AAA Tidewater Tides team before they moved over to Norfolk.

He was one of the team's top hitters batting .279 behind Jeff McKnight (.307) Chris Donnells (.301) & Steve Springer (.290). 

Tim Bogar finally made it to the Mets in 1993 debuting as a pinch hitter on April 21st at Shea Stadium in a 10-0 win over the San Francisco Giants.

On May 11th, he drove in his first career run during a multi-RBI game in a 4-3 loss to the Cardinals.

On August 2nd, Bogar doubled in a run, then later added a two-run single to lead Bret Saberhagen to victory in a 43 win at Montreal.

On August 14th, Tim had one of his biggest days at the plate when he hit a pair of HRs while collecting four hits in Philadelphia in a 9-5 win over the Phillies. Unfortunately, he got injured that day & was out for the rest of the season. 

Trivia: Bogar would only hit six HRs in 491 at bats during his three-year Mets career. The versatile Bogar would play all infield & outfield positions for the Mets from 1993-1996. 

He hit .244 with three HRs 13 doubles & 25 RBIs in 78 games played.

1994: Bogar drove in runs in three straight games he played in June. On July 27t, he had a multi-RBI game in a 7-4 win at St. Louis. These were the only games he drove in runs all year. In early August he was batting just .154 when the baseball strike came. The Mets finished 55-58 on the year.

 1995: When play resumed after the strike, Bogar was back on the big-league club under manager Dallas Green. He struggled at the plate hitting just .158 at the end of May. From June through the end of the year he hit well as he saw more steady playing time. 

On July 7th his two-run single off the Pirates Dan Pleasac brought the Mets within a run, until the 9th inning when Todd Hundley's HR won the game for New York.

In September he had three multi-RBI games, including driving in three runs against the Braves on September 19th in a 10-3 Mets win.


On October 1st, in the final game of the season, he finished the year drawing a bases loaded walk off the Braves Brad Woodall giving the Mets a walk off win over the eventual World Champion Atlanta Braves.

That year Bogar had his best season at bat, batting .290 in 78 games, with one HR seven doubles & 21 RBIs. 

1996: he saw action in 91 games behind Jeff Kent (third base), Rey Ordonez (short stop) & Butch Huskey (first base) around the infield but his average fell off to .213. Bogar was traded at the end of Spring Training 1997 to the Houston Astros for Luis Lopez.

Post Mets Career: He spent four years in Houston hitting a high of .249 in 1997 getting to the post season in 1999. 

In 2001 he played his final season with the Los Angeles Dodgers He finished his nine-year career with a lifetime .228 average with 345 hits 24 HRs 69 doubles 9 triples & 161 RBIs.

Retirement & Coaching Career: After his playing days he became a manager in the Cleveland Indians minor leagues winning Baseball Americas Future Manager Award. He then coached for the Tampa Rays as their quality assurance coach.

In 2009/2010 he was the Boston Red Sox first base coach under Terry Francona, moving over as
the third base coach for 2011.
In 2012 he was the Boston bench coach under Bobby Valentine. After Valentine was let go, Bogar left the organization three weeks later.

Bogar then moved on to the Texas League in 2013. He then was hired by the Texas Rangers as the

team's bench coach in 2014, joining his longtime friend Dave Magadan. He & Magadan were Mets together & Red Sox coaches as well. 

He became the Rangers interim manager after Ron Washington resigned. He did not get the managerial job in 2015 nor was he retained as bench coach.

In 2015 he teamed up with his old Mets teammate Jerry DiPoto who was now the GM in Anaheim. DiPoto resigned in June 2015 but Bogar stayed on. 

The next year DiPoto went to the Seattle Mariners & Bogar became the teams bench coach for two seasons. 

In 2018 he became the Washington Nat's first base coach under old pal Dave Martinez.

Family: Tim & his wife Wendy have four children They live in Trophy Club Texas.

His daughter Aralee was a top softball player & pitcher at the University of Iowa.

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