“Catchers take fastballs off our private parts for a living. We’re not all there sometimes,” Buck said, laughing. “I know he likes to have fun, but he’s also one of those last dying breeds of the old school world, that rough-nose guy who likes to get dirty and grind things out. Right away there are a lot of guys on our team who I know have respect for him.”

Last week, three former Marlins managers — Jack McKeon, John Boles and Fredi Gonzalez — all gave Redmond ringing endorsements in interviews with The Miami Herald.

Serendipity

The Marlins thought of making Mike Redmond a minor-league coach when his playing career was sputtering in the late 1990s.

Gonzalez was managing in the Marlins’ minor-league system when Redmond was struggling to reach the majors and recalled a staff meeting toward the end of spring training in 1998 when it was decided Redmond was going nowhere as a player and would be better off coaching.

“He was an hour or two away from starting his coaching career,” recalled Gonzalez, who now manages the Atlanta Braves. “We were real close to giving him a stopwatch, a pencil and a pad.”

But, somehow, Redmond hung on as a player, and when the Marlins continued their dismantling of the 1997 World Series team by trading Charles Johnson in May of 1998, and, one week later, Mike Piazza, the Marlins were in need of a backup catcher for Gregg Zaun. Redmond was promoted, went 3 for 3 in his first big-league game, and spent the next 13 seasons in the majors as a backup.

“He’s a guy who got every bit out of his talent,” Gonzalez said.

• In addition to Redmond, the Marlins have also brought back longtime infield coach Perry Hill, who also will coach first base. Hill returned to the Marlins in 2011 but left in 2012 because of chronic problems with his left knee. The rest of the staff will likely be announced in the coming days.