Link
Sounds manager credits late father for instilling coaching values By Nate Rau, Sports Correspondent
August 24, 2006
If Frank Kremblas had listened to his dad, he might have become a concert pianist instead of one of the top managerial prospects in all of baseball.
Frank Kremblas Sr. was the starting quarterback for Ohio State when the Buckeyes won the 1958 Rose Bowl. He passed away Tuesday night at the age of 69.
Photo courtesy of Ohio State“He made me take piano lessons and I hated it,” the current Nashville Sounds skipper said of his father, Frank Sr. “Hell no, I wasn’t gonna take piano lessons.”
Growing up in tiny Carroll, Ohio, Frank Sr. never pushed his son to play sports. This came despite the fact Frank Sr. was himself an accomplished athlete.
He played quarterback for legendary coach Woody Hayes at Ohio State from 1956-58, helping the Buckeyes win the Rose Bowl in his senior season. Frank Sr. was selected by New York in the 1959 NFL Draft, but the Giants wanted him to play defensive back so he chose instead to remain in Columbus. There, he played semi-pro football and put himself through law school at OSU. He became a partner at the law firm of Kremblas, Foster and Phillips, where he remained for 36 years.
Prior to Tuesday’s game against Albuquerque, Kremblas talked with The City Paper about his father. Hours later, after his team’s 6-2 victory over Albuquerque, Kremblas would learn his dad had died at the age of 69. According to a family friend, Frank Sr.’s death was “somewhat unexpected” although the cause of death was not immediately made available.
***
Instead of playing piano, Kremblas followed in the athletic footsteps of his father, playing baseball, basketball and football for Canal Winchester High. He went on to play baseball at Eastern Kentucky, then in the minors for eight years, before pursuing a coaching career.
Managing the game is where Kremblas found his niche. He was named the top Double-A managerial prospect by Baseball America while with Huntsville in 2004. He led the Sounds to the Pacific Coast League championship in 2005 and has the team contending again this season.
Kremblas obtained many of his coaching traits from his father.
“He was a good teacher,” Kremblas said. “He made sure I was mentally tough without a problem. He had good mental discipline and good mental toughness. He worked hard and he played hard.”
Kremblas said his dad passed onto him the lessons he learned playing for the legendary Hayes at OSU.
“He learned a lot and he had good coaches that always helped. It was a good athletic background in the family,” Kremblas said. “When he was with Woody Hayes at Ohio State, he was a pretty smart guy and strategizer and discipliner and all the necessary attributes for winning teams and winning players.”
While his sons pursued a career in baseball (younger brother Mike also became a minor league player and actually played for Frank’s Huntsville team in 2003), Frank Sr. earned his reputation in the Columbus area as an attorney.
“I’ll tell you one thing, everyone here loved him. He was one super guy,” said Frank Foster, Kremblas’s law partner for 36 years. “In the core, he was just a good guy.”
After learning of his father’s passing, Kremblas left the Sounds prior to their five-game road trip to Memphis to be with his family. He is expected to rejoin the team, which has a four-game lead in the PCL American Northern Division pennant race, next week in Albuquerque. Hitting coach Gary Pettis will manage the team in Kremblas’s stead.
***
Kremblas may be permanently absent from the Sounds bench after this season is complete.
Many baseball insiders credit Kremblas for laying the groundwork of the youth movement currently leading the Brewers organization.
Prior to joining the Sounds, Kremblas, who turns 40 in October, managed Double-A Huntsville, which featured current major leaguers Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Jose Capellan and Corey Hart. When that group of prospects made the jump to Triple-A in 2005, Kremblas came with them, eventually ushering the group to the Brewers. This season, Kremblas has a new pool of prospects, including Tony Gwynn Jr. and Nelson Cruz, and has guided the Sounds to the cusp of another PCL playoff appearance.
“He’s done an excellent job for us,” Milwaukee assistant general manager Gord Ash said. “In Triple-A, the most difficult job is keeping everybody happy because the guys who have been up want to get back up and the guys who haven’t been up want to get there. Frank does a good job of keeping everybody happy. We’ve been in first place pretty much the last two years.”
Kremblas makes no bones about his top career goal of one day becoming a big-league manager or assistant coach. During his eight-year playing career he topped out at Triple A.
“I think in time he can,” Ash said. “He’s well-rounded. He’s thorough in baseball knowledge and a thorough planner. He’s a great in-game strategist, an aggressive manager, all of the things you look for.”
The Brewers keep their minor league coaches on one-year contracts, which they typically renew after the season. Last year at this time, Kremblas was asked if he’d be back in Nashville in 2006 and he said “yes” without hesitating. But when asked that same question earlier this week, Kremblas did not give a firm answer.
“It would be nice to be on a team that makes the playoffs in the major leagues as a coach,” Kremblas said. “When you play any sport, you’re always trying to win. Anyone who plays sports is a little bit of an adrenaline junkie and the adrenaline you get when you’re in a playoff game is incomparable to any other.”
