1984 Topps - Bob Brenly #378 (Catcher) - Autographed Baseball Card (San Francisco Giants)

Robert Earl Brenly (b. February 25, 1954) is a baseball sportscaster and a former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball career as a catcher with the San Francisco Giants.

After retiring as a player, he worked as a broadcaster with the Chicago Cubs, then as a coach with the Giants, then as a broadcaster for Fox. He was hired to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks for the 2001 season, and won the franchise's only championship his first year. In 2004, he was released by the Diamondbacks and again became a broadcaster with the Cubs until 2012. He now serves as a color commentator for Diamondbacks broadcasts.

Brenly was drafted as an amateur free agent by the San Francisco Giants in 1976. He made his major league debut in 1981 at the age of 27. He replaced Milt May as the Giants starting catcher in 1983 and posted a .224 batting average along with 7 home runs and 34 RBI.

Brenly had his best season offensively in 1984 when, he was hitting for a .318 batting average at mid-season to earn a spot as a reserve player for the National League in the 1984 All-Star game. He finished the season with a career-high .291 batting average with 20 home runs and 80 RBI. He won the 1984 Willie Mac Award for his spirit and leadership.

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

During the 1988 season, Brenly caught only 69 games and was released at the end of the season. In 1989, Brenly became a free agent and signed a contract to play for the Toronto Blue Jays. After half a season with the Blue Jays, he was released on July 18 and, re-signed to play for the Giants. After 12 more games with the Giants, he retired at the end of the 1989 season at the age of 35.

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
RBI - 333

Games managed - 565
Win–loss record 303–262
Winning % - .536

Teams - As player:
San Francisco Giants (1981–1988)
Toronto Blue Jays (1989)
San Francisco Giants (1989)

As manager:
Arizona Diamondbacks (2001–2004)

Career highlights and awards:
All-Star (1984)
World Series champion (2001)

Link to all of his issued baseball cards - www.tradingcarddb.com/Person.cfm/pid/668/col/1/yea/0/Bob-...

Taken on: February 10, 2018

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Bob Brenly

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Sets appears in: • Bob Brenly - Autographed Signed Baseball Cards • 1984 Topps - Autographed / Autograph / Signed Baseball Cards

Groups appears in: • Anything San Francisco Giants

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