It has long been reported that when Yankee owner George Steinbrenner was spending money on free agents, thwn Yankee manager had a preference for Joe Rudi over Reggie Jackson, Rudi was a solid outfielder with a great throwing arm and was a solid clubhouse presence that would have fit in the Yankees like Thurman Munson and Griag Nettles. Instead George wanted and got Reggie Jackson and the rest as they say is history. But that isn’t to say that Rudi was a slouch far from it.
In a 16-year career, Rudi was a .264 hitter with 179 home runs and 810 RBI in 1547 games. He won American League Gold Gloves in 1974, 1975 and 1976, and played in the MLB All-Star Game in 1972, 1974 and 1975. In 1975, he was elected by the fans as a starter in the All-Star Game as an outfielder, where he joined 4 other Oakland A’s in the American League starting lineup. He also played some first base for the A’s that year.
With baseball entering the free agency era, A’s owner Charlie Finley attempted to sell Rudi and Rollie Fingers to the Boston Red Sox for $1 million each at the MLB trade deadline on June 15, 1976, rather than trading them (as he had done with Reggie Jackson and Ken Holtzman the year before) or risking losing them in free agency. Rudi actually reported to the Red Sox and was issued a uniform, but never was permitted to play, as Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the transaction as not being in the best interests of baseball.[2] Ironically, Rudi later played for Boston in 1981
Smallthoughts: Old School Tuesday salutes Joe Rudi.
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MLB debut
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| April 11, 1967 for the Kansas City Athletics | |
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Last MLB appearance
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| October 3, 1982 for the Oakland Athletics | |
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Career statistics
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| Batting average | .264 |
| Home runs | 179 |
| Runs batted in | 810 |
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Teams
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Career highlights and awards
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