Kevin Curtis Kennedy (born May 26, 1954) is a former

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

in American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

and a former television host for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

' baseball coverage. He was given the nickname "The Skipper" by Fox Sports due to his prior managerial career. Kennedy joined the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

broadcast team for the 2009 baseball season as a replacement for

Joe Magrane Joseph David Magrane (born July 2, 1964) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, California Angels, and Chicago White Sox between 1987 and 1996, and is currently a color commentary broadca ...

Biography

Early life and career

Born in Los Angeles, Kevin Kennedy graduated from

Taft High School Taft School or Taft High School may refer to: * Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, founded by Horace Dutton Taft, William Howard Taft's brother Schools named after William Howard Taft: * William Howard Taft High School (Los Angeles) * Willi ...

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...

in 1972, where he was a classmate of

Robin Yount Robin R. Yount (; born September 16, 1955), nicknamed "the Kid", and "Rockin' Robin", is an American former professional baseball player. He spent his entire 20-year career in Major League Baseball as a shortstop and center fielder for the Milwau ...

. He attended

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

and was drafted by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in the 8th round of the

1976 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1976 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Other notable Selections ''*'' Did not sign Background The 1976 Arizona State University team, considered by ma ...

. Kennedy was a career

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

who played in the Orioles,

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

s. In 510 career games, he hit .238 with 12 homers and 178 RBI. While with the

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

in 1981, he was the only player from either team to not play in the longest professional baseball game of all time versus the

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Field ...

. He retired from playing after the 1983 season and became a manager in the Dodgers farm system for the

Great Falls Dodgers Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

(1984–1986),

Bakersfield Dodgers Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

(1987),

San Antonio Missions The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in San Antonio, Texas, and are named for the Spanish missions around which the city was founded. ...

(1988) and

Albuquerque Dukes The Albuquerque Dukes were a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. History The first Dukes team was formed in 1915 as part of the Class D Rio Grande Association. The team finished in third place with a 32-25 record. Fra ...

(1989–1991). He was subsequently the

bench coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

during the 1992 season.

Managerial career

Texas Rangers

He then was hired to manage the Texas Rangers for the 1993

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

after the firing of

Bobby Valentine Robert John Valentine (born May 13, 1950), nicknamed "Bobby V", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He also served as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University. Valentine played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (196 ...

and

Toby Harrah Colbert Dale (Toby) Harrah (born October 26, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a shortstop and third baseman in Major League Baseball from to . Harrah played the majority of his career for the Texas Rangers f ...

. Kennedy was let go following the

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

-shortened 1994

after posting only a 52–62 record (even though, at the time of the strike, it was good enough for first place in the division) and was replaced by

Johnny Oates Johnny Lane Oates (January 21, 1946 – December 24, 2004) was an American professional baseball player, Coach (baseball), coach, and Manager (baseball), manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Baltimore Orioles, ...

Boston Red Sox

For the 1995

, Kennedy became the manager for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. He led them to their first postseason appearance since 1990, but they were swept by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. Kennedy was fired following the 1996

after going from a .597 to a .525 winning percentage.

Managerial record

Broadcasting career

In 1997 Kennedy joined

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

as a

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

on the network's ''

Wednesday Night Baseball ''Wednesday Night Baseball'' is a live game telecast of Major League Baseball. The series formally aired every Wednesday night during the regular season on ESPN. However, beginning with the 2022 Major League Baseball season, ESPN significantly ...

'' telecasts, performing the same role on

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

's ''

Sunday Night Baseball ''Sunday Night Baseball'' is an exclusive weekly telecast of a Major League Baseball game that airs Sunday nights at 7:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN during the regular season. The games are preceded most weeks by the studio show ''Baseball Tonight: ...

'' in 1998 and on

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

's ''

Thursday Night Baseball ''Thursday Night Baseball'' is the de facto branding used for live game telecasts of Major League Baseball on Thursday nights. History ''USA Network Thursday Night Baseball'' (1979–1983) From 1979 to 1983, the USA Network broadcast Major Lea ...

'' in 1999 and 2000. From 2001 to 2008, he was a studio analyst for baseball on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

, teaming with host

Jeanne Zelasko Jeanne Zelasko (born October 26, 1966) is an American journalist and sportscaster who worked for "The Beast" AM980 KFWB and Fox Sports West in Los Angeles County, California. Prior to taking that position Zelasko had a relatively lengthy career w ...

. He also contributed to Fox Sports Net's ''

Best Damn Sports Show Period ''The Best Damn Sports Show Period'' was an American sports television show that aired on Fox Sports Net and Comcast SportsNet. The show regularly featured irreverent and opinionated interviews with top athletes, coaches, celebrities, and entertai ...

'' and hosted a radio program on

FOX Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...

, and was a regular co-host of ''Dodgers Live'' on

Prime Ticket Prime Ticket may refer to: * Bally Sports West, a regional sports network that was known as Prime Ticket from 1985 to 1995 * Bally Sports SoCal Bally Sports SoCal is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint v ...

at this time. In 2009 Kennedy took a job as a part-time television analyst for the

, sharing the duty with former Rays pitcher Brian Anderson. Kennedy and Anderson both replaced

, who is now a part of the

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox Com ...

. Kennedy returned to the Dodgers' postgame show for the 2009 postseason. In October 2010 it was announced that Kennedy would not be returning to the Rays' broadcast crew in the 2011 season. Kevin co-hosted ''Power Alley'' with

Jim Duquette Jim Duquette is an American baseball executive. He was the general manager of the New York Mets from 2003–2004, before the team replaced him with Omar Minaya. Duquette subsequently stayed with the Mets in a front office job for a full seas ...

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

MLB Network Radio MLB Network Radio (formerly MLB Home Plate) is an American sports talk radio station on Sirius XM Radio that features Major League Baseball related talk shows, as well as archives and live reports about MLB and such. MLB Home Plate launched in Fe ...

on Sirius 209/XM 89 from 10 am – 2 pm EST in 2011. From 2014 through 2018, Kennedy teamed with

Rick Monday Robert James "Rick" Monday Jr. (born November 20, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player who now serves as a broadcaster. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1966 to 1984, most notably as a member ...

to call select games on the Dodgers Radio Network and occasionally co-hosted the team's ''Dodger Talk'' radio post-game show.

Other media

In October 2019, Kennedy started doing podcasts of ''The Kevin Kennedy Show'' with Rich Grisham of ''

Out of the Park Baseball ''Out of the Park Baseball'' (abbreviated as ''OOTP'') is a text-based baseball simulation for career, historical, and fictional play. Starting with ''OOTP 16'', the game has licenses for Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball. Games ...

'' and launched a
official website
where he teaches baseball instruction videos, has a blog, and hosts Q&A with fans.

References

External links

Baseball-Reference.com
– managerial record {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Kevin 1954 births Living people Albuquerque Dukes players American sports radio personalities Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from Los Angeles Bluefield Orioles players Boston Red Sox managers Charlotte O's players ESPN Radio Los Angeles Dodgers announcers Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball bench coaches Montreal Expos coaches Rochester Red Wings players San Antonio Missions managers Springfield Redbirds players Tampa Bay Rays announcers Texas Rangers managers William Howard Taft Charter High School alumni