Dennis Holmberg
Dennis Neals Holmberg (born August 2 1951 in Fremont, Nebraska) is a former minor league baseball player and major league coach. He is currently a minor league manager for the Auburn Doubledays of the New York-Penn League.
Holmberg attended Brewton-Parker College and was chosen by the Montreal Expos in the 58th round of the 1969 amateur draft, but he declined to sign with them. The next year he was drafted in the 5th round by the Milwaukee Brewers, and he played eight seasons in their farm system. He began his professional career with the 1970 Newark Co-Pilots, splitting his time between third base and the outfield. In 1971, he was a part-time third baseman with the Danville Warriors. Holmberg spent the 1972 campaign with the San Antonio Brewers. In 1973, Dennis split his time between Danville and Shreveport.
1974 saw Holmberg back in Danville. Playing for Burlington in 1975, Holmberg did well at the plate but poorly in the field having thirty-eight errors at third base. In 1976, Holmberg played for Burlington again, and he rounded out his playing career with sixteen games in Holyoke in 1977.
After his playing career ended, he became a longtime member of the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Holmberg began his managerial career in the Brewers chain with the Newark Co-Pilots in 1977. He moved to the Blue Jays chain with the Medicine Hat Blue Jays in 1979. He jumped to the Kinston Eagles in 1980, then managed the Florence Blue Jays from 1981 to 1984. In 1986 he returned to Medicine Hat for one year. Holmberg managed the Dunedin Blue Jays from 1990 to 1993. He returned to Dunedin in 1996 and 1997. Since 2002, he has managed the Auburn Doubledays of the New York-Penn League, leading the team to the best record in the league in 2003 and 2004.
In 1994 and 1995, Holmberg was the bullpen coach for the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2005, the Milwaukee Brewers drafted Kenny Holmberg, Dennis' son in the 22nd round.
In 1985, when Holmberg was a coach for the Syracuse Chiefs, his wife Diane was driving with their two kids when a teenage kid hit the car. Diane has been in a vegetative state to this day.