Robert Earl Brenly (born February 25, 1954) is anAmerican baseballsportscaster and a former professionalbaseball player,coach andmanager.^[1] He played the majority of hisMajor League Baseball career as acatcher with theSan Francisco Giants.^[1] After retiring as a player, Brenly worked as a broadcaster with theChicago Cubs, then as a coach with the Giants, then as a broadcaster forFox. He was hired to manage theArizona Diamondbacks for the 2001 season, and wonthe franchise's only championship his first year, becoming the fourth rookie manager to win a World Series and first since 1961.^[2] In 2004, Brenly was released by the Diamondbacks and again became a broadcaster with the Cubs until 2012. He now serves as acolor commentator for Diamondbacks broadcasts.

Bob Brenly
Brenly during the2001 World Series
Catcher /Manager
Born: (1954-02-25)February 25, 1954 (age 71) Coshocton, Ohio, U.S.
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 14, 1981, for the San Francisco Giants
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 1989, for the San Francisco Giants
MLB statistics
Batting average	.247
Home runs	91
Runs batted in	333
Managerial record	303–262
Winning %	.536
Stats atBaseball Reference
Teams
As player San Francisco Giants (1981–1988) Toronto Blue Jays (1989) San Francisco Giants (1989) As manager Arizona Diamondbacks (2001–2004) As coach San Francisco Giants (1992–1996)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (1984) World Series champion (2001) San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame

Brenly was born on February 25, 1954, inCoshocton, Ohio.

Brenly attendedOhio University inAthens, Ohio, and was a member of theBobcats baseball team. By the time he graduated in 1976, Brenly had earnedAll-America honors and matched Hall of FamerMike Schmidt's school record of 10home runs in a single college season.^{[citation needed]} Brenly was inducted to theKermit Blosser Ohio Athletics Hall of Fame in 1987.^[3]

Brenly was not drafted but signed as an amateurfree agent by the San Francisco Giants in1976.^[1]

Brenly made his major league debut in1981 at the age of 27.^[1] Brenly replacedMilt May as the Giants starting catcher in1983 and posted a .224batting average along with 7 home runs and 34runs batted in.^[1] Brenly had his best season offensively in1984 when, he was hitting for a .318 batting average at mid-season to earn a spot as a reserve player for theNational League in the1984 All-Star game.^[4][5] He finished the season with a career-high .291 batting average with 20 home runs and 80 runs batted in.^[1] Brenly won the 1984Willie Mac Award for his spirit and leadership.^[6]

In1986, Brenly led National League catchers with a .995fielding percentage, committing only 3errors as a catcher in 101 games as the Giants improved from last place the previous season to finish third in theNational League Western Division.^[7][8] Also in 1986, Brenly broke up aperfect game attempt by pitcherDon Carman on August 20 by leading off the ninthinning with adouble.^[9]

Although Brenly was a good defensive catcher, he also has the dubious distinction of committing 4 errors in one inning while playing as a substitutethird baseman during a game on September 14, 1986, against theAtlanta Braves.^[10] Already suited up to catch, he was asked to man third base when the regular player was unavailable. Three errors were onground balls and one on a throw, with the throwing error coming on the same play as one of the ground ball errors.^[10] Brenly atoned for his mistakes by hitting a fifth-inning home run.^[10] He then hit a two-out, two-runsingle in the seventh inning to tie the game and finally hit awalk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game.^[10][11]

Brenly was playing first base during a Giants-Mets game on September 3, 1986, whenKeith Hernandez hit a sharp grounder to pitcherTerry Mulholland. The ball got stuck in Mulholland's glove so Mulholland tossed the glove with the baseball to Brenly for the out.

