"I loved my time at Linfield, but I like new challenges
also and as the kids were growing up and getting out of the house, I just felt
like if there was time to do it," Brosius said.
--Scott Hanson,
Seattle Times staff reporter, Sept 27 2018--
Twenty years ago, Scott Brosius was the MVP of the 1998
World Series, hitting .471 with two homers in the New York Yankees’ four-game
sweep of the San Diego Padres.
These days, you will find Brosius coaching third base for
the Mariners.
His journey back to the big leagues, from his heady days
with the Yankees, when he was part of three world title teams to coaching with
the Mariners, included nearly 15 years about as far as possible from the majors
in a small Oregon town about an hour southwest of Portland.
Not that Brosius, who was an All-Star in 1998 and a Gold
Glove winner at third base in 1999, would change a thing.
Brosius had a very productive 2001 season with the Yankees
at age 35, and it seemed he could play several more seasons.
But he retired
after 11 big-league seasons to be with his family full time in McMinnville,
Ore., where both Scott and his wife, Jennifer, went to college at Linfield, an
NCAA Division III school.
In 2002, Brosius began working as an assistant baseball
coach at Linfield under his former coach, Scott Carnahan. In 2008, he took over
as head coach, leading Linfield to the 2013 national title and back to the
finals in 2014.
But with the last of his three children finishing high
school, Brosius decided it was time for a job change after the 2015 Linfield
season.
“I wish I was that smart to have my life planned out like
that, but it wasn’t the plan,” Brosius, 52, said. “Just like when I was done
playing, I don’t know if I came home with a specific plan to end up back at
Linfield. I loved my time at Linfield, but I like new challenges also and as the
kids were growing up and getting out of the house, I just felt like if there
was time to do it, this was going to be the time because I wasn’t getting any
younger.”
Leaving Linfield after nearly 15 years was difficult.
“It was not an easy decision, for sure,” said Brosius, who
grew up in Milwaukie, Ore. “My ties with Linfield are very deep – both as a
player and a coach there. A lot of great memories, so it was not an easy
decision. McMinnville’s our home, and it changed our lifestyle dramatically.”
Even though he was enjoying coaching Linfield, Brosius said
the thought of getting back into the big leagues “was a little gnaw in my head
that became bigger and bigger, and it was just something that I wanted to do.”
After quitting at Linfield, Brosius went searching for a
job, and got one from the Mariners in 2016 as the hitting coach for the Class
AAA Tacoma Rainiers. He moved to the big-league club last year as an assistant
coach, working with the hitters, and became the third-base coach this season.
“I’ve liked stuff about each,” Brosius said of the three
different jobs the past three seasons. “I enjoyed my time in Tacoma, but I knew
the big-league staff was where I wanted to get to. I really enjoyed last year
working with the hitters, but I really missed in-game responsibilities. So this
year, being at third base, I’ve enjoyed the decision-making out there.”
Three years removed from his decision to change jobs,
Brosius said, “I am very glad I did.” And is the end goal to be a major-league
manager? Not necessarily.
“I take things as they come,” he said. “I know that doesn’t
seem very well thought out. When I went to coach at Linfield that wasn’t my
ultimate goal, but I just fell in love with it. I kind of take it the same way
here. It may be that I love third base, and don’t want to leave coaching third
base. I just want to take it year by year.
“I’m continuing to do something I love. For me, that’s the
most important thing. I love baseball. Baseball is all I wanted to do from the
time I was 4 or 5 years old. For me, it’s hard to imagine working outside of
baseball. I come home after being at the ballpark for 10 or 12 hours, and I
turn on a ballgame.”
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