The 40 Greatest Orioles of All-Time - No. 31 - Rick Dempsey

by Scott Christ on Feb 23, 2006 9:14 AM EST in News & Rumors

31. Rick Dempsey, C (1976-1986, 1992)

1983 World Series MVP

Rick Dempsey could be generously described as a bad hitter and probably an overrated defensive catcher.

But whatever, he's Rick Dempsey. He was drafted in the 15th round of the 1967 draft by Minnesota, and after never really catching on there (though he did make his major league debut in 1969, ten days after turning 20), he was traded to the Yankees in 1972. Dempsey was a backup plan for New York, then was sent to Baltimore in the big deal of '76.

In 59 games with his new team, he hit .213/.275/.224, then .226/.314/.315 in 91 games the next season. In '78, Dempsey took over behind the plate, and upped his hitting to non-embarrassing levels, at .259/.327/.356 with six homers. Dempsey would remain the No. 1 catcher for the Orioles through the 1986 season.

But '83 is what it's really all about with Dempsey as a player. He didn't have a good season, hitting .231/.311/.323 with four homers in 128 games. He then went 2-for-12 in the ALCS against the White Sox, but then came the World Series. Dempsey had five hits in the World Series, four doubles and a homer, and the Orioles beat the Phillies in five games. Dempsey was named World Series MVP and was an Oriole hero for all times.

Dempsey's dad was a Vaudeville actor and his mother was a Broadway star. 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. He then got the crowd to sing "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head." He did this a few more times in his career, once in '82 at Milwaukee with a Robin Yount jersey on, pretending to be Yount hitting a homer.

After his tenure with the Orioles ended in 1986, Dempsey signed with Cleveland for the 1987 season, where he did little and was released in October. He signed with the Dodgers and played three seasons there as a backup (two of them dreadfully bad), then moved to Milwaukee to catch 61 games in 1991. Dempsey ended his career in 1992, at age 42, with eight more games as a Baltimore Oriole.

In 2001, Dempsey was named the first base coach, replacing Eddie Murray. He will enter 2006 as the bullpen coach, replacing Ellie Hendricks.

There isn't a ton to say about Dempsey the player. But Dipper is an Oriole, and a memorable one.

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Comments

Ever see the video

of him, murray, dixon and a few other O's signing on the 3rd baseline.

He was great and is an Orioles for ever!

PLay like you want it, Live like you need it

by merdon1332000 on Feb 23, 2006 10:29 AM EST reply actions

Dempsey

Dempsey will always be one of my favorites, just because of my vague memories of '83, and also seeing him sliding across the tarp in rain delays.

It's sort of funny, though, the impression we have of Rick the player is that he was so fun-loving and joking, but as a coach, I've gotten the impression from reading about him that he's a bit on the surly side.

Orioles' Rebuilding Plan: Phase 1: Steal Underwear. Phase 3: Win the World Series.

by BrianS on Feb 23, 2006 11:21 AM EST reply actions

1976

Dave Duncan was the Orioles catcher prior to the Yanks' trade, and he was awful both at and behind the bat.

Rick split playing time the rest of that year and was the Opening Day catcher in 1977. The Orioles started Dempsey at catcher, Dauer at 2B, and Bumbry in CF. They lost 2-1 when Larry Harlow, a defensive replacement for Bumbry, played a line drive out into a double. After the game, Jim Palmer told the press that weren't going to contend because we were so weak up the middle, a knock on the three new starters and Harlow. We finished 2 and 1/2 games out.

I'm guessing that Rick must have been hurt part of 1977, because the only other catchers that year were Dave Skaggs and Dave Criscione. I can't imagine that Skaggs would have gotten almost as many ABs as Rick if Rick were healthy.

SC is right, Rick was overrated defensively. In his prime he had an arm, the rest of his defensive game was good, not great. People loved that he seemed to look forward to being runover on tags and would then make a production out of showing the ball. Some pitchers complained that he liked to call too many fastballs with runners on first.

Since catcher has been the black hole of this franchise since 1954, he's probably the Oriole most fans identify with the position.

by howie14 on Feb 23, 2006 11:21 AM EST reply actions

Most fun

Dempsey will go down as the most fun Oriole in history. No one, and I mean NO ONE, slides around on a rainy tarp like he did.

I wear my #24 Dempsey jersey to game still to this day. When I wore it to Philly 2 years ago I got the standard Philly fan cheer of 'Dempsey Sucks' on my way through the concourse.

When I turned to ask them who the MVP in the 1983 World Series was.....they hung their heads and walked away in defeat. (Okay, so they still acted like jerks after that too....but my made up ending was WAY better)

by Mike Boehm on Feb 23, 2006 8:42 PM EST reply actions