Dan Radison

Daniel John Radison (born August 24, 1950) is an American coach and instructor in professional baseball. A former minor league catcher, he has also been a Major League Baseball (MLB) coach for the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals. Radison batted and threw right-handed as a player, and was listed at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighing 180 pounds (82 kg).[1]

Radison as 1st base coach for the Washington Nationals in 2010.

Radison played shortstop and catcher for his high school squad in Columbia, Illinois. One of Radison's teammates was Jim Kremmel, who later pitched in the majors with the Chicago Cubs. After high school, Radison attended Southern Illinois University and played for three seasons (1972–74) in the Cardinal farm system before becoming an assistant coach at the U.S. college level from 1977–83 with Broward Community College, the University of Georgia and Old Dominion University.[2] In 1984, he returned to professional baseball as a manager in the farm system of the New York Mets, spending two years with them before rejoining the Cardinals as a minor league pilot in 1986. He has also been a manager in the New York Yankees system, piloting the Albany-Colonie Yankees (1990–92) and Norwich Navigators (2000), the Yanks' Double-A Eastern League affiliates.

In between, Radison coached in MLB working under Jim Riggleman — like Radison, a veteran of the Cardinal system — with the Padres (1993–94) and Cubs (1995–99).[3] From 2000–09, he was a minor league manager and roving coach for the Yankees and Cardinals. His career minor league managing record is 622–552 (.530), with two championships.[4] On November 20, 2009, he was appointed first-base coach of the Washington Nationals by newly named permanent manager Jim Riggleman.[5]

In 2012, Radison joined the Houston Astros as a special assistant in the player development department. Radison was named interim first base coach for the Astros on August 19, 2012,[6] and was named the Astros' assistant hitting coach in 2013.[7] From 2015–16, Radison was the hitting coach and a jerk for the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Astros' Double-A affiliate.[8]