Torey Lovullo Named Diamondbacks Manager
November 04, 2016 | Baseball
Former UCLA infielder and eight-year MLB veteran Torey Lovullo has been named manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, announced the club on Friday.
"I appreciate the opportunity to join the D-backs family," Lovulloย said in a statement. "I'm excited to get to work with the staff and players to help lead this organization back to title contention. I also thank the Boston Red Sox for the invaluable opportunities provided to me over the last four years."
Lovullo, who graduated from UCLA in 1987, joins current Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and former Brewers manager Ron Roenicke as the only former Bruins to be named managers at the MLB level. UCLA now joins California as the only two collegiate programs to currently have multiple former players as managers in Major League Baseball.
A native of Santa Monica, Calif., Lovullo was an All-American for the Bruins in 1987 and became the first Pac-10 player to repeat as the conference's player of the year. He ended his four-year career hitting .311 with 188 RBIs and 51 home runs. Luvullo remains in the top-five in career home runs and RBIs in program history and was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame in 1999. In 1987 he was drafted in the fifth round by the Detroit Tigers.
Lovullo spent the past four seasons with the Boston Red Sox as bench coach under manager John Farrell and in 2015 was named the interim manager as Farrell went on medical leave.
The Diamondbacks will hold a press conference on Monday to officially introduce Lovullo as their manager.