Red Adams

Charles Dwight Adams

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.

• Debut May 5, 1946
• Final Game July 2, 1946
• Born October 7, 1921 in Parlier, CA USA
• Died January 18, 2017 in Fresno, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"Red Adams is a standard by which every pitching coach should be measured. No person ever meant more to me in my career than Red Adams, and without him I wouldn't be standing in Cooperstown today." - Don Sutton

"He saw me throw on the side and told me: 'You know, you can win with just a fastball.' I thought he was kidding. I had to pitch a certain way, or so I thought. But he kept pounding it into me that I could get by with just a fastball." - Tommy John, remembering advice that Red gave him in 1972 that helped him have the best years of his career in the 1970s.

Red Adams had a pitching career in the Pacific Coast League from 1942 to 1957, winning over 150 games. He also pitched for the Chicago Cubs in 1946, primarily wearing number 26. In 8 games, his ERA was 8.25.

After hanging up his spikes, Red became a pitching coach for many top pitchers in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. He was first a Dodgers scout from 1959 to 1968 and then pitching coach from 1969 to 1980. He helped the young Geoff Zahn because, Zahn said, Adams could tell if Zahn's mechanics were even the slightest bit off. See Geoff Zahn and Pitch Counts. When asked once who he still kept in touch with, Dr. Mike Marshall mentioned Red Adams, his old coach. Adams met Ichiro Maehara ("Iron Maehara") when he was working with a Japanese team in Hawaii, and helped him get a job as a scout with the Dodgers. Maehara later signed Sid Fernandez. Red passed away in 2017 at the age of 95.