Porter was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 40th round of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft. In 1999, Porter made his major-league debut with the Cubs. Following the season, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the Rule 5 draft. After the 2000 season, he was selected off waivers by the Texas Rangers. He was granted free agency following the 2001 season, and he played the remainder of his career in the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies minor league systems.
Porter became the Diamondbacks third base coach in 2010, after he declined the Marlins' offer to remain with the organization. Following the dismissal of manager A. J. Hinch and promotion of bench coachKirk Gibson to interim manager in July 2010, Porter was promoted to bench coach. The Marlins interviewed Porter for their managing job in mid-2010, after they fired Fredi González. Porter was fired by the Diamondbacks following the 2010 season.
Washington Nationals
Porter was a finalist for the Florida Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates managerial positions after the 2010 season. The Marlins position eventually went to Florida's interim manager, Edwin Rodríguez. Porter was hired by the Washington Nationals on November 2, 2010, as their new third base coach, taking over from Pat Listach, and took himself out of consideration for the Pittsburgh managerial job when he accepted his position with the Nats before the Pirates finished their interview process. On September 6, 2012, Porter was involved in a benches-clearing incident during a game at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., between the Nationals and the Chicago Cubs. Chicago bench coach Jamie Quirk was yelling, apparently at Porter, from inside the Cubs dugout, causing Porter to leave his position in the third base coach′s box and approach the third-base dugout to confront Quirk. Ultimately, both teams came out onto the field and Quirk was ejected by umpire Jerry Layne.
On September 27, 2012, Porter was announced as the new manager of the Houston Astros for the 2013 season. Porter was also the first Astros manager to manage the team in the American League. The team had a 51–111 record that season. On September 1, 2014, the Astros fired Porter as the team was 59–79 during the 2014 season.
Atlanta Braves
On October 3, 2014, the Atlanta Braves announced coaching changes for the 2015 season which included hiring Porter as third base coach, a position which also included outfield and base-running coaching responsibilities. After the 2016 season concluded, Ron Washington replaced Porter as the Braves′ third base coach, and Porter was named a special assistant to Braves general manager John Coppolella.
On February 8, 2018, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, Tony Clark, announced that the MLBPA would open its first spring training camp for unemployed MLB players since 1995 because an historically slow free-agent market during the 2017–2018 offseason had left more than 100 MLB free agents unsigned as MLB teams opened their spring training camps for the 2018 season. This "free agent" camp was intended to provide unsigned free agents who wished to attend it with a simulation of a normal spring training experience and allow them to get in shape for the 2018 season while awaiting a contract offer from a team. Clark announced that Porter would run the free agent camp for the MLBPA. Porter had approximately one week to assemble a staff, find a baseball facility for the camp, and secure temporary housing for the players attending it. Nicknamed "Camp Jobless" by the players, the camp was held at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, with temporary housing in nearby Sarasota. It officially opened on February 11, 2018, with workouts beginning on February 12, the same day MLB teams began their spring training workouts. Porter′s coaching staff included former MLB players Chris Chambliss, Tom Gordon, Brian Jordan, Reid Nichols, Dave Winfield, and Dmitri Young. The camp shut down on March 9, 2018.
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network
On January 25, 2019, the Washington Nationals and the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network announced that Porter would replace Ray Knight in 2019 as co-anchor and analyst on the Nats Xtra pre-game and post-game shows that air on MASN before and after Nationals games. His first Nats Xtra broadcast took place on Opening Day on March 28, 2019.
Managerial record
Personal
Porter has lived in Houston, Texas, since 1996, and founded and is CEO of Future All-Stars Sports Development Academy since 1998. In January 2012, he founded The Bo Porter SELF Foundation in Houston. SELF stands for Sports, Education, Life Skills, and Faith. Porter is the Founder and Chairman of the Board for Bo Porter Charities, a nonprofit philanthropic foundation. Porter has a son, Bryce.
