He also served as Boston's interim manager for the final seven weeks of the 2015 season when his boss, John Farrell, stepped aside for successful treatment for lymphoma.

An infielder in his playing days, Lovullo was listed at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) and 185 pounds (84 kg) and was a switch hitter who threw right-handed.

[2] He also played in MLB for the New York Yankees, California Angels, Seattle Mariners, Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians, and Philadelphia Phillies.

He was a teammate that season of pitcher John Farrell, and formed an association that influenced Lovullo's managerial and coaching career.

[5] Lovullo's long minor league playing career — 1,433 games with 1,193 hits, and a batting average of .267[5] — included extended stays with the Toledo Mud Hens, Columbus Clippers and Buffalo Bisons.

[6] After Farrell joined the Indians' front office as director of player development that November, Lovullo became the manager of the 2002 Columbus (Georgia) RedStixx of the Class A South Atlantic League, and guided them to the finals of the SAL playoffs.

He then moved up to the High Class A Kinston Indians (2003–04) and the Double-A Akron Aeros (2005), which he piloted to an 84–58 win–loss record and the Eastern League championship.

During Lovullo's playing career, he had spent all or parts of three seasons (1995; 1997–98) as a player for the Bisons and won two championships: one in the American Association and one in the International League.

The Clippers were the International League champions in both seasons Lovullo played in Columbus, winning back-to-back Governors' Cup trophies.

[7] It was his first season in the Boston organization, although both Farrell (as pitching coach) and another former Cleveland farm system official, Mike Hazen (as director of player development), were playing key roles with the Red Sox.

At the close of the 2010 season, Farrell, then considered a top Major League managerial candidate, was hired as the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays for 2011.

After the 2012 season, the Red Sox began negotiations with the Blue Jays to release Farrell from his contract so that he could return to Boston as manager for 2013.

[9] After the Red Sox won the 2013 World Series, Lovullo was mentioned as a potential candidate to succeed Dale Sveum as manager of the Chicago Cubs for 2014,[10] but he returned as Boston's bench coach.

[16] A high point came near the end of the season when the Red Sox posted a six-game winning streak and moved up to third place in the AL East.

Mike Hazen, who had worked with Lovullo with both the Indians and Red Sox, was named the new general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks on October 16, 2016.

[21] During the April 7, 2018, game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Lovullo was ejected in the second inning after an argument with umpire Tim Timmons resulted in a fight with Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina by calling him a choice word; the Diamondbacks won that night, 4-1, thus making it Lovullo's 100th managerial victory, as well as marking him the fastest manager in Diamondbacks history to win 100 games with the team.

[28] Son Nick Lovullo played baseball professionally from 2013–2021 and is the current manager of the South Bend Cubs of the High-A Midwest League.