Tarrik Brock's journey to becoming the Pirates' first base coach started four years ago. Brock was working for the San Diego Padres as their outfield and baserunning coordinator in 2015 when he got a call from Larry Broadway, now Senior Director of Minor League Operations for the Pirates.
Broadway wanted Brock to work as a minor league roving instructor. Brock interviewed with the Pirates and nearly took the job.
"I fell in love with the city," Brock told the Post-Gazette via phone. "It was a fantastic experience. They took me to the facility in Bradenton, and I got to spend time at the ballpark in Pittsburgh. I wanted the opportunity, but it wasn't the right time."
The reason why it wasn't the right time gives some insight into Brock’s character.
"My oldest son was heading into his first of college as a track runner at USC. My youngest son was getting ready to start high school," Brock said. "I didn't want to leave my family behind so I had to turn it down. I'm so glad that a second chance to work with the Pirates came back around."
Brock, who will turn 46 Christmas Day, spent the past three seasons as the minor league outfield/baserunning coordinator for the Los Angeles Dodgers.He was able to stay close to home while working for the Dodgers. Now, his youngest son is running track at Texas Christian University. The timing was perfect for Brock to take a job far away from Southern California.
"It all happened so quickly," Brock said. "The Dodgers called me on Monday to tell me that the Pirates requested permission to talk with me. I had to check with my wife to make sure she was cool with me entertaining the conversation. I wanted to make sure my family was on board before I started the process."
Once the family was on board, the conversations started..
"It's funny how things circle back around," Brock said. "It isn't often that the timing works out this well. I'm so grateful. I can't wait to put on that black and yellow jersey every day."
The Pirates look a lot different when it comes to leadership from when Brock interviewed four years ago. Neal Huntington, Frank Coonelly, Clint Hurdle, and Kyle Stark are gone. Those departures led to the hiring of manager Derek Shelton and general manager Ben Cherington.
Similar to the hiring of pitching coach Oscar Marin, Shelton and Cherington along with assistant general manager Kevan Graves, Broadway, and a host of others met with Brock in Tampa.
"Ben is an excellent communicator and so is Shelton," Brock said. "I can't express how excited I am to work with these guys after the interview process. There are so many smart people in the organization."
Brock also will serve as the outfield and baserunning instructor. Last season, all three roles were manned by Kimera Bartee.
Brock was the San Diego Padres’ first-base coach in 2016 and in 2015 worked as their outfield and baserunning coordinator. He also was the Houston Astros’ first-base coach in 2014.
Brock started his coaching career in 2006 as hitting coach with the Ogden Raptors, a Dodgers affiliate in the Pioneer League. After his season with Dodgers, he went to the Miami Marlins for seven seasons (2007-2013) as the organization's outfield and base-running coordinator, and during a 2010 managerial change, he got a taste of coaching on the big-league level as interim first-base coach.
Brock wants to help the Pirates become more aggressive on the bases.
"When it comes to base-running, it's about us running for each other," Brock said. "When you're on first base, you take the primary and secondary leads. We want to try to score on every ball we can to help the guy at the plate. If you do that, you'll get it in return. Base-running is an attitude."
Brock was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the second round of the 1991 MLB draft and played nine minor league seasons before making his MLB debut with the Chicago Cubs in 2000. It takes a certain amount of grit to spend nine years in the minors to end up playing 13 games in the show.
Brock wants to bring that grind to te Pirates.
"Pittsburgh is a town where people work hard. I want us to reflect that on the bases," Brock said. "I want us to have a mentality that shows that we're going to come into your city, we're going to put pressure on your defense, and we're going to bust you in the mouth with this base-running. We want to set the tone."
Nubyjas Wilborn: nwilborn@post-gazette.com and Twitter @nwilborn19.
First Published: December 20, 2019, 9:16 p.m.
Updated: December 21, 2019, 3:08 a.m.
