Josh Hamilton on why Texas fired hitting coach Thad Bosley: “It was communication ... not a lot there”

When the Rangers fired hitting coach Thad Bosley yesterday after just two months on the job I wrote that it couldn’t have been based on the lineup’s performance, because they rank fourth among AL teams in runs scored with a similar output to last season.

And sure enough, comments from the front office and various players made it clear that Bosley was let go not because the offense was struggling under his tutelage, but because most players didn’t like working with him.

Here’s what Josh Hamilton told Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas:

He just didn’t fit with us. He’s a professional in the way he approaches the game and teaches the game, but it just didn’t mesh with our clubhouse. It was communication ... not a lot there. You’d like to have somebody that knows when to back off, knows when to approach, gets what they want to get across to you, but find out your personality and find out how to get it across to you. Those things just didn’t happen the way they needed to.

Adding to the surprisingly quick firing is that Bosley was hired in part because of his long friendship with Ron Washington, but the manager seemed to accept the move while praising replacement Scott Coolbaugh:

Coolbaugh has a relationship with those guys and they trust in him. He’s sharp. We won’t miss a beat. We’ll move forward.

Coolbaugh worked with many of the Rangers’ hitters in the minors and shortstop Elvis Andrus in particular had good things to say about him. Of course, just a few months ago everyone had good things to say about Bosley too and now Coolbaugh is the Rangers’ fourth hitting coach in less than three seasons.