Houston Mitchell is an assistant sports editor, writer of the Dodgers Dugout newsletter and editor of all of the sports newsletters for the Los Angeles Times. What made that tarp act even more special was that Sammy Stewart came out and pitched to me, as if he was Jim Palmer, who had given up those two home runs. Players would keep a box of crackers and cheddar cheese in the clubhouse . Rick Dempsey's age is 73. DisneyExaminer is proud to present MagicClass with Rick Dempsey, Senior Vice President of Disney Character Voices. 1. Dec 11, 2006 17,921. Bakersfield is an equal-opportunity loser, having blown games in almost every way imaginable. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Dempseys play-acting during rain delays are still among my favorite memories of those Orioles years. Dempsey was named World Series MVP and was an Oriole hero for all times. Jones' antics in Detroit bring back memories of "Baseball Soliloquy in Pantomime", Thanks to the Tigers' Todd Jones, shown in the rain delay video above, this week's Flashback Friday could only be about one thing: Rick Dempsey's "Baseball Soliloquy in Pantomime.". Manager Earl Weaver #4 and catcher Rick Dempsey #24 of the Baltimore Orioles stands on the mound to make a pitching change during an Major League Baseball game circa 1982 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. He made it fun. Verified account Protected Tweets @; Suggested users I was in the outfield at Fenway Park on Sunday, throwing baseballs to fans in the stands who were the loudest. Hiserman has been Sports editor of The Times San Fernando Valley and Orange County editions. The other half was as MiLB.coms staff historian. The incident earned him a one-game suspension from the league. Included in that group are Jeff Suppan, Sean Gilmartin and Ryon Healy. He possessed a cannon for an arm and was a magician who helped guide some of the games greatest pitching staffs to a pair of World Series titles, picking up a World Series MVP for himself along the way. In celebration of Palmer's birthday, we present these 22 classic SI photos of No. Press Box - Thu, 23 Jul 2020 . Tonight's rain delay in the World Series brings one name to the mind of most baseball fans: Rick Dempsey. He appeared in only 60 games and hit .177. Dempsey was ejected from one game for bumping an umpire. With that in mind, were taking stroll down memory lane to highlight the times in Orioles history that did just that. It was tough for a while, Dempsey says. I cant leave her alone for that long. [20] Dempsey also won a Little League World Series in 1963 with the team from Canoga Park-Woodland Hills, California. Cleveland was one strange organization, Dempsey said. It started to rain and everyone left the field and when they covered it up, there was one baseball on the tarp. He has been teaming with Tom Davis for 4 years hosting the "O's Xtra" pre- and post-game shows on MASN 30 minutes before and immediately after each game. He, McGregor and Martinez became part of a nucleus that kept the Orioles as perennial contender for the next decade. Dempsey ended his career in 1992, at age 42, with eight more games as a Baltimore Oriole. Catcher Rick Dempsey #24, of the Baltimore Orioles, argues the call with the home plate umpire Larry Barnett during a game on September 12, 1982 against the Cleveland Indians at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. I thought he was a great players manager. Were getting to that age where we have to keep an eye on each other. Managing, he says, is like batting. The next year I went to Wisconsin Rapids and didnt hardly play at all. It seemed to Dempsey that the team was usually leading when Dupree came in and trailing by the time he came out. I knew I could be a part time catcher for them but they had Chris Holies at the time, said Dempsey, who was eventually activated in June. For relief from baseball pressures, he would take it upon himself to be the club entertainer. I put a pillow in my shirt so I could look a little bit like Babe Ruth. True story. He glanced at me with a smirk. October 21, 2019 | 00:01:51 Rick Dempsey's famous bit in 1977 where he runs around the infield tarp during a rain delay in Fenway and then slides home Baltimore Orioles Season 2019 All I wanted to do was play sports. He popped up to second in his first at-bat but singled to center off Chris Zachary to lead off the ninth in a 6-2 victory. This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. In 14 World Series and 11 playoff games, he batted .303 (20-for-66) with 11 runs, 11 doubles, 1 home run, 7 RBI, 1 stolen base and 7 bases on balls. Dupree crumpled to the dirt in a heap, several bones in his face fractured. The people were screaming as if I had just hit a home run to win the seventh game of the World Series. We had a day off in Minnesota and the Yankees were in the same hotel. It was pretty neat because my teammates kept throwing me balls so I could keep tossing them into the grandstand. [11][12] Dempsey posted a .385 batting average along with a .923 slugging percentage in the five-game series, and won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award, one of six catchers to have won the award. I wanted to manage for the Orioles and I talked to [general manager] Roland Hemond and the farm director to see where they could place me. