WORCESTER—Bryan LaHair spent 14 seasons playing professional baseball, three of them in the major leagues, and is in his eighth year as a manager and coach in the Reds farm system.
That is not a bad resume for someone who was taken in the 39th round of the 2002 amateur draft, a round that does not exist any more. LaHair’s current assignment is as a coach with the Louisville Bats, Cincinnati’s Triple-A affiliate in the International League.
LaHair is 42, born and raised here. Since he graduated from Holy Name in 2000 he has made his living in baseball. After his playing career ended in 2017, LaHair took brief break from the game. The Reds hired him to be the batting coach for their Advanced Rookie League team in Billings, Montana in 2018.
“I did take some time off to be with my family,” LaHair said in a phone interview from Louisville, “but I definitely anticipated a journey in baseball.”
The playing part of the journey included big-league time with the Mariners in 2008, the Cubs in 2011 and 2012. In 2012, LaHair’s only full season in the majors, he hit .259 with 16 home runs and 40 RBIs. On the strength of a very strong start to the season he made the National League All-Star team.
His career in player development began in the original Pioneer League, now an independent league. That league was legendary for its very long, but very scenic bus rides through Montana, Idaho, Colorado and their neighbors.
LaHair was promoted to manager of Billings in 2019, then the 2020 season was called off due to Covid. The Reds had him manage their rookie team in Arizona in 2021. Then they assigned him as skipper at Dayton, Ohio in the High-A Midwest League, a place that is considered to be one of the great minor league cities in the nation.
He was there in 2022 and 2023 before joining the Bats as a coach.
His overall managerial record is 206-189. It is a good resume, one that could take him to the big leagues again.
“I want to continue to press forward and hopefully some day be on a major league staff,” LaHair said. “Right now, it’s about the opportunities, checking the boxes, doing different things, gaining as much knowledge as possible.”
He is working with a manager who has checked almost every possible box in baseball. This is LaHair’s second season with Bats manager Pat Kelly, one of only seven men to win more than 2,000 games in the minor leagues.
“It’s an incredible learning experience,” LaHair said.
Considering how many rounds it took for him to be drafted, LaHair beat the odds playing pro ball for as long as he did. Not many 39th rounders — back when there were 39 rounds — ever got to the majors. The road was a long one, at times discouraging, filled with detours and dead ends.
In other words, the perfect set of experiences for someone in player development.
“Along the way,” he said, “there’s a lot of adversity, tough moments. There are decisions that go with you and against you. You’ve got to keep fighting. Just when you think you’ve achieved it all, got all the answers, you find out there’s more to achieve.
“It’s a tough road to get there.”
LaHair set out to become a major leaguer early. A lot of kids have that goal. A lot of those kids are from California, Texas, Florida or the Caribbean, not Central Massachusetts.
“I always thought that I’d do it,” LaHair said. “Being from Worcester made me tougher than the next guy. It kind of drove me.”
Being from Worcester also made his first major league hit even more special since it came against the Red Sox. LaHair was playing first base for the Mariners in Seattle on July 22, 2008, when he singled to right off Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka in the eighth inning.
Was it a full count, a Matsuzaka specialty?
“I don’t remember what the count was,” LaHair recalled, “but I remember that Dustin Pedroia threw the ball back in and everybody was congratulating me.”
Especially at the highest levels, baseball success is more than arm strength and bat speed.
“There have been a lot of five-tool players who never made the major leagues,” he said. “There is a lot that separates the big leaguers. There is the motivation part of the game, experience, ways to simplify things. It’s a difficult, but incredibly rewarding game. There is a lot involved in baseball that other sports don’t have. You have to work hard and believe in your ability. There’s always a chance for something good to happen.
“It takes a lot to become a big leaguer.”
LaHair and his wife and three children make their year-round home in Surprise, Az. and have for several years. This summer they are enjoying the warmth — sometimes the extreme warmth — of Kentucky. They come back to Worcester for off-season visits and while LaHair has never played or coached in Polar Park, he is a big fan of the home of the WooSox.
Worcester and Louisville have faced each other just once, in 2023 in Kentucky when LaHair was with Dayton.
“The first thing I do when the schedule comes out,” he said, “is see if we’re playing Worcester.”
While LaHair is working with one of minor league baseball’s greatest manager, he is also in the same organization with one of Major League Baseball’s best managers, Terry Francona, in his first season with the Reds.
“He is a Hall of Fame manager,” LaHair said. “I’ve gotten to know him, spend some time with him in spring training, day-to-day inside the big league camp. He has a way to speak to the players, knows how to treat the players and has always been a great communicator.
“I’m glad to be part of this process. It’s a great time to be a Red.”
Louisville is a 90-minute drive from Cincinnati, so if LaHair hasn’t returned to the big leagues yet, he can just about see them from where he is now.
Bill Ballou covered the Red Sox for the Worcester Telegram from 1997 through 2018. He has covered pro hockey in Worcester since 1994 and currently does a weekly column for the Worcester Red Sox. Ballou can be reached at vetgoalie@aol.com
