PHOENIX – Arizona Diamondbacks manager Jeff Banister will referee Sunday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, the club said.
Manager Torey Lovullo attends the celebration of his late friend, former teammate and MLB inclusivity champion Billy Bean. Bean, a former major league player who took the helm as senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, died last month at age 60 after a battle with leukemia.
Lovullo traveled to California to deliver a eulogy for his friend.
Banister has been Lovullo’s bench coach since 2022. He has managerial experience, having led the Texas Rangers from 2015 to 2018. His record as Texas captain was 325-113, with two postseason appearances.
“I get to work with one of the best managers in the game,” Banister said. “That’s how I feel about it. He gives me a lot of space on a daily basis. We talk every day, all day, throughout the game. There are times when I don’t think we have different views on the game, but I think he has his view and I have mine, and we find a way to meet in the right place.
“This is not the first time we have had a situation like this where he had to step down for various reasons. … He drives the G-Wagen and gives me the key. I just get in and enjoy it.”
The Diamondbacks want to avoid a sweep against Milwaukee, and Arizona’s top player Zac Gallen is the starting pitcher whose job it is to stop that decline.
Milwaukee will send left-hander DL Hall onto the field.
First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. on ESPN 620 AM and the Arizona Sports app.
