Moving on up

Dave Trembley during his time as Baltimore’s manager

Dave Trembley, a minor league lifer as a manager, gets his chance to run a team in the majors 18 years ago today as he becomes the Baltimore Orioles' manager after they fire Sam Perlozzo.

Trembley starts the 2007 season on Perlozzo’s coaching staff as the Orioles’ bullpen coach after Rick Dempsey backs out of the job during spring training to become a broadcaster with the team.

Before he gets a chance to answer the bullpen phone, Trembley becomes the Orioles’ bench when Tom Trebelhorn leaves the team just prior to the start of the season and returns home to care for his ailing wife.

“I’m 55 years old,” Trembley says a week into the 2007 season, “and I’m a rookie in the big leagues.”

Trembley quickly becomes more than that as the Orioles name him as interim manager 18 years ago today, replacing Perlozzo after the ninth game of a 10-game losing streak that drops the Orioles’ record to 31-42.

Dave Trembley in 1988 with AA Harrisburg

Trembley – who spends 20 seasons managing nearly 2,800 games in the minors from 1986-2006, including three in Class AA Harrisburg from 1987-89 – eventually sheds the “interim” tag and runs the Orioles into the 2010 season.

Alas, like most managers, Trembley finds himself out of a job midway through the 2010 season as the Orioles once again change the voice of their clubhouse.

The fundamentals-first Trembley, whose record in Baltimore is 187-283, later becomes a bench coach with the Houston Astros and then moving on to become the Atlanta Braves’ director of player development.

Trembley eventually manages the State College Spikes for two seasons in the MLB Draft League, teaching a new generation of players how to play the game the right way.