2019 Mets Bench Coach: Jim Riggleman (2019)
James David Riggleman was born November 9th 1952 in Fort Dix, New Jersey. The five foot eleven, right handed hitter played mostly as an infielder. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974, moving over to the St. Louis Cardinals organization in 1976. He reached the AAA level by the late seventies but never made it to the big leagues. y 1981 his playing career was over at age 28. He immediately went to coaching & managing in the Cardinal minor leagues. He moved over to the San Diego Padres minor leagues, getting promoted to the AAA level. By 1993 he was promoted to the Padres big league managerial position, after the departure of Greg Riddoch. In his first season, his Friars finished third, then seventh in 1993. The team improved to fourth place in the strike shortened 1994 season. After San Diego, he moved over to the Chicago Cubs managing them for five seasons. His best finish was second in 1998, winning 90 games going 90-73. It was Riggleman who led the