Frank Kremblas

Frank Kremblas (born October 25 1966 in Carroll, Ohio) is a minor league baseball coach who most recently served as manager of the Nashville Sounds Triple-A team, and a former minor league player in the Cincinnati Reds farm system from 1989 to 1996. He resides in Nashville, Tennessee. [ [http://www.nashvillesounds.com/clubhouse/Default.asp?playerId=222 "Frank Kremblas."] "Nashville Sounds". April 5, 2008.] His father, Frank Kremblas, Sr., was a three-year-letter winner on the Ohio State Buckeyes football team from 1956 to 1958 and quarterbacked the team to a share of the 1957 national championship.

Playing career

Kremblas played baseball at his hometown high school, Canal Winchester High School, where he would later be inducted into its Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997. He went on to play collegiate baseball at Eastern Kentucky University where he was All-Ohio Valley Conference in 1987 and 1988. As a member of the Columbus All-Americans, his team won a Great Lakes Collegiate League title. He was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 23rd round of the June by|1989 Major League Baseball draft.

During the 1989 season, he played for the Gulf Coast Reds Rookie league team. For the 1990 season, he was promoted to the Single-A Cedar Rapids Reds. He was promoted again in 1991 to the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts. Kremblas spent the 1992 season with the Lookouts before being promoted to the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians in 1993. He would spend the first half of the 1994 season back in Chattanooga before returning to Indianapolis. Again, he spent part of the 1995 season in Chattanooga before finishing up with the Indians. His last season was spent entirely with the Indians after which he retired from his playing career.

During his playing career he divided his time between playing catcher, first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, shortstop, outfielder, and pitcher. However, most of his time was spent playing the infield; he only pitched a career total of nine innings.

Managerial career

In 1998 Kremblas became the manager of the Gulf Coast League Expos, a Rookie League team. He was promoted to the Single-A Cape Fear Crocs in 1999. After the California League All-Star break of 2000, he became manager of the Mudville Nine. In 2001 he guided the High Desert Mavericks to the second round of the California League playoffs.

Kremblas was made skipper of the Double-A Huntsville Stars in 2002, where he would stay through the 2004 season. During his time with the Stars he also served as manager for the 2004 Southern League All-Star Game, coach for the 2003 All-Star Futures Game, and coach for the 2003 Arizona Fall League Peoria Saguaros.

In 2005 he was promoted to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds where he guided the team to win the Pacific Coast League Championship. In both the 2006 and 2007 seasons, he managed the team to win the American North Division title before losing in the conference finals. At the conclusion of the 2007 season, he was named the PCL Manager of the Year. Kremblas was released from his position as Nashville's manager after a 59–81 season in 2008. In four years of managing for the Sounds, that was the only season which didn't result in a division title.McCalvy, Adam. [http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080913&content_id=3467908&vkey=news_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil "Brewers dismiss Triple-A manager."] 13 September 2008. Retrieved on 13 September 2008.]

Winter league managerial career

On April 14 2008, Kremblas accepted an offer to manage the Caracas Lions (Leones del Caracas), of the Venezuelan Winter League, in October 2008.Patton, Maurice. [http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080415/SPORTS0401/804150336/1002/SPORTS "Katin proves to be good in a pinch."] "The Tennessean". 15 April 2008.] He will become the team's 32nd manager since it was established in 1952. This will be his third year with a winter league baseball team; he previously coached in Venezuela in 2000 and managed in Mexico in 2004.

Career affiliations

References

*"2007 Nashville Sounds Souvenir Program." 2007: 37.
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/K/Frank-Kremblas.shtml "Frank Kremblas Baseball Statistics."] "The Baseball Cube." August 1, 2007.