Brian Poldberg
Brian John Poldberg
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 4", Weight 190 lb.
- School Wayne State College, Fort Hays State University, Emporia State University
Biographical Information[edit]
Catcher Brian Poldberg played in the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals farm systems. He caught for the Greensboro Hornets (1980), Nashville Sounds (1981-1982), and Omaha Royals (1983-1985). Even though he spent three years at the AAA level, he never received the call to the major leagues.
While in college, Poldberg made the All-District 11 team as a freshman and sophomore for Wayne State, and the All-District 10 team as a junior for Fort Hays and senior for Emporia State.
Since his playing career ended, Poldberg has been a minor league coach, roving instructor, and manager in the Royals system. He was a coach for the Appleton Foxes in 1987 though he did make two emergency appearances as a pitcher. He managed the Foxes the next two years before moving up a level to manage the Baseball City Royals. Poldberg returned to Omaha in 1991 as their hitting coach. In 1992 he headed south as the Memphis Chicks manager before being assigned to the newly created position of minor league catching instructor in 1993. He returned to managing for the 1994-1996 campaigns with three different teams. From 1997 to 2003, Poldberg was the Royals' minor league catching instructor again. He took a detour on July 22, 1998 to replace fired manager Darrell Evans of the Wilmington Blue Rocks for the remainder of the season. During these years he also made two trips to the majors as an interim bullpen coach. In 2001 he filled in after pitching coach Brent Strom was fired and in 2002 he was the bullpen coach for a couple of weeks after Royals' manager Tony Muser was fired.
After the 2003 season, the Royals fired bullpen coach Tom Gamboa and replaced him with Poldberg (umm, seems to be a theme here!). Poldberg returned as the bullpen coach in 2005 before moving to coach first base in 2006. In 2007 Poldberg moved to third base in a switch with Luis Silverio.
Poldberg returned to managing in 2008 and spent the remainder of his career in just two positions. He managed the Northwest Arkansas Naturals from 2008-2013 and the Omaha Storm Chasers from 2014-2021. He was scheduled to manage Omaha in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Poldberg retired after the 2021 season. Over the course of his career, he managed 2,863 games and finished with a 1,415-1,448 record (.494).
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