Brenly led National League catchers in1987 with 83assists and posted a .267 batting average with 18 home runs and 51 runs batted in as, the Giants won the National League Western Division title.^[1][12][13] In the only post-season appearance of his career in the1987 National League Championship Series, Brenly hit .235 with 1 home run and 2 runs batted in as the Giants were defeated by theSt. Louis Cardinals in a seven-game series.^[14]

During the1988 season, Brenly caught only 69 games and was released at the end of the season.^[1]

In1989, Brenly became a free agent and signed a contract to play for the Toronto Blue Jays.^[1] After half a season with the Blue Jays, he was released.

On July 18, Brenly re-signed to play for the Giants.^[1] After 12 more games with the Giants, he retired at the end of the 1989 season at the age of 35.^[1]

In a 9-year career, Brenly played in 871games, accumulating 647hits in 2615at bats for a .247 career batting average along with 91home runs and 333runs batted in.^[1] He ended his career with a .984 fielding percentage as a catcher.^[1]

After serving a year as an analyst in Chicago, Brenly served as a coach for the Giants under managerRoger Craig, beginning in 1992. When Craig was fired at the end of the season in favor ofDusty Baker, Brenly stayed on the staff for three more years.

From 1996 to 2000, Brenly worked forFox alongsideThom Brennaman for Saturday afternoon games and the Division Series, and withJoe Buck andTim McCarver for the World Series in1996,1998, and2000 to go along with the 1997 and 1999 All-Star Games and the League Championship Series. In1998, Brenly was hired as a broadcaster for the new expansion team in theArizona Diamondbacks forFox Sports Net Arizona. He was at the position for three years, which included broadcasts across national Fox platforms.

Brenly later returned to being a baseballanalyst forFox after leaving the Diamondbacks managerial position. He was then hired in November 2004 to replaceSteve Stone as a color analyst for televisedChicago Cubs games. Brenly teamed with play-by-play announcerLen Kasper. He had previously teamed withHarry Caray,Thom Brennaman, andRon Santo during the 1990 and 1991 seasons on radio. He often jokes about his mediocre playing career. Brenly is often referred to by his nickname, "BB" and was rumored to be in the running for several managerial positions for the 2008 season, though nothing materialized. Brenly was in the running for the 2009Milwaukee Brewers managerial position and was said to be the favorite, but the job went toKen Macha instead.^[15][16]

In 2007, Brenly served as a game analyst during postseason broadcasts on theTBS cable television network. He covered theYankees–Indians series in theALDS and theRockies–Diamondbacks series in theNLCS alongsideChip Caray andTony Gwynn. On September 13, 2008, Brenly signed a four-year extension worth $3.5& million to continue his role as color analyst for Cubs games.^[17]

Brenly again worked Division Series post-season coverage for TBS in 2009-2013 withDick Stockton as his play-by-play partner each year.^[18]

He opted out of an extension to his contract with the Cubs and WGN television on October 17, 2012.

On October 18, 2012, Brenly signed a five-year deal as the TV color commentator for the Diamondbacks.^[19] On June 3, 2021, Brenly announced in a statement that he'd be stepping away from broadcasting temporarily to reflect on comments he had made the day before on-air aboutNew York Mets pitcherMarcus Stroman, whichAramis Ramirez said was discriminatory.^[20] In June 2022, he was called out bySan Diego Padres pitcherMike Clevinger to "find out who the people are instead of just running his mouth up there", referring to Brenly and his habitual negative comments about the Padres on air, such as suggesting a player could run the bases easier without a "bike chain around his neck" or advocating for Diamondback pitchers to throw at Padre batters during a blowout.^[21]

The firing of Diamondbacks managerBuck Showalter a day after the 2000 season lent an opportunity for Brenly, who was one of the seven candidates interviewed by Arizona alongsideChris Chambliss,Carlos Tosca,Clint Hurdle,Tom Spencer,Ron Hassey, andTerry Francona; Brenly and Francona were the final two considered. On October 30, he was signed to a three-year, $2 million contract.^[22] He was cited by general managerJoe Garagiola Jr and managing partnerJerry Colangelo for his "baseball knowledge, work ethic and attitude", which contrasted with the "micromanaging" Showalter, who had won 250 of 486 games but had failed to reach past theNational League Division Series.^[23]

