1953
Born May 16, 1953
Boynton Beach, FL, USA
Rick Rhoden Marquee
b. May 16, 1953 · Los Angeles Dodgers 1974–1978, Pittsburgh Pirates 1979–1986, New York Yankees 1987–1988, Houston Astros 1989
He won the Silver Slugger for pitchers three years running from 1984 and hit .238 for his career with 181 hits and 9 home runs. In June 1988 Billy Martin put him in the Yankee lineup as the designated hitter without pitching him, which is the only time a pitcher has started a game at that position, and he drove in a run.
Sixteen seasons gave him 151 wins against 125, a 3.59 earned run average, 2,593 innings and 69 complete games, with two All-Star selections. He won 16 games for Pittsburgh in 1986 and finished fifth in the Cy Young voting.
Osteomyelitis in his knee as a child left one leg shorter than the other and he was told he would not run properly. He has played professional golf since 1990, winning a great many celebrity tournaments and entering Champions Tour events. The 1995 ballot gave him no votes.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 2 | 1976, 1986 |
| Silver Slugger | 3 | 1984, 1985, 1986 |
| Pitcher of the Month | 1 | 1986 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | LAD | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| 1975 | LAD | 26 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .071 |
| 1976 | LAD | 27 | 65 | 6 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 0 | .308 |
| 1977 | LAD | 32 | 78 | 8 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 13 | 0 | .231 |
| 1978 | LAD | 30 | 52 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 0 | .135 |
| 1979 | PIT | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 1980 | PIT | 20 | 40 | 3 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .375 |
| 1981 | PIT | 21 | 48 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .188 |
| 1982 | PIT | 36 | 83 | 10 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .265 |
| 1983 | PIT | 36 | 86 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 0 | .151 |
| 1984 | PIT | 35 | 84 | 9 | 28 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 0 | .333 |
| 1985 | PIT | 37 | 74 | 2 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .189 |
| 1986 | PIT | 41 | 90 | 9 | 25 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 0 | .278 |
| 1987 | NYY | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1988 | NYY | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1989 | HOU | 20 | 29 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .207 |
| Career | — | 427 | 761 | 58 | 181 | 38 | 0 | 9 | 75 | 17 | 114 | 0 | .238 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | LAD | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 2.00 |
| 1975 | LAD | 3 | 3 | 26 | 11 | 0 | 99.1 | 94 | 34 | 32 | 40 | 3.08 |
| 1976 | LAD | 12 | 3 | 27 | 26 | 0 | 181.0 | 165 | 60 | 53 | 77 | 2.98 |
| 1977 | LAD | 16 | 10 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 216.1 | 223 | 90 | 63 | 122 | 3.74 |
| 1978 | LAD | 10 | 8 | 30 | 23 | 0 | 164.2 | 160 | 67 | 51 | 79 | 3.66 |
| 1979 | PIT | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7.20 |
| 1980 | PIT | 7 | 5 | 20 | 19 | 0 | 126.2 | 133 | 54 | 40 | 70 | 3.84 |
| 1981 | PIT | 9 | 4 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 136.1 | 147 | 59 | 53 | 76 | 3.89 |
| 1982 | PIT | 11 | 14 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 230.1 | 239 | 106 | 70 | 128 | 4.14 |
| 1983 | PIT | 13 | 13 | 36 | 35 | 1 | 244.1 | 256 | 84 | 68 | 153 | 3.09 |
| 1984 | PIT | 14 | 9 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 238.1 | 216 | 72 | 62 | 136 | 2.72 |
| 1985 | PIT | 10 | 15 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 213.1 | 254 | 106 | 69 | 128 | 4.47 |
| 1986 | PIT | 15 | 12 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 253.2 | 211 | 80 | 76 | 159 | 2.84 |
| 1987 | NYY | 16 | 10 | 30 | 29 | 0 | 181.2 | 184 | 78 | 61 | 107 | 3.86 |
| 1988 | NYY | 12 | 12 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 197.0 | 206 | 94 | 56 | 94 | 4.29 |
| 1989 | HOU | 2 | 6 | 20 | 17 | 0 | 96.2 | 108 | 46 | 41 | 41 | 4.28 |
| Career | — | 151 | 125 | 413 | 380 | 1 | 2593.2 | 2606 | 1036 | 801 | 1419 | 3.59 |
On this day & linked events
1974
Major-league debut: Rick Rhoden
Rick Rhoden made a major-league debut on July 5, 1974.
1989
Final major-league game: Rick Rhoden
Rick Rhoden played a final major-league game on September 29, 1989.
Image: Indiana Blue Sox, public domain