He was attended Western Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio alongside his lifelong friend Don Zimmer.

"[3] A week after the end of the 1979 World Series on October 24, Frey was named to succeed Whitey Herzog as manager of the Kansas City Royals.

[5] During the strike-marred 1981 season, in which the Royals finished the first half with a 20–30 record, Frey was criticized widely for not taking full advantage of a team built for speed and for failing to motivate his players by Kansas City vice president/general manager Joe Burke.

[8] Ryne Sandberg (approaching his fourth season in the majors) cited Frey as key to shaping his mindset when it came to driving the baseball and his timing on certain pitches (after Frey noticed Sandberg's approach during spring training games that year), which saw him win the NL MVP (among other awards) that year on the road to a Hall of Fame career.

[12] Baseball historian Bill James called Frey in 1997 the "dumbest manager I had ever met" along with stating that his success with the Royals and Cubs happened as "He was what those teams needed at that time -- not a guy who could play percentages or teach young men to play baseball, but a guy who could keep a veteran team in a positive frame of mind for a few months.

[19] Frey also traded the popular Keith Moreland to San Diego for closer Goose Gossage, who had played a big part on the Padres team that eliminated the Cubs, four years earlier.

[21][22] Frey made a bold move in the winter of 1988, trading budding star Rafael Palmeiro and young pitcher Jamie Moyer to the Texas Rangers for a number of players, including Mitch Williams.

[2][24] After a disappointing 1990 season, Frey was active on the free agent market, acquiring former Toronto Blue Jay and 1987 American League MVP George Bell, former Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Danny Jackson, and former Houston Astros closer Dave Smith.

[25] Jackson and Smith flopped in their roles in 1991, and Zimmer was fired – apparently on orders from Tribune Co. CEO Donald Grenesko, in May 1991.

Frey was reassigned within the organization after the 1991 season, and was replaced by former Chicago White Sox general manager Larry Himes.

Later on, Frey became Vice Chairman of the Independent Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, being a key figure in the team's early years.