Joe Rudi Marquee

In the second game of the 1972 World Series he ran back to the left-field wall, jumped and caught Denis Menke's drive backhanded against the fence with his body turned the wrong way, and Oakland held a one-run lead. The club won three World Series in a row and he was in left field for all of them.

In June 1976 Charlie Finley sold him and Rollie Fingers to Boston for a million dollars each and Vida Blue to New York for a million and a half, and Bowie Kuhn voided all three sales in the best interests of baseball. Rudi sat in the Boston clubhouse for three days without playing and went back to Oakland.

Sixteen seasons gave him 1,468 hits, 179 home runs, 810 runs batted in and a .264 average, with three Gold Gloves and three All-Star selections. He led the American League with 181 hits in 1972 and 39 doubles in 1974 and finished second in the Most Valuable Player voting twice. The 1988 ballot gave him no votes at all.