Q&A: Pitching Coach Bo McLaughlin
Andrew Mitchell: Where did the name Bo come from with your first name being Michael?
Bo McLaughlin: It started all the way back to when I was a baby. My mom would work days and my dad worked nights. They would just miss each other for about a half hour each day, so two old guys who lived in the same apartment building would watch me during that timeframe. One of those guys was named Bo so it started to become sort of my nickname. When I started playing little league baseball we had five Mikes on the team, so the coaches asked if any player on the team had a nickname and I said sometimes people called me Bo. So from the moment I picked up a baseball I was known as Bo and it just sort of stuck all those years. I know it isn't a very exciting story, but that is just how it happened.
AM: What are your main pitching philosophies?
Bo: I'm not much different than any other pitching coach there is in the Rockies organization. It all boils down to simple baseball, which means pitching ahead, making quality pitches and learning how to pitch put-aways. What I try to do as a coach is I find out the characteristics of success that each pitcher has and get that pitcher to repeat it as much as possible.
AM: How do you approach pitching in the altitude of Security Service Field and Coors Field?
Bo: It is not much different at Colorado Springs and up at Coors Field than any other place. I know the ball sometimes doesn't break as much due to the lighter air, but as a pitcher it all comes down to the same principles. You still have to throw quality pitches, change speeds and keep hitters off balance. I have coached in all types of hitter's ballparks over the years, I have also pitched in a ton of hitter's ballparks, and it comes down to the same thing. You may give up more hits, and yes you are probably going to give up more runs, but it is all relative because the other pitcher has to deal with it too. It is not such a big deal, I was in Tulsa for six years and the left-center field fence was extremely short and the wind blew 15-20 miles per hour in that direction. Balls would fly out of there, even when guys broke their bat, and a pitcher would make a good pitch to get a fly ball and the wind would carry it out. Those things just happen, so it is all about making a pitcher mentally tough to get past that.
AM: You were the Pitching Coordinator for the Rockies for the last three years and the Pitching Coach for the Tulsa Drillers for the previous six years. What are the main differences between those jobs?
Bo: Well one is more of an administrator and one is really a coach. I had to be able to coach at all the different levels being the coordinator, and that wasn't that hard because I have been a pitching coach at Single-A, Double-A, Triple-A and I was also the coordinator at the Baltimore Orioles for three years before I came to the Rockies. I have coached in basically every minor league there is so this isn't really a big change for me. The main thing being a pitching coach is I have twelve guys that I get to focus on and get to know a lot better, rather than just coming in and being another set of eyes for each team like I was when I was the pitching coordinator. When you're a coordinator, you try to direct the coach but you still let them do their job. You need the pitching coordinator because when sometimes you get to know these guys so well as a pitching coach you might miss something because you see them everyday, and that extra set of eyes might pick something up in terms of command or something else. But being a pitching coach is great because you get to spend a lot of time with the pitchers and find out what they are really made of and you can help a lot more.
AM: Do you like being a Pitching Coordinator or a Pitching Coach better?
Bo: It really doesn't matter, I am one of these guys who is all about doing whatever it takes to help the organization win a championship, and whether I am in Double-A, Triple-A I really don't care. Each one of the levels, from the Dominican Leagues and all the way up to Triple-A, is all about helping to make the major league team better for the future and also for the immediate future. So it is just a matter of setting up routines and instilling work ethics so we can make sure these players have the best possible chance to help us win a championship in Denver.
AM: The Rockies have made a lot of roster moves in the pitching department this offseason. Is it going to be challenging dealing with all these new faces that you aren't familiar with?
Bo: I don't think so, we will have Spring Training and six weeks together before the season starts. Being the Triple-A coach I will spend a lot of time in big league camp and most of these new guys will be in big league camp. The guys who won't be there and will be in minor league camp are players I have probably seen already being the minor league pitching coordinator for the last three years. It will work out fine, I don't have any problem with it at all and we will have a good time with it. It is always exciting in Colorado Springs no matter what the score is, so I will have some fun with it.
AM: What is the proudest moment you've had in your coaching career?
Bo: With the Rockies organization, I would have to say during the 2007 season. I had coached a lot of the guys who made up that World Series team in Double-A, so I went to Denver when our season in Tulsa was over. I got to travel with the team for that last month when the Rockies went on that streak, their run through the playoffs and even the World Series. That was a real highlight as far as coaching goes because I got to be in the trenches with those guys at the highest level you can reach in baseball going all the way to the championship series. It unfortunately hit a lull though when we ran in to Boston.
AM: You played for six seasons in the majors with the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves and the Oakland Athletics. What was the highlight of your playing career?
Bo: I think for every major league baseball pitcher your first major league win will always rank up there as one of the major highlights. It was a game I pitched against San Francisco when I pitched a shutout in extra innings and it was a complete game. I wasn't a superstar by any means, but I got to play for Billy Martin, Bobby Cox and Bill Virdon and those are three pretty great managers. I had a lot of good times, made a lot of good friends and it always seemed that each team I played on we always had pretty good seasons. Except for 1979, when I was traded from a first place team to a last place team in the middle of the season.
AM: What was the toughest hitter you faced or a player you feared when you pitched in the big leagues?
Bo: That is a really tough question, I guess I would say Al Oliver or Willie Stargell. They were both pretty tough and both pretty good hitters too. Back then those Pittsburgh teams had hitters who would swing at almost anything. It you threw a strike, it looked really good to them no matter what, but they would swing the bat at any pitch you threw at them. I had to grow up in a hurry because I faced Pittsburgh in my first major league start, so that was a little scary.
AM: Finally, what do you like to do what you are not coaching baseball?
Bo: Well I enjoy playing golf, I'm still not any good at it but I enjoy playing it. Living in Phoenix you can always find a place to play. I guess as a hobby and an investor so to speak I like to dabble in Real Estate. I was a Real Estate broker in Phoenix for 25 years buying and selling properties, but I don't have my license anymore. That keeps me busy, and sometimes I like to mess around with some woodworking but I really enjoy spending time with my family. My oldest just got his Master's Degree, my middle child she just graduated from Arizona State last May and my youngest is just getting out of high school. So it is about to be a time where I enjoy life myself now I guess.