Chicago Cubs: Former All-Star shortstop Chris Speier was hired by the Cubs as their third-base coach Thursday.
Speier was with five teams in 19 major-league seasons, playing for the Cubs in 1985-86. He was also the hitting coach for the Cubs' Class AA affiliate in 1995.
Speier replaces Wendell Kim, who was often criticized for being too aggressive in sending runners home.
Speier played for Chicago, San Francisco, Montreal, St. Louis and Minnesota from 1971-89, hitting .246 with 112 homers and 720 RBI. He was an All-Star from 1972-74 and played in the postseason three times.
After retiring, he spent two years as a roving minor-league instructor for the Giants. He came back to the Cubs in 1995, leaving the next season to become a minor-league manager for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He got his first major-league coaching job in 2000 as third-base coach for the Milwaukee Brewers. He returned to Arizona the next year, serving as third-base coach on the Diamondbacks' World Series champion team.
He also worked as bench coach for the Oakland Athletics in 2003.
I can't believe they fired Wendell Kim. He was the fucking man. When he was still with the Giants I'd see them in spring training all the time. For every inning he would sprint out from the dugout all the way to his third base coach box. Always made me laugh.