Sounds manager credits late father for instilling coaching values By Nate Rau, Sports Correspondent
August 24, 2006
If Frank Kremblas had listened to his dad, he might have become a concert pianist instead of one of the top managerial prospects in all of baseball.
Frank Kremblas Sr. was the starting quarterback for Ohio State when the Buckeyes won the 1958 Rose Bowl. He passed away Tuesday night at the age of 69.
Photo courtesy of Ohio State“He made me take piano lessons and I hated it,” the current Nashville Sounds skipper said of his father, Frank Sr. “Hell no, I wasn’t gonna take piano lessons.”
Growing up in tiny Carroll, Ohio, Frank Sr. never pushed his son to play sports. This came despite the fact Frank Sr. was himself an accomplished athlete.
He played quarterback for legendary coach Woody Hayes at Ohio State from 1956-58, helping the Buckeyes win the Rose Bowl in his senior season. Frank Sr. was selected by New York in the 1959 NFL Draft, but the Giants wanted him to play defensive back so he chose instead to remain in Columbus. There, he played semi-pro football and put himself through law school at OSU. He became a partner at the law firm of Kremblas, Foster and Phillips, where he remained for 36 years.
Prior to Tuesday’s game against Albuquerque, Kremblas talked with The City Paper about his father. Hours later, after his team’s 6-2 victory over Albuquerque, Kremblas would learn his dad had died at the age of 69. According to a family friend, Frank Sr.’s death was “somewhat unexpected” although the cause of death was not immediately made available.
***
Instead of playing piano, Kremblas followed in the athletic footsteps of his father, playing baseball, basketball and football for Canal Winchester High. He went on to play baseball at Eastern Kentucky, then in the minors for eight years, before pursuing a coaching career.
Managing the game is where Kremblas found his niche. He was named the top Double-A managerial prospect by Baseball America while with Huntsville in 2004. He led the Sounds to the Pacific Coast League championship in 2005 and has the team contending again this season.
Kremblas obtained many of his coaching traits from his father.
“He was a good teacher,” Kremblas said. “He made sure I was mentally tough without a problem. He had good mental discipline and good mental toughness. He worked hard and he played hard.”
Kremblas said his dad passed onto him the lessons he learned playing for the legendary Hayes at OSU.
“He learned a lot and he had good coaches that always helped. It was a good athletic background in the family,” Kremblas said. “When he was with Woody Hayes at Ohio State, he was a pretty smart guy and strategizer and discipliner and all the necessary attributes for winning teams and winning players.”
While his sons pursued a career in baseball (younger brother Mike also became a minor league player and actually played for Frank’s Huntsville team in 2003), Frank Sr. earned his reputation in the Columbus area as an attorney.
“I’ll tell you one thing, everyone here loved him. He was one super guy,” said Frank Foster, Kremblas’s law partner for 36 years. “In the core, he was just a good guy.”
After learning of his father’s passing, Kremblas left the Sounds prior to their five-game road trip to Memphis to be with his family. He is expected to rejoin the team, which has a four-game lead in the PCL American Northern Division pennant race, next week in Albuquerque. Hitting coach Gary Pettis will manage the team in Kremblas’s stead.
***
Kremblas may be permanently absent from the Sounds bench after this season is complete.
Many baseball insiders credit Kremblas for laying the groundwork of the youth movement currently leading the Brewers organization.
Prior to joining the Sounds, Kremblas, who turns 40 in October, managed Double-A Huntsville, which featured current major leaguers Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Jose Capellan and Corey Hart. When that group of prospects made the jump to Triple-A in 2005, Kremblas came with them, eventually ushering the group to the Brewers. This season, Kremblas has a new pool of prospects, including Tony Gwynn Jr. and Nelson Cruz, and has guided the Sounds to the cusp of another PCL playoff appearance.
“He’s done an excellent job for us,” Milwaukee assistant general manager Gord Ash said. “In Triple-A, the most difficult job is keeping everybody happy because the guys who have been up want to get back up and the guys who haven’t been up want to get there. Frank does a good job of keeping everybody happy. We’ve been in first place pretty much the last two years.”
Kremblas makes no bones about his top career goal of one day becoming a big-league manager or assistant coach. During his eight-year playing career he topped out at Triple A.
“I think in time he can,” Ash said. “He’s well-rounded. He’s thorough in baseball knowledge and a thorough planner. He’s a great in-game strategist, an aggressive manager, all of the things you look for.”
The Brewers keep their minor league coaches on one-year contracts, which they typically renew after the season. Last year at this time, Kremblas was asked if he’d be back in Nashville in 2006 and he said “yes” without hesitating. But when asked that same question earlier this week, Kremblas did not give a firm answer.
“It would be nice to be on a team that makes the playoffs in the major leagues as a coach,” Kremblas said. “When you play any sport, you’re always trying to win. Anyone who plays sports is a little bit of an adrenaline junkie and the adrenaline you get when you’re in a playoff game is incomparable to any other.”