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your browser doesn't support the HTML5 CANVAS tag. Palmer had been doing commercials for Jockey underwear, so Sammy wore briefs outside of his uniform pants. The ball was worth $6.5 million. I had to do it at least once at home. During his career, which spanned from 1969-1992, Dempsey was known as one of the best defensive catchers in the game. He and Billy were a lot alike. Doncha just bet hes having a hoot about this? Mike Scioscia and I got a lot of accolades for turning the staff around. Should the teams play become exceedingly sloppy, Dempsey might occasionally launch into a postgame tirade, but he prefers to instruct rather than belittle his players. Sammy had a way of playing with the ball, flipping it with his hand, that added a nice touch. "No, really! Dempsey didnt want to start anything on the plane but when the team arrived at the hotel in Milwaukee, Sudakis started in again and a fight ensued. Dempseys line for the season was just about what he told Claire it would be. He would go and hang out with the players, drink with them and do all that stuff. He was an interim manager while playing in Puerto Rico in the early 80s. People remember those gags during the rain delays, Dempsey says, toweling off in his office after catching in the bullpen. So, he started talking about wanting to go on the tarp during a rain delay and slide on the tarp. So Rich Dauer came running in as I was drying off and said, "Demps, they want you to come back out there! The clubhouse is right underneath the seating section, so it was deafening when people starting kicking their feet in unison and yelling my name. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Dempsey, of course, inherited their genes, and thus went on to stuff towels in his shirt during a 1977 rain delay at Fenway Park, imitating Babe Ruth and sliding across the tarp on his padded stomach. Dempsey spent all of 1974 with the Yankees, serving as Munsons backup for most of that time. October 7, 2012. John Lowenstein leaves the field a hero, on a stretcherJune 19, 1980There arent many scarier moments on a baseball field than when a player is hit in the head, but Lowenstein -- true to his nature -- was able to provide some levity when he found himself in such a situation. Finally, using his best Mexican bandito accent, he ordered the men to drop their money on the table and leave the room. Funny, they don't remember that once in a while I got a hit. 9. [2] In 1979, the Orioles defeated the California Angels in the 1979 American League Championship Series to reach the World Series. He appeared in 77 games, hit .251 [42-for-167] with seven homers and 30 RBIs. A steady rain postponed the Milwaukee Brewers-Baltimore Orioles game at County Stadium, but it didn't stop Rick Dempsey and Sammy Stewart from reenacting the final game of the Orioles' 1982 season against the Brewers.Dempsey has developed a reputation for his slides on rain-soaked tarpaulins. I remember having a hard time with Rod Carew. Thoughts from Brewers Nation or Is It "The Bre Flashback Friday: One of the "Forgotten Birds", Comeback Win No. He also got in a late September fight with teammate Bill Sudakis, a volatile sort who was also one of New Yorks backup catchers. Rich L.A. homeowners are snapping them up. They made it pretty tough on the rookies in those days; the tough times are what I remember the most but I never let it bother me. Follow Dave Ginsburg on Twitter@Ginzy3. Football Memorabilia. He would go from the clubhouse to the dugout, where he would take off his cleats, stuff a pillow under his jersey and head to the approximate area of home plate. The Orioles played the next night in Yankee Stadium, earning a 1-0 victory that seemed very hollow. There, he would pantomime Babe Ruth hitting a home run, complete with called shot. I forget the game, but it was a month or two ago and there was a lengthy rain delay. So, I went back out to the tarp and did Babe Ruth hitting the homer. He met Cal Ripken, Sr., who Dempsey called the greatest catching coach. This is what were going to do, I told him. When I was with the New York Yankees before I got traded in 1976, I was in right field, speaking with relief pitcher Sparky Lyle. Dempsey contacted Claire and was hired to manage in the Dodgers farm system. I loved the way he played the game and we became very good friends.. He played for Billy Martin, Earl Weaver and Tommy Lasorda and, along with Tim McCarver and Carlton Fisk, is one of only three catchers to play in the Major Leagues in four decades [1969-92]. 