Rich Donnelly

From BR Bullpen

Richard Francis Donnelly

BR minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Catcher Rich Donnelly played four seasons in the minor leagues, hitting .230 as a pro.

After his playing days ended, he spent ten years as a minor league manager in the Texas Rangers organization. He was a member of the Rangers big league coaching staff in 1980 and again from 1983 to 1985. He then moved on to the Pittsburgh Pirates coaching staff for ten years, from 1986 to 1995. Donnelly was a Florida Marlins coach in 1997 and 1998 and a Colorado Rockies coach the next four seasons (1999-2002). From 2003 to 2005, he was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers staff, and in 2005-2007, he was third base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In 2008, Donelly became a player-development advisor for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2011 he became a manager for the first time in almost 30 years with the Brooklyn Cyclones. In 2015, he returned to the coaching ranks as third base coach of the Seattle Mariners for one season. He was then bench coach of the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2018 and was scheduled to be bench coach of the Syracuse Mets in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to Covid-19.

His son, Tim Donnelly, was a batboy for Donnelly's teams from 1992 to 2002. Tim was an assistant coach at Malone College (2005), Kent State University (2006), Marshall University (2007-2016), Middle Tennessee State University (2017-2018), Southeastern Louisiana University (2019-2021), and Western Kentucky University (2022-).

Year-by-Year Managerial Record[edit]

Year Team League Record Finish Organization Playoffs
1972 Greenville Rangers Western Carolinas League 71-57 4th/1st Texas Rangers Lost League Finals
1973 Gastonia Rangers Western Carolinas League 74-54 1st/3rd Texas Rangers Lost League Finals
1974 Gastonia Rangers Western Carolinas League 84-48 1st/1st Texas Rangers League Champs
1975 Anderson Rangers Western Carolinas League 67-70 2nd/3rd Texas Rangers
1976 Sacramento Solons Pacific Coast League 71-72 3rd Texas Rangers
1977 Tucson Toros Pacific Coast League 65-73 3rd Texas Rangers
1978 Tucson Toros Pacific Coast League 69-71 4th Texas Rangers
1979 Tucson Toros Pacific Coast League 74-74 2nd/4th Texas Rangers
1981 Wichita Aeros American Association 65-70 4th Texas Rangers
1982 Denver Bears American Association 68-67 3rd Texas Rangers
2011 Brooklyn Cyclones New York-Penn League 45-29 2nd New York Mets Lost in 1st round
2012 Brooklyn Cyclones New York-Penn League 45-31 4th New York Mets Lost in 1st round
2013 Brooklyn Cyclones New York-Penn League 38-37 7th (t) New York Mets
2019 Kingsport Mets Appalachian League 34-34 5th (t) New York Mets

Related Sites[edit]