Greg Riddoch

{{short description|American baseball player, coach, and manager}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

| name = Greg Riddoch

| image =

| caption =

| position = Infielder / Manager / Coach

| team =

| number =

| bats = Right

| throws = Right

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1945|7|17|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Greeley, Colorado, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

| debutdate = July 12

| debutyear = 1990

| debutteam = San Diego Padres

|finalleague = MLB

| finaldate = September 22

| finalyear = 1992

| finalteam = San Diego Padres

|statleague = MLB

| stat1label = Games managed

| stat1value = 394

| stat2label = Win–loss record

| stat2value = 200–194

| stat3label = Winning percentage

| stat3value =.508

| teams =

As manager

• San Diego Padres ({{mlby|1990}}–{{mlby|1992}})

As coach

• San Diego Padres ({{mlby|1987}}–{{mlby|1990}})
• Tampa Bay Devil Rays ({{mlby|1998}}–{{mlby|1999}})

}}

Gregory Lee Riddoch (born July 17, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player, manager and coach who served as the manager for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1990 to 1992, compiling a career win–loss record of 200–194 (.508).

Riddoch threw and batted right-handed, stood {{convert|6|ft}} tall and weighed {{convert|180|lb}}. He attended Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado, where he led all NCAA Division I players in home runs in 1967 with 17 in just 26 games. Riddoch was drafted in the third round of the secondary phase of the June 1967 amateur draft by the Cincinnati Reds' organization where he was an infielder for five seasons (1967–71). He spent 13 seasons as a minor league manager in the short-season Northwest League and the Rookie-level Pioneer League and became a coach for the Padres from {{by|1987}} until the 1990 All-Star break when he succeeded Jack McKeon as the San Diego manager. He led the Padres to winning seasons in both {{by|1991}} (84–78) and {{by|1992}} (78–72), but was fired in favor of Jim Riggleman by the Padres' general manager, Joe McIlvaine, with a dozen games left in the 1992 campaign.[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-24-sp-1231-story.html "Padres Get Rid of Riddoch; McIlvaine Promotes His Man, Riggleman."] The Los Angeles Times, September 24, 1992 Riddoch's successor finished with a much lower winning percentage, .385{{Cite web |title=Jim Riggleman Managerial Record |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/rigglji99.shtml |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}} vs .508{{Cite web |title=Greg Riddoch Managerial Record |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/riddogr99.shtml |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}} than Riddoch.

During his baseball career, Riddoch also served as third base coach for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998–99), director of minor league clubs for the Reds (1985–86) and director of player development of the Milwaukee Brewers (2000–02).{{cite web |title=Greg Riddoch |url=https://www.coloradosports.org/hall-of-fame/athletes/2000-inductees/greg-riddoch/ |website=www.coloradosports.org |accessdate=22 February 2019}} He retired in 2010 following a four-year stint as manager for the Eugene Emeralds of Northwest League, then affiliated with the Padres. Earlier in his career, when the Emeralds were a Reds' farm team, Riddoch had managed them for six seasons (1975–76; 1978–81), for a total of ten years as manager in Eugene.

Riddoch was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. Former Padres' outfielder Tony Gywnn, one of the greatest hitters of his generation, called his former coach "one of the best teachers ever of the game."{{Cite web |title=Greg Riddoch |url=https://www.coloradosports.org/hall-of-fame/athletes/2000-inductees/greg-riddoch/ |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Colorado Sports Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}