5, 1989How about one that benefited the Orioles? I know I could have played a couple more years. Well, for that I think of him pronouncing Melky Cabrera's first name as "Milky." The people in Milwaukee just loved it. Consider his "rain delay theater" a blend of both, and one of the more famous comedy bits in MLB history. Oh, that Rick Dempsey. [5] During his tenure with the Yankees, he served as a reserve catcher to Thurman Munson, and received tutoring from Yankees coach and former catching standout Jim Hegan. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. 10. He was hooked on baseball and had been so since an early when he began listening to Vin Scully on Dodger broadcasts as an 8-year-old. Sudakis got upset and wasnt about to start anything with Munson so he sought out Dempsey on the plane and began to yell at him about who the real backup catcher was, ultimately stabbing Dempsey in the chest with a fork. He was a one-man diversion during a rain delay. It was Cal Ripken Jr. who said, You can be a kid for as long as you want when you play baseball. And in the end, isnt that what the game is all about? Dempsey was back in upstate New York in 1973, spending the majority of the season with Syracuse of the Triple-A International League, where he hit .248 with 47 RBIs. Rick Dempsey could be generously described as a bad hitter and probably an overrated defensive catcher. This video of Hagy conducting chants from the top of the home dugout, while more than 50,000 fans chanted along with him, speaks to the cult hero appeal he held. I was 40 years old but I knew I could still play, Dempsey said. While playing for the Dodgers in 1990, he became involved in a brawl with Phillies' center fielder Lenny Dykstra, who took exception to Dempsey's fraternization with the home plate umpire. Rick Dempsey Rain Delay Theater, Part ISept. Dempsey spent all of 1975 as Munsons backup and was also reunited with Martin, who took over for Bill Virdon midway through the summer. Not only that, but the teams and Major League Baseball said they didn't want players running around on the tarp because somebody could get hurt and cost someone a lot of money. Cal gets a good-luck kissMay 2, 1988When looking back on this one, context is important. Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. I never let anybody steal bases, I never missed a runner that I had a half decent chance to throw out and I never missed a ball in the dirt., he MVP of the 1983 World Series Baltimore Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey (r) talks with ABC's commentator Reggie Jackson (C) while Orioles owner Edward Bennett Williams (L) is on the phone in the Orioles locker room after the Orioles defeat the Philadelphia Phillies in game five of the 1983 World Series, October 16, 1983 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I have my grammar school sweetheart and well be married 54 years in February. No matter the ball remained secured in Komminsks glove; his body landed outside the field of play, and Ripken was rewarded with a home run all the same. The new spot is named after Orioles fan favorite and 1983 World Series MVP, Rick Dempsey. I told him I wished he wouldnt fly, that he was a baseball player. On this night, Haller was wearing a microphone as part of his participation in a documentary about umpiring in the Major Leagues. Im going to catch the last pitch and Im going to give you the ball.. The Twins were impressed and put him on the 40-man roster before calling him up to the big club in September, allowing Dempsey to play for Billy Martin and watch as the Twins captured the newly formed American League West crown. He is famous for being a Baseball Player. Now Dempsey as an "O's Extra" announcer? I came over with Scott McGregor, Rudy May, Tippy Martinez, who had the best curveball ever, and I learned how to call a game from Jim Palmer. During a delay in the UConn-USF game, during the Big East Tourney, both teams decided to take to the field and potentially "serve" the other squad. One of baseball's great characters and the son of vaudevillians, Rick Dempsey was fond of stuffing towels under his jersey and doing an impression of Babe Ruth during rain delays. He also appeared in six games for the Yankees before embarking on a journey that would last another 18 years in the Major Leagues. Dempsey has been a candidate for managerial openings with the Orioles in the past, as recently as 2003 when the Orioles interviewed him for the spot that eventually went to Lee Mazzilli. Now that is entertainment! The long-time Baltimore catcher, however, proved over the course of his career, which encompassed parts of four decades, that he was more than one of baseball's most memorable characters. The all-time greatest punch. It ran its course and that was it.. $269.99. Rick Dempsey always was a crowd favorite. Rick Dempsey was born on the 13th of September, 1949. When I was a kid, This Week in Baseball hosted by Mel Allen would occasionally show how Rick Dempsey entertained fans during rain delays during baseball games. He speaks warmly about memories of attending drive-in movies with his parents and how, in between features, he was consumed with the highlights of Dodger games that were shown on the big screen.