With veteran stars such asLuis Gonzalez,Randy Johnson, andCurt Schilling, expectations were good for the team to win when they still had a chance to do so. The Diamondbacks won 92 games in his rookie season, finishing two games ahead of theSan Francisco Giants, the defending NL West champion. In the2001 National League Division Series, they played against theSt. Louis Cardinals. The two teams split the first four games before Arizona won on a walk-off byTony Womack for their first postseason series win. In the2001 National League Championship Series against theAtlanta Braves, they split the first two games against each other before they rolled the next three games over Atlanta (with Schilling and Johnson winning three of the four games) to clinch the National League pennant. In the2001 World Series, they were matched against theNew York Yankees, who had won the last three World Series matchups and were looking for a four-peat with heavy odds in their favor. As per the tradition of the time for home-field advantage in the World Series having the National League host in odd-number years, Arizona hosted the first two games. They outscored the Yankees 13-1 in those games with Johnson and Schilling coming through with decisive victories. When the Series shifted to New York, Brenly's team dealt with adversity. Game 3 saw them held to three hits and one run while New York narrowly won. Schilling was sent out for Game 4, but it was the bullpen that proved noteworthy. With a two-run lead in the eighth inning, closerByung-hyun Kim was sent out by Brenly to pitch not only the 8th but also the 9th inning. He had a clean 8th, but the lineup in the 9th proved his undoing.Paul O'Neill got on base with one out beforeTino Martinez lined a home run to tie the game and send it to extras. Kim was sent out for another inning to try and preserve the tie, butDerek Jeter hit a two-out walk-off home run to tie the series. For Game 5, Brenly went toMiguel Batista, who hadn't pitched in twelve days, to the mound. He had a scoreless 7.2 inning performance, and the Diamondbacks lead 2-0 into the 9th inning. Brenly sent out Byung-hyun Kim to try and save the game despite what happened the previous night. With two outs and a runner on,Scott Brosius hit a home run to tie the game and send it to extras. In the 12th, the Yankees walked the game off on a RBI single to send the Yankees one victory away from a title going into Arizona. In Game 6, the Diamondbacks rode Johnson to a dominant victory 15-2 before Schilling was sent out to try and win the Series in the 7th game, once again pitching on three days rest. When Schilling was taken out after trailing 2-1 in the 7th, Brenly put in Batista to get a crucial out before putting in Johnson (104 pitches the night before) to get outs in the 8th and 9th inning. A 9th inning rally would end with Gonzalez lining a soft shot into the outfield to deliver a championship for Arizona.^[24]

Although the team repeated asWestern Division champions in 2002, they lost in the Division Series. The 2003 team had exactly two winning months (June and September) and went 84-78 for a 3rd place finish in the West. The 2003 offseason saw them trade away Schilling. The team had a terrible start to the 2004 season and never recovered, winning just nine games each in the first two months of the year while dealing with injuries. When they were 29-50, Brenly was fired, with Colangelo stating it was not a "change of reflection" on him.^[24][25]

Bob Brenly married Joan Brenly on August 10, 1974; they have two children. Their son Michael was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2004 (out of high school) and 2008 (out ofUNLV) as a catcher. He played in the Cubs and Boston Red Sox minor league systems in all or parts of eight seasons spanning 2008–2015.^[26] After retiring from thePortland Sea Dogs in May 2015, the younger Brenly took a position as the assistant bullpen catcher in the Boston organization.^[27]

• Career statistics fromMLB, orBaseball Reference, orFangraphs, orBaseball Reference (Minors), orRetrosheet 
• Chicago Cubs Broadcasters at Comcastsportsnet.com
• Ask Len and Bob at Comcastsportsnet.com
• Len & Bob's baseball blog at WGN Sports.com