In a move that redefines "hasty"...

...the Los Angeles Dodgers have severed ties with Paul DePodesta '95.

Flashbacks:
Hired by Dodgers, 2004.
As Asst. GM of A's, 2000.

Lo Ricco announcement...

...posted the same day as our earlier post on CSTV's website (but inexplicably, nowhere to be found on GoCrimson.com):

Cambridge, Mass. (October 19, 2005)--Harvard baseball coach Joe Walsh has announced the hiring of Tom Lo Ricco as the program's assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

Lo Ricco joins the Crimson following numerous stints as an assistant and head coach of several high-profile Division III programs throughout the region. Most recently, he spent the past spring as an assistant at Western New England.

I consider us very lucky to have a quality person such as Tom joining our staff," stated Walsh. "In Tom we have a guy who has been an absolute success as a head coach for eight years for other collegiate programs. He is a person of knowledge and integrity and will be a tremendous asset to our program."

Prior to WNEC, Lo Ricco served as the head coach at Westfield State where he posted a 34 victories including 21 during his final year in 2004. Lo Ricco also served as head coach for six years at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts from 1996-2002 where he posted a 112-111-2 record.

There, his teams reached the ECAC Division III Tournament during his final three years, winning the tournament in 2001 with an overall record of 24-19. His next, and final, season at MCLA was his best as the team posted a 29-10-1 record en route to Lo Ricco being named the MSCAC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Other collegiate coaching stops have included Wofford College, the University of Massachusetts, and Springfield College. Lo Ricco is a 1987 graduate from Massachusetts with a BA in accounting. He earned his master's degree of athletic administration in 1995 from Springfield.

Lo Ricco resides in Feeding Hills, Mass. with his wife Jennie and two children, Anthony (5) and Sophia (2).

New Assistant Coach?

There is no formal announcement, but the Harvard staff directory now lists Tom Lo Ricco as the new Harvard assistant coach, replacing Matt Hyde.

So who's Tom Lo Ricco?

Apparently, he's the former head coach of Division III Westfield State.

Baseball, which is now led by highly regarded third-year coach Tom Lo Ricco, also is highly competitive while playing in one of the top conferences in New England. The baseball squad posted its first 20-win season in 20 years in 2004 and advanced to the conference tournament championship game.

Before that, head coach at Mass. Liberal Arts:

Tom Lo Ricco was selected as head coach at Westfield State. For the past six years, Lo Ricco has been head coach at Massachusetts Liberal Arts.

So he's something of a local guy, which isn't surprising.

Woodfork '99 Shortlisted for Rangers' Asst. GM Job

From the Globe's Gordon Edes:

Woodfork up next
Peter Woodfork, part of Theo Epstein's coterie of bright young assistants dubbed the ''Gammons Youth" by Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, is scheduled to interview with the Texas Rangers tomorrow, two days before his 29th birthday, to become the team's assistant general manager.

Woodfork would join 28-year-old Jon Daniels, who last week succeeded John Hart, and displaced Epstein as the youngest GM in baseball history.

Woodfork, who grew up in Swampscott and played baseball and was a psychology major at Harvard, held the title of Director of Baseball Operations/Assistant Director of Player Development with the Red Sox. Boston hired him in March 2003 away from Major League Baseball, where he served in the labor relations department and worked on the 2002 collective bargaining agreement.

Despite his limited experience in baseball operations, Woodfork was on the fast track to developing the background necessary to become a GM, especially with teams leaning toward backgrounds like that of Epstein -- young, tireless Ivy League grads with legal ties and a strong grasp of the game's business side who learn the baseball side on the fly.

David Forst, the former captain of the Harvard baseball team and current assistant GM with the Oakland A's, is said to be in line to become Sandy Alderson's first choice in San Diego if Kevin Towers leaves and goes to Arizona, a widely reported rumor. And Josh Byrnes, the Red Sox' assistant GM and former star player at Haverford (Pa.) College, is a possibility to interview for the Washington Nationals' GM job.

One American League executive gave Woodfork a rave review yesterday. ''He's smart and has a great personality," the executive said. ''Because he worked in the MLB office, he's well known throughout the league, because teams always called him when they needed advice on technical contract issues.

''The Red Sox had him going to games and assisting Ben [Cherington] in player development, and he would work with Theo on contract issues because he was such an expert on the language. He's a great communicator, one of these guys who always seems happy."

Here's a Crimson story about when Woodfork landed his present job.

Woodfork got to know Epstein—who became the youngest GM in baseball history when he was hired at age 28—during his time at the league office, when Epstein was director of Baseball Operations for the San Diego Padres. Woodfork took his post around the time baseball reworked its collective bargaining agreement, which he now remembers as a “great opportunity” to get acquainted with the financial side of the game.

Woodfork started 148 of his 157 career games for the Crimson, playing three seasons at third base before sliding over to second for his senior campaign. A native of Swampscott, Mass., he hit .301 for Harvard, scoring 87 runs and knocking in 62 more as the Crimson won the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Ivy League championships.

Daniel Habib ’00, a former Crimson baseball writer and current staff writer for Sports Illustrated, has written two articles about the new Red Sox administration this spring. Yesterday, he remembered Woodfork as a fundamentally sound player who fit in well with the Ivy championship teams of the late 90s.

“He was somebody who understood Joe Walsh-style baseball and played it well,” Habib said. “He was a solid contact hitter, very versatile defensively and also had a sharp, biting kind of wit to him.”

Habib suggested that the move fits Epstein’s approach to personnel

“Someone like Epstein will hire someone and err on the side of education and intelligence rather than having a traditional baseball background,” Habib said. “There’s isn’t necessarily a high emphasis on having a rolodex full of baseball contacts.”

Captain Morgan

Harvard baseball, it has been written, is best viewed in black-and-white. It's fitting, then, that a program known for its vintage style has chosen a true throwback as its leader.

Morgan Brown has been named the captain of the 2006 Crimson.

From the way he wears his socks, to the way he plays the game, the rangy Brown oozes old school, fitting right in with the classic style at O'Donnell Field.

Skipper Joe Walsh agrees. "Morgan," he said in announcing Brown's captaincy, "exemplifies what Harvard baseball is all about."

Brown has always seemed like the kind of player who would be underrated on most teams, but not so underrated at Harvard because the things he's good at aren't underrated here. The rest of the league's coaches took notice in '05, naming him Second Team All-Ivy. Now, his coaches and teammates have, too.

Congrats.