Former Twins coach Tony Diaz keeps grinding at Draft League

In the backstreets of Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic, baseball isn’t just played. It’s lived. On sunburnt pavement and chalked-out corners, Tony Diaz and the children of his barrio didn’t merely swing at pitches. With those swings, they chase futures.

Dreams are stitched into bottle caps and broomsticks in Santo Domingo Este. One of those dreamers was Tony Diaz. Today, that fire fuels his legacy — one of grit, growth, and the unshakable will to win the day.

Diaz didn’t just play the game. He lived through it. From the cracked sidewalks of the D.R. to the dugouts of Major League Baseball, his story reads like a playbook of perseverance.

Over the course of his career, Díaz has held respected roles in MLB, including third base coach for the Minnesota Twins, where he succeeded longtime coach Gene Glynn. In 2022, he transitioned to assistant bench coach for the team.

He hopes to get back to the majors soon. Diaz is working to position himself for the next chapter, which he hopes includes a job coaching at a high level. Diaz, who wasn’t retained by the Twins this winter, is currently involved in the MLB Draft League. He’s also preparing to return to the Dominican Winter League as assistant manager of Leones del Escogido.

Gift wrapped in grass

He also holds certifications in Mental Performance Mastery (Brian Cain) and Baseball-Specific Motor Preferences, credentials that reinforce his belief that a better coach equals a better player. Every Jan. 6 during his childhood, Tony Diaz and his brother went with their father a winter league game at Estadio Quisqueya.

That was their gift for Three Kings Day. While other kids on the island received toys or candy to celebrate the Epiphany, the Diaz boys got baseball tickets. Not toys, but turf.

“I remember walking into that stadium and seeing the grass for the first time,” he says. “My heart started racing. That’s when I knew.” 

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Even then, baseball was a reward, not a right. His parents, neither of whom graduated high school, made a pact with him. No good grades, no baseball.

Then came Manny Mota, the legendary former Dodgers pinch-hitter and coach. If Santo Domingo gave Diaz dreams, Mota gave him direction.

Manny Mota Doctrine

”Manny was different,” Tony Diaz says. “He didn’t just talk baseball. He preached education.” It was a message that challenged young Diaz. Why would a former big leaguer, a man in a Dodgers uniform, talk about books instead of bats?

“He told us, ‘In baseball, you’ll win some and lose some. But with education, you always win.’ That stuck with me.” 

So did his father’s rule. No good grades, no baseball. Those values didn’t just shape a student athlete. They built a bilingual battler.

When Díaz moved to the United States with limited English and a scholarship offer at Gulf Coast Community College, the odds were stacked against him. Diaz failed the English proficiency test at Gulf Coast Community College.

“I had no business taking it,” he says.

But where others saw a barrier, Díaz found a breakthrough. With the help of a compassionate tutor named Miss Sandy – his “American mother”- he  met every morning at 7:15 to study English. He refused to quit. 

“My roommate Julio and I were the only Latinos on campus,” he says. “We didn’t know where to sit in the cafeteria. But we had people. Teammates. Volunteers who embraced us. I didn’t want to let them down.”

‘Win the day’

Diaz is now almost as fluent in English as he is in Spanish. He has made a career developing and coaching players who didn’t know a word of English or a word of Spanish. The English language stopped being an issue for Diaz long ago.

He lives by a phrase: win the day. It’s not about the scoreboard.

“It’s about controlling what you can,” he says. “Your effort, your attitude, your integrity. If I do that, I can go to bed with peace of mind.”

Today, that mindset shapes how he coaches, how he mentors, and how he dreams. It is rooted in what he calls the Four C’s of Coaching: Care, Competence, Challenge, and Clarity.

“You have to care, really care, or you can’t build trust,” he says. “Then you need to know your stuff and bring competence. Players will challenge you. And finally, bring clarity. The best coaches simplify the process.”