The Washington Nationals named Newark, New Jersey born Marquis Donnell "Bo" Porter the Nats' new third base coach Tuesday afternoon, replacing Pat Listach, who left the Nationals to join Mike Quade in Chicago as the recently-hired skipper's bench coach after two years at third in the nation's capital. Porter, a former major league outfielder, was drafted by the Chicago Cubs with the 1,118th pick in the 40th Round of the 1993 MLB Amateur Draft out of the University of Iowa. Six years later Porter made his MLB debut with the Cubs on May 19, 1999 for the Jim Riggleman-led '99 team that followed up a Wild Card win and disappointing three-game postseason sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves in '98 with a 67-95 last place finish in the NL Central. Riggleman was relieved of his duties after that season. Porter was taken by the Oakland Athletics in the Rule 5 Draft that December, and he played just 17 games for the A's in 2000, and 48 for the Texas Rangers in 2001, before finishing his playing career with a second stint in the Atlanta Braves' system, when he played 79 games for the Triple-A Richmond Braves in 2003.
Porter was the Arizona Diamonbacks' third base coach under A.J. Hinch last year, and he became the bench coach under Kirk Gibson when Gibson replaced Hinch as Diamondbacks' manager on July 3, 2010. Porter was the Florida Marlins’ third base coach and outfield/base running instructor for two years from 2007-09 under Joe Girardi and then Fredi Gonzalez, who was hired as the Atlanta Braves' manager earlier this Fall after Bobby Cox retired. According to the Washington Nationals' Official Press Release, in addition to Porter's history with Riggleman, he worked extensively with current Nationals' left fielder Josh Willingham when both were in Florida.
Porter is reportedly still a candidate for at least one managerial position around the league, but barring his being hired elsewhere, the 38-year-old will become the final member of the Washington Nationals' coaching staff, joining returning coaches John McLaren, Riggleman's right hand man on the bench, Steve McCatty, the Nats' pitching coach, hitting coach Rick "Teh Geenyus" Eckstein, first base coach Dan Radison and bullpen coach Jim Lett.