San Diego Padres (1987–1988) After retiring, Bowa was named manager of the
Las Vegas Stars, the
Triple-A affiliate of the
San Diego Padres, for the 1986 season. In Bowa's only season at the helm, the Stars went 80–62 en route to the
Pacific Coast League championship. Bowa was hired to manage the Padres on October 28, 1986, a little over a year after playing in his final MLB game. His aggressive and often angry style combined with an extremely young and inexperienced roster led to a down 1987 season in San Diego, and when higher expectations for the 1988 team (mainly engendered by those young players showing greatly improved performances in the 2nd half of the 1987 season and the 1988 spring training slate) were not met, he was fired on May 28, 1988, with an overall record of 81–127 as the club's skipper.
First stint with the Philadelphia Phillies (1989–1996) Bowa returned to the Phillies as the team's third base coach on August 11, and remained there through the season. In
1993, he and
John Vukovich became the first two Phillies in franchise history to go to the World Series with the club as both a player and coach (Vukovich was Bowa's teammate on the 1980 World Champions and was the bench coach for the '93 National League champs.
Milt Thompson, an outfielder for the 1993 club, would become the third member of this group when he served as hitting coach for the
2008 World Champions and
2009 National League Champions). When
Jim Fregosi was fired as Phillies manager following the 1996 season, Bowa was one of the candidates to interview for the vacant position, which ultimately went to
Terry Francona.
Anaheim Angels (1997–1999) and Seattle Mariners (2000) Bowa then joined the
Anaheim Angels as their third base coach, where he served from to before spending the season in the same capacity with the
Seattle Mariners.
Second stint with the Philadelphia Phillies (2001–2004) After being passed over for the job four years earlier, Bowa was named manager of the Phillies on November 1, 2000. Taking over a team that had gone 65–97 in , Bowa led the club to a surprising 86–76 mark in , two games behind the
National League East champion
Atlanta Braves. Bowa was honored as
National League Manager of the Year and also received the
Sporting News NL Manager of the Year Award that year. In addition, he was voted the
Baseball Prospectus Internet Baseball Awards NL Manager of the Year in 2001. Despite a promising first season at the helm, Bowa's Phillies could never quite build off the 2001 club's surprising success. A disappointing 80–81 campaign in would be the franchise's last losing season until . The and seasons saw the Phillies finish with similar records of 86–76, and the former season was marked by considerable turmoil with Bowa having clashes with such players as
Tyler Houston and
Pat Burrell. Though respectable, much more was expected from the club in those latter two campaigns and Bowa was fired with two games remaining in the 2004 season after failing to reach the postseason or finish within 10 games of first place in his last three years. Bowa's managerial record with the Phillies was 337–308.
New York Yankees (2006–2007) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2008–2010) After a one-year absence, Bowa returned to the field as third base coach for the
New York Yankees in , a position he held for two seasons. On November 5, 2007, the
Los Angeles Dodgers hired Bowa to be the team's third base coach, following the hire of new manager
Joe Torre, under whom Bowa had served with the Yankees. Torre became the seventh manager to have Bowa on his staff as third base coach, following
Lee Elia,
John Vukovich,
Nick Leyva,
Jim Fregosi,
Terry Collins, and
Lou Piniella. The Dodgers won consecutive
National League West titles in
2008 and
2009, but in both seasons were eliminated in five games in the
NLCS by the Phillies, managed by Bowa's permanent successor in Philadelphia,
Charlie Manuel. The conclusion of Bowa's tenure with the Dodgers coincided with Torre's retirement at the end of the season.
Third stint with the Philadelphia Phillies (2014–2017) Bowa reunited with Joe Torre and served as his bench coach for the
USA team in the
2013 World Baseball Classic. Bowa returned to Major League Baseball and the Phillies by joining
Ryne Sandberg's staff as bench coach for the season. Bowa remained with the Phillies as bench coach under
Pete Mackanin, who took over after Sandberg resigned during the season. Bowa was relieved of his coaching duties on October 13, 2017, and accepted the role as
Matt Klentak's senior advisor to the general manager. ==Broadcasting career==