Former Hawkeye Bo Porter grateful to be back in coaching role with Los Angeles Angels

ARLINGTON, Texas — Bo Porter is grateful for everything baseball has given him over the years.

Whether it was playing at Iowa or in the big leagues, his subsequent opportunities to coach and manage in MLB, broadcasting, or his tenure in the MLB Commissioner’s Office, he considers himself blessed to possess such a diverse resume.

Now in his first season as first base coach for the Los Angeles Angels, his focus remains simple.

“Helping players (is what I still love most), it’s very easy (to answer that),” he said.

“When you show up to the ballpark every day and look into the eyes of these men and know you’ve been in the seat they’re in and understand the amount of effort and time they’ve put into being at this level, you’re wanting nothing more than for them to reach their full potential.”

The Angels are the sixth different organization he’s worked for in a big-league capacity. However, before he saw a pitch as a professional, Porter was a Hawkeye, a chapter he remembers fondly for how it positively impacted him on the field and in life.

“I tell people all the time Iowa’s like God’s country. It was a great decision,” Porter said. “I can’t say enough about Coach Hayden Fry and the other coaches. My mom was very adamant about my selection and the people she was going to surround me with.

“It's a place I have nothing but fond memories from, not just football and baseball, but even the academics and student-athlete services. The entire university pours itself into their student-athletes, I don’t know what they’re doing other places, but there’s no place better than the University of Iowa. I’m very fortunate I am an alum and was able to spend my four years there.”

Last fall, the Angels hired Ron Washington as their new manager and the veteran skipper who led the Rangers to back-to-back World Series in 2010 and 2011 knew he had to have Porter on his staff.

“(He brings) experience, managing experience,” Washington said. “He brings credibility. It’s nice to have him on board.”

Porter has known Washington, better known as “Wash” in baseball circles, for some time, so when the opportunity to return to the big leagues under someone he has such immense respect for presented itself, he knew the time was right.

“It’s absolutely great. He’s baseball history,” Porter said. “He’s a huge reason why it was an easy yes for me to get back on the field in a day-to-day capacity.

“I’ve known him a long time. He was the third-base coach when I got Rule Fived to Oakland in 2000. He was one of those high-energy coaches engaged and involved in everything we were doing every day. I left there with a great deal of respect for him and ended up managing in Houston when he was managing in Texas. As a young manager, we would have many conversations. He was a great resource and mentor for me.”

Besides his in-game duties as first-base coach, Porter’s other responsibilities are working with players on baserunning and with the team’s outfielders. One player he’s already positively impacted is Jo Adell, the 10th pick in the 2017 draft who was a noted home run hitter in the minors. Adell debuted with the Angels in 2020 and has played parts of the last four seasons in Anaheim. However, his success in the minors has yet to translate to the big leagues and he struggled at the plate and in the field.

The hiring of Washington gave Adell a clean slate and thanks largely to his daily work with Porter, the young outfielder has shown marked improvement in 2024.

“I’m at the point now where I want to be out there every day and contribute,” Adell said. “Being out there every day and being a factor, I got to attribute a lot of this to (Porter) for creating a routine that works, focusing not only on routine plays, but the plays I struggle with. Being in the outfield, getting through those ups and downs, being able to figure out my positioning and the way I’m looking through balls has really helped me. On the bases too, the steal numbers are way up. He’s made it make sense and more comfortable for me. Got to give him a lot credit for that.”

For a team whose roster is made up almost entirely of young players, having someone like Porter, who has instant credibility with players because of his impressive background in the game has already made a difference in helping players improve because he’s someone they listen to and respect.

“That’s exactly how I see him,” Adell said of Porter. “The first day at camp, he set the tone as far as work and understanding of the game. I knew his background the moment we signed him and knew this guy’s a baseball lifer and has been around the game. He knows what to do. That trust factor from day one has helped me get to this point. Our relationship will continue to be something special.”

Porter sees himself as a facilitator, someone who presents information to players in a way which they can absorb and then apply it to their specific skill sets to continue improving. “Anytime you talk about baserunning, it’s (about) helping your players understand situations, feeding them information that allows them to use their skill sets and play fast,” Porter said.

“Baseball is a very instinctive game and when you anticipate and you’re able to anticipate (what’s going to happen), then your instincts instantly become better. A lot of the teaching from a baserunning standpoint is information based. When you start to help players understand how to utilize that information, it puts them in that position to be much better baserunners. We have a young group. I believe they’re trending in the right way with all the information shared with them and believe it’s only going to get better as we continue on.”

Throughout his baseball career, Porter has taken every opportunity, no matter the area of the game, as it has come and this current chapter as the Angels’ first-base coach is no different.

“I was very intentional about wanting to be well-rounded. When I made the decision to move from coaching into the front office, it was (about) wanting to see the game through that lens of the minor league system, the draft, the international piece,” he said.

“It (working in the front office) is a much bigger picture and gives you a bigger lens to look through as you’re going through decision making because you are armed with more information. I’ve been very fortunate, very blessed to be able to see the game through so many different lenses.”

Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.