| Rick Dempsey | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Dempsey with theBaltimore Orioles in 1984 | |
| Catcher | |
| Born: (1949-09-13)September 13, 1949 (age 76) Fayetteville, Tennessee, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 23, 1969, for the Minnesota Twins | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 27, 1992, for the Baltimore Orioles | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .233 |
| Home runs | 96 |
| Runs batted in | 471 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
John Rikard Dempsey (born September 13, 1949) is an American former professionalbaseball player.[1] He played for 24 seasons as acatcher inMajor League Baseball from1969 to1992, most prominently for theBaltimore Orioles where he played for 10 years and was a member of the1983 World Series winning team.[1] Dempsey was known for being one of the best defensive catchers of his era.[2] In 1997, he was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.[3]
Dempsey was selected by theMinnesota Twins in the 15th round of the1967 Major League Baseball draft out ofCrespi Carmelite High School.[4] He spent two seasons in theminor leagues.
Dempsey made his major league debut late in the1969 season for the division winning Twins managed byBilly Martin, however he didn't qualify for the postseason roster.[1] Dempsey spent a few more seasons shuttling between the Twins and their minor league teams, before being traded to theNew York Yankees forDanny Walton on October 31, 1972.[5]
During his tenure with the Yankees, he served as a reserve catcher toThurman Munson, and received tutoring from Yankees coach and former catching standoutJim Hegan.[2] He was involved in a fight with teammateBill Sudakis in thelobby ofThe Pfister Hotel while the ballclub was checking in on September 29, 1974. It was the culmination of an unpleasantconversation between the two players on a one-hour flight which was delayed for three hours atCleveland Hopkins International Airport. TheYankees had swept a four-game series from theIndians and were still in contention for theAmerican League East title with two games remaining in the regular season.[6]
After three and a half seasons with the Yankees, theBaltimore Orioles acquired Dempsey along withScott McGregor,Tippy Martinez,Rudy May, andDave Pagan forKen Holtzman,Doyle Alexander,Elrod Hendricks,Grant Jackson, andJimmy Freeman at thetrade deadline on 15 June 1976. He, McGregor and Martinez became part of a nucleus that enabled the Orioles to continue as perennial contenders for the next decade.[7]
For the next ten and a half seasons, Dempsey was the Orioles' starting catcher.[8] He became known for his exceptional ability to handle pitching staffs, his strong throwing arm, and for his agility behindhome plate.[2] In1979, the Orioles defeated theCalifornia Angels in the1979 American League Championship Series to reach the World Series.[9] In the1979 World Series, the Orioles won three of the first four games against thePittsburgh Pirates and seemed to be on the verge of winning the championship, when the Pirates, led byWillie Stargell, rebounded to win the final three games.[10] It was one of Dempsey's greatest disappointments of his playing career.[11]
In1983, the Orioles won theAmerican League Eastern Division pennant, then defeated theChicago White Sox in the1983 American League Championship Series, before winning the1983 World Series against thePhiladelphia Phillies.[12][13] Dempsey posted a .385batting average along with a .923slugging percentage in the five-game series, and won theWorld Series Most Valuable Player Award, one of six catchers to have won the award.[8][14][15][16]
In1987, Dempsey became a free agent and signed a contract to play for the Cleveland Indians.[17] After only one season with the Indians, he became a free agent once again and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he would be a member of anotherWorld Series-winning team in1988, this time as a backup catcher toMike Scioscia.[1] When Scioscia was injured during Game 4 of the World Series, Dempsey took over behind the plate for the remainder of the Series, collecting an RBI double in Game 5. While playing for the Dodgers in1990, he became involved in a brawl with Phillies' center fielderLenny Dykstra, who took exception to Dempsey's "buttering up" the home plate umpire. Anticipating something happening when Dysktra came closer to him, Dempsey promptly punched him with his catcher's glove. He was suspended for one game.[18] After three seasons with the Dodgers, he played one season with theMilwaukee Brewers, before returning to the Baltimore Orioles for his final season in1992.[17]
His sense of humor during his playing career was renowned, and he was famous for his "rain delay theatre" performances, in which he emerged from thedugout in stockinged feet onto the tarpaulin covering theinfield during a rain delay and pantomimed hitting aninside-the-park home run, climaxed by his sliding into home plate on his belly on the wet tarp, all to the raucous delight of the soggy fans.[8] He sometimes did this while wearing a pair of underpants over his uniform, making fun of teammateJim Palmer's famous advertisements for Jockey brand briefs.
In a 24-year career, Dempsey played in 1,765games, accumulating 1,093hits in 4,692at bats for a .233 career batting average along with 96home runs and 471runs batted in.[1] He ended his career with a .988fielding percentage.[1] Dempsey led American League catchers twice in fielding percentage, twice in baserunnerscaught stealing and once inassists.[1] He played more games as a catcher than any other player in Orioles history (1230).[19] During his career, Dempsey caught ten different 20-game winningpitchers.[8] He was a durable player, only going on thedisabled list twice in his career.[20] Dempsey fared well offensively in postseason play. In 14 World Series and 11 playoff games, he batted .303 (20-for-66) with 11runs, 11doubles, 1home run, 7RBIs, 1stolen base and 7bases on balls.[1]
While he was a light-hitting player, Dempsey's lengthy major league career was due in part to his excellent defensive skills, despite the fact that he never won aGold Glove.[2] He usually did not make a large contribution offensively. During his season with the Brewers, Dempsey made tworelief pitching appearances, giving up three hits and one run in two innings pitched.[21] Dempsey also won aLittle League World Series in 1963 with the team from Canoga Park-Woodland Hills, California.[20] He is the uncle of former major league catcherGregg Zaun.[1] Dempsey is one of only 31 players to play in four different calendar decades.[22]
After his playing career ended, Dempsey became a minor leaguemanager in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, winning the 1994Pacific Coast Leaguechampionship with theTriple-AAlbuquerque Dukes.[23] He then joined the New York Mets organisation, managing theNorfolk Tides in 1997 and 1998. Dempsey also served as first basecoach for the Orioles for several seasons, first as a third base coach in the2005 season after bench coachSam Perlozzo was promoted to interim manager. He assumed thebullpen coach position in the2006 season, replacingElrod Hendricks who the team intended to reassign to another position in the organization before his death. Later in 2006, he became the first base coach again when the team reassignedDave Cash.
Dempsey has been a candidate for managerial openings with the Orioles in the past, as recently as2003 when the Orioles interviewed him for the spot that eventually went toLee Mazzilli. He was mentioned again as a possible candidate for the Baltimore manager's job in 2010, after the firing ofDave Trembley.
Dempsey also served as an Oriolecolor commentator in 2000 and began another stint in 2007, as the studio analyst forO's Xtra onMASN, the cable channel that carries Orioles games. In addition, he serves as a game analyst for occasional games on MASN. In 1985,Dick Enberg was inToronto for Games 1 and 7 of the1985 ALCS onNBC. Enberg hosted thepregame show alongside Dempsey (who was still active withBaltimore at the time). In 1995, Dempsey worked as a field reporter forABC's coverage of theAll-Star Game fromTexas.[citation needed] Dempsey was among those laid off by MASN in 2021.[24]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tom Beyers | Bakersfield Dodgers Manager 1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Bill Russell | Albuquerque Dukes Manager 1994–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Norfolk Tides Manager 1997–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Los Angeles Dodgers Bullpen Coach 1999–2000 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Baltimore Orioles First Base Coach 2002–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Baltimore Orioles Third Base Coach 2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Baltimore Orioles Bullpen Coach 2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Baltimore Orioles First Base Coach 2006 | Succeeded by |
