Jim Foster (baseball)

James Thomas Foster (born August 18, 1971) is an American baseball coach and former catcher, who was most recently the head coach of Northwestern Wildcats. He played college baseball for the Providence Friars from 1990 to 1993. He served as the head coach of the Rhode Island Rams (2006–2014) and the Army Black Knights (2017–2022).

Jim Foster
Foster in 2017
Biographical details
Born (1971-08-18) August 18, 1971
Warwick, Rhode Island, U.S.
Playing career
1990–1993Providence
Position(s)Catcher
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2004–2005Brown (asst.)
2006–2014Rhode Island
2015–2016Boston College (assoc. HC)
2017–2022Army
2023Northwestern
Head coaching record
Overall440–410–3 (.518)
TournamentsNCAA: 1–8 (.111)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards

Early life and playing career

Born in Warwick, Rhode Island, Foster attended Bishop Hendricken High School and Providence College and played at catcher on the Providence Friars baseball team under Paul Kostacopoulos, where he was named MVP of the 1992 Big East Conference baseball tournament.[1] As a senior in 1993, Foster had the Friars' best batting average at .386, in addition to 61 hits, 38 RBI, and seven homers.[2]

Selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 22nd round of the 1993 MLB draft, Foster played for the Orioles organization from 1993 to 1999, starting with the Bluefield Orioles. In 1999 and 2000, Foster also played for the Anaheim Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Chicago White Sox organizations. He ended his professional baseball career with the Birmingham Barons and Charlotte Knights in 2000.[3] Foster was a Topps All-Rookie honoree in 1993 and Baseball Weekly Minor League Catcher of the Year in 1997.[4]

Coaching career

In 2004 and 2005, Foster was an assistant coach at Brown University.[4]

Foster served as head baseball coach at the University of Rhode Island from 2006 to 2014, compiling a record of 268–230–3.[5][6] The 2006 and 2013 Rhode Island teams won Atlantic 10 Conference regular season titles.[7] Following a 13–40 season, Foster resigned on July 17, 2014, with three years remaining on his contract to accept the associate head coach job with Boston College.[8]

Foster served as associate head coach at Boston College in 2015 and 2016 under Mike Gambino.[9][10][11]

Foster was named head baseball coach at the United States Military Academy on June 23, 2016.[12][13][14][15] After a 25–31 season in 2017, Army won both the Patriot League regular season and tournament titles in 2018 and qualified for the NCAA tournament.[16][17][18] In the NCAA tournament, Army went 1–2 in the regional round, including a 5–1 upset of regional host and nationally ranked NC State on opening day.[19][16]

On June 28, 2022, Foster was named the head baseball coach of the Northwestern Wildcats.[20] On July 13, 2023, Foster was fired after an investigation by the university human resources department revealed “bullying and a toxic environment within the program".[21][22]

Head coaching record
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Rhode Island Rams (Atlantic 10 Conference) (2006–2014)
2006 Rhode Island 34–1617–61st
2007 Rhode Island 23–3016–115th
2008 Rhode Island 31–27–115–11–15th
2009 Rhode Island 37–20–119–62nd
2010 Rhode Island 31–2617–103rd
2011 Rhode Island 31–2216–82nd
2012 Rhode Island 33–25–116–83rd
2013 Rhode Island 35–2417–7T–1st
2014 Rhode Island 13–407–1811th
Rhode Island: 268–230–3 (.538)140–85–1 (.622)
Army Black Knights (Patriot League) (2017–2022)
2017 Army 25–3110–10T–3rd
2018 Army 37–2418–7T–1stNCAA Regional
2019 Army 35–2615–10T-2ndNCAA Regional
2020 Army 6–90–0Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Army 28–2515–111st (North)NCAA Regional
2022 Army 31–2518–71stNCAA Regional
Army: 162–140 (.536)76–45 (.628)
Northwestern Wildcats (Big Ten Conference) (2023)
2023 Northwestern 10–404–2013th
Northwestern: 10–40 (.200)4–20 (.167)
Total:440–410–3 (.518)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References
  1. Koch, Bill (May 5, 2016). "College Baseball Notes: Bryant cracks top 25". The Providence Journal. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  2. http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/MBA1/Baseball_Men's_Division%20I_1993_556_Providence%20College.pdf
  3. "Jim Foster". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  4. "Jim Foster". Brown University. Archived from the original on October 11, 2004. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  5. Bourassa, Corey (April 3, 2012). "Jim Foster earns 200th win as URI baseball coach". The Providence Journal. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  6. "NCAA Statistics".
  7. "Jim Foster". University of Rhode Island. Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  8. "Jim Foster Resigns From Position as Head Coach of Rhode Island Baseball Team". University of Rhode Island. July 17, 2014. Archived from the original on June 8, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  9. "URI baseball coach Foster leaving for Boston College". The Providence Journal. July 17, 2014. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  10. Koch, Bill (July 25, 2014). "After nine seasons with Rams, Foster to soar with Eagles". The Independent. Archived from the original on June 23, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  11. Egan, Kyle (July 11, 2014). "Sources: Boston College Baseball "On The Verge" Of Deal With URI Head Coach Jim Foster". Soaring to Glory. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  12. "Pitching guru Foster named Army baseball coach". Times Herald-Record. June 23, 2016. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  13. Fontaine, Pete (June 30, 2016). "What people are saying about Foster". Warwick Beacon. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  14. Fontaine, Pete (July 6, 2017). "Gershkoff to play in Army West Point American Legion Baseball Classic". RhodyBeat. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  15. Interdonato, Sal (June 23, 2016). "Source: Army offer baseball opening to Boston College assistant". hudsonvalley.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  16. "2018 Baseball Schedule". Army West Point. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  17. "Army Baseball Claims League-Leading 8th Title". Army West Point. May 21, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  18. "Army Claims Share of Regular season Title". Army West Point. May 6, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  19. "Army Makes Statement in Regional Opener". Army West Point. June 2, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  20. Charlotte Varnes (June 28, 2022). "Baseball: Northwestern taps Army West Point's Jim Foster as coach". www.dailynorthwestern.com. The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  21. "N'western fires baseball coach amid allegations". ESPN.com. 2023-07-13. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  22. Bengel, Chris (14 July 2023). "Northwestern fires baseball coach Jim Foster following allegations of 'bullying and abusive behavior'". CBS. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
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