'Robert Earl Brenly' (born
February 25,
1954 in
Coshocton, Ohio) is a former
catcher and
manager in
Major League Baseball and a current
broadcaster for the
Chicago Cubs alongside
Len Kasper. Brenly is the Cubs "color commentator."
Bob Brenly attended
Ohio University in
Athens, Ohio and was a member of the Bobcat baseball team. By the time Brenly graduated in 1976, he had earned All-America honors and matched Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt's school-record 10 home runs in a single season.
Brenly had a major league career spent almost entirely with the
San Francisco Giants from
1981 to
1989. He won the 1984
Willie Mac Award for his spirit and leadership.
Brenly served as a coach under manager
Dusty Baker with the Giants. He replaced
Buck Showalter as manager of the
Arizona Diamondbacks after the
2000 season, and led the Diamondbacks to the
2001 World Series title in his first season as a manager. Although the team repeated as
Western Division champions in
2002, a slide which left the team in last place in mid-
2004 led to Brenly's dismissal. He later returned to being baseball
analyst for
Fox (where Brenly worked from
1996-2000), and was named in November 2004 as the TV game analyst in the
Chicago Cubs' announcing booth, replacing
Steve Stone. This is Brenly's second tour of duty as a Cubs broadcaster, as he was a radio analyst teamed with
Harry Caray,
Thom Brennaman, and
Ron Santo during the
1990 and
1991 seasons. Is often referred to by his nickname, "BB". Brenly is rumored to be in the running for several managerial positions for the 2008 season, including the
Cincinnati Reds,
[1] though Brenly says he has not heard from any teams to date.
External links
★
Chicago Cubs Broadcasters at Comcastsportsnet.com
★
Ask Len and Bob at Comcastsportsnet.com
★
Chicago Cubs Broadcasters at Cubs.com
★
Len & Bob's baseball blog at WGN Sports.com