John E. Boles Jr. (born August 19, 1948) is an American former professional baseball front-office executive, manager in minor league and Major League Baseball, and college baseball head coach. As of , he was the senior adviser to the general manager for player development for the Kansas City Royals. Boles spent two terms— (July 11–end of the season), and (–May 28, 2001)—as manager of the Florida Marlins, compiling a win–loss record of 205–241 (.460). He also served two separate terms as a member of the Royals' front office, held executive positions with the Marlins, Montreal Expos, Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners, and was a manager in both the Chicago White Sox and Royals organizations. Early career Boles graduated from Leo Catholic High School in Chicago in 1966, and Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois, in 1970. He did not play professional baseball, and began his career as a college baseball coach at St. Xavier University (1973–79) and the University of Louisville (1980–81). He joined the White Sox system as manager of their Rookie League affiliate, the GCL White Sox, in 1981. By 1986, Boles had risen through the ranks in his managerial career to Triple-A. Having grown up as a White Sox fan, Boles wanted the chance to coach or manage his hometown team. In , ChiSox third-base coach Jim Leyland was appointed manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. White Sox skipper Tony La Russa wanted Boles to be Leyland's replacement, but Ken Harrelson, newly named the club's director of baseball operations, hired Doug Rader instead. So Boles departed for the Royals' organization as manager of Triple-A Omaha. After one season, he was promoted by the Royals' general manager, John Schuerholz, to director of player development. Meanwhile, former White Sox executive Dave Dombrowski (also forced out of the organization by Harrelson) had moved on to the Montreal Expos, where he eventually became general manager. In , Dombrowski hired Boles as the Expos' vice president/player development. At the end of the season, Dombrowski was recruited by the National League's new expansion team, the Florida Marlins, to become their first general manager. Boles accompanied Dombrowski to Florida as the Marlins' first vp/player development. Managerial career Boles was still in that position in 1996 when, on July 7, Marlins manager Rene Lachemann was fired, and Boles was named interim manager. He led the Marlins to a 40–35 record in the second half of that season.