Dewey Kalmer

Duane V. Kalmer

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 170 lb.

• School Quincy University

• Born ~1944

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Dewey Kalmer was a minor league catcher and a college coach.

Kalmer was a baseball and basketball star in college. He was taken by the Washington Senators in the 18th round of the 1966 amateur draft. He backed up Dalton Renfroe with the Burlington Senators that summer, hitting .207/.233/.241 in 32 games but fielding .990 at catcher. He missed 1967 (presumably due to military service or injury). In 1968, he batted .273/.304/.400 in 39 games for the AAA Buffalo Bisons (backing up Jim French at catcher) and was 5 for 17 with 3 doubles and a walk for the Savannah Senators. During 1969, he hit .232/.274/.290 for Buffalo, fielding .991 behind the dish as the primary backup to Billy Bryan. Most of his pro career had been spent at AAA.

He returned to his alma mater, Quincy University, as head baseball and basketball coach, guiding their baseball team from 1969-1979. He had winning records in eight of his last nine seasons and was 190-142-1 there. He then became head coach of Bradley University, a job he held from 1980-2008. He would go 842-772-4 (at the time of his retirement, he had half the wins in the school's 108-year history and more than any other coach in any sport at the school). He was the 36th coach to 1,000 wins in NCAA Division I. He coached Kirby Puckett, Mike Grace, Mike Dunne, Jim Lindeman, Brian Shouse, Bryan Rekar and Roger Smithberg.