At least two Dodgers minor league affiliate levels will have the same manager in 2026 as in 2025. Just as Eric Wedge was announced last week to return to helm Double-A Tulsa, John Shoemaker will return to manage the Dodgers Class-A
team in 2026.
Only this year, that Dodgers’ affiliate is now the Ontario Tower Buzzers, which adds another city to Shoemaker’s illustrious career.
Shoemaker was drafted out of Miami University in Ohio by the Dodgers in 1977, one year before he was also drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the NBA. After four years as an infielder in the minors, Shoemaker retired as a player and began his coaching career in 1981 as a hitting coach in Vero Beach of the Florida State League.
He’s served in a variety of roles, including hitting coach and roving coordinator, and Shoemaker in 2015 was given the additional title of captain of player development by the Dodgers, which comes with a C upon his jersey.
Shoemaker has coached or managed scores of players who later reached the majors, including Andy Pages, Emmet Sheehan, Ben Casparius, Justin Wrobleski, Dalton Rushing, Alex Freeland among the 2025 Dodgers.
This will be Shoemaker’s 50th season with the Dodgers, including his 32nd as manager. He managed one year in Triple-A, in 2003 in Las Vegas, and managed The Jacksonville Five in the first of his four years in then-Double-A Jacksonville. But the bulk of Shoemaker’s time at the helm has been at the lower levels, Class-A and rookie levels, befitting his player development role.
Managing the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes since 2021 was Shoemaker’s longest stint with any one team. The Dodgers’ Class-A shift to Ontario gives us a chance to revisit all the minor league cities in which Shoemaker has managed:
- Vero Beach, Florida
- San Antonio, Texas
- Port St. Lucie, Florida (Gulf Coast League Dodgers)
- Yakima, Washington
- Great Falls, Montana
- Savannah, Georgia
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Midland, Michigan (Great Lakes Loons)
- Glendale, Arizona (rookie-league Arizona Dodgers)
- Ogden, Utah
- Rancho Cucamonga, California
- Ontario, California
