At the center of the show was the bar's owner and head bartender Sam Malone, a womanizing former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. The show's ensemble cast included waitresses Carla Tortelli and Diane Chambers, who would be Sam's love interest for the first several seasons of the show, as well as a dimwitted second bartender, Coach Ernie Pantusso for the first three seasons, and Woody Boyd for the rest of the series, and regular bar patrons Norm Peterson, Cliff Clavin, and Frasier Crane. Later main characters of the show include Rebecca Howe, who manages the bar after Sam sells it and later becomes his love interest, and Lilith Sternin, who is Frasier's wife.