The two tore up the lobby and in the melee Bobby Murcer got hurt and missed the final two games of the season. 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. I sat there crying asking myself is this what its come to? He still wanted to do it, but by that time, he was too old. Debbie Ray. 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. Dempsey was one of the best defensive catchers in the latter half of the 20th century. 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. New York came calling, Dempsey said. During his season with the Brewers, Dempsey made two relief pitching appearances, giving up three hits and one run in two innings pitched. The Orioles won 10-3. I think I've met just about every person who was there. He was a one-man diversion during a rain delay. The downside is that he set my expectations too high for what I should reasonably expect of a catcher. After his playing career ended, Dempsey became a minor league manager in the Los Angeles Dodgers organisation, winning the 1994 Pacific Coast League championship with the Triple-A Albuquerque Dukes. So, I said okay, Ill play for the worst team in baseball before I play for the Orioles., The Case of the Missing Folder: A Two-Part Hollywood Mystery. 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.". So, he decided to try close to home and paid the Dodgers a visit. Questions, compliments, or complaints can be sent to Matthew Taylor at roarfrom34@gmail.com. Sep 26, 2022 #79 Almonte is entertainingly bad in the field. They packed their guts with pillows to mimic the Hall of Fame duo in absurdist, legendary style. Only Gene Kelly ever sang and danced better with the water turned on. SoSH Member. He went to Spring Training with Baltimore in 1992 and didnt make the club, getting cut the last week of camp. It started to rain and everyone left the field and when they covered it up, there was one baseball on the tarp. He met Cal Ripken, Sr., who Dempsey called the greatest catching coach. The Orioles were 1-23 (yes, you read that right) at the time, having returned home to Fantastic Fan Night at Memorial Stadium after what was statistically the worst start in baseball history. In the midsts of the downpour two younger doofs decide it would be cool to sit out in the bleachers, in the rain. I loved the way he played the game and we became very good friends.. Lets look at the 10 most comical moments in Orioles history: 1. So, they sent me to Auburn and I played every day.. Tommy [Lasorda] had a little heart attack around that time and there was a lot of speculation as to who would replace Tommy. He is remembered for one in particular, when he committed a baserunning gaffe that led to a 5-4 extra-innings loss to the Yankees in August 2003. John Rikard Dempsey (born September 13, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player. Your email address will not be published. In 1995, Dempsey worked as a field reporter for ABC's coverage of the All-Star Game from Texas.'. [10], The highlight of his career came in 1983, when the Orioles won the American League Eastern Division pennant, then defeated the Chicago White Sox in the 1983 American League Championship Series, before winning the 1983 World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. 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. [20] Dempsey also won a Little League World Series in 1963 with the team from Canoga Park-Woodland Hills, California. It proved pivotal in Baltimore eventually securing a 3-1 win. I went out to home plate and pointed to the stands and everyone started to cheer, as if I had already hit the home run. Rick Dempsey rain delay entertainment. Friday, May 22, 2009. 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. I learned the game from Thurman. Now Dempsey as an "O's Extra" announcer? 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." Daniel Okrent describes Dempsey's efforts: He was an intense man, who concentrated mightily on the game. He has established a kangaroo court that levies fines on players for unacceptable actions. Then I "hit" the long drive to straightaway center field and started to take the home-run trot. I said, "Why would you want to do that? document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 2020-2022 BallNine, llc. October 7, 2012. Attempting to score what wouldve been the tying run, Cust lost his footing not once, but twice, before he was tagged out inches away from the vacated plate, having tumbled face-first down in front of it. I loved Billy; he was a little guy like me, Dempsey said. The Orioles played the next night in Yankee Stadium, earning a 1-0 victory that seemed very hollow. Weaver had history with Haller; years earlier, hed publicly said Haller shouldnt be allowed to call Tigers games because his brother, Tom, was their backup catcher. Despite all the drama and tension, baseball is fun. Duprees glove skinned Dempseys cheek. Published by Triumph Books. Perhaps inspired by Dempsey's motivational tactics, Jay Gibbons went 3-4 with a solo HR in Baltimore's 8-3 defeat of Tampa Bay last night. 10. He managed at Bakersfield in the Class-A California League to a 10th-place finish in 1993 before guiding Albuquerque of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League to a title in 1994 and a fifth-place finish in 1995. They wanted a lefty hitting catcher and I became Thurman Munsons backup guy. Jones antics in Detroit bring back memories of Baseball Soliloquy in Pantomime, http://www.youtube.com/v/13dUZTSf_lM&hl=en, Thanks to the Tigers Todd Jones, shown in the rain delay video above, this weeks Flashback Friday could only be about one thing: Rick Dempseys Baseball Soliloquy in Pantomime.. Dempsey is quick to admit that bettering himself in sports, not academics, was his main focus while attending Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino. He played under Orioles manager Earl Weaver starting in 1967. Major League Baseball was not easy to break into at that time. 16 from Two Runs or More, The Start of Rookie League Ball in Bluefield. Santarone would pour a layer of vinegar over the mix and let it set for a few days, then drain it and do the same with oil. He came to my mothers house in 1967 in Simi Valley and I signed a contract. He called a good game, too, even if not good enough for the headstrong Palmer, who insisted on calling his own, using the signs only as a medium that would guarantee both pitcher and catcher knew what the next pitch was. Thats when Dempsey dressed up like old friend Robin Yount and recruited teammate Sammy Stewart to play Jim Palmer. Rick Dempsey is best remembered by some for his rain-delay antics and entertaining crowds with his impersonations of Babe Ruth. Wayne Bryant. JCizzle Member. 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. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. Can he keep it up? They started chanting we want Dempsey. 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. Consider his "rain delay theater" a blend of both, and one of the more famous comedy bits in MLB history. View contact information: phones, addresses, emails and networks. But whatever, he's Rick Dempsey. 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. Nfl Teams. He signed with Cleveland and the Indians finished with an MLB-low 61 wins in 1987. Worked three years in Philly at Comcast covering the Phillies minor leagues and doing weekly TV spots. Stories about how he used to pull pranks on his teammates. He was the new Dodgers GM and I waited in his office at 2 p.m. His secretary told me he was in a meeting and that he would come out and get me when he was done. Dempsey may have gotten along with Martin and Martin with him but Martin was fired after the season and Dempsey found himself in the Double-A Southern League in each of the next two seasons. We ended up winning the World Series with what was the worst team, on paper, in history.. Thanks for sharing your memories, Enchanting Sunshine. The man who used to entertain the crowds at old Memorial Stadium with rain-delay impersonations of Babe Ruth pigeon-toeing around the bases, complete with ample gut padding and head-first slides . He wrote for the Long Beach Press Telegram and Orange County Register before joining The Times in 1982 and won an Associated Press Sports Editors award for investigative reporting on betting scams. [21] He then joined the New York Mets organisation, managing the Norfolk Tides in 1997 and 1998. He will enter 2006 as the bullpen coach, replacing Ellie Hendricks. I sat there on the bench and started one game. He talked about players and the things theyd done.. Dempsey was, too, when he earned a late-season call-up to the Minnesota Twins at age 19. [7] He became known for his exceptional ability to handle pitching staffs, his strong throwing arm, and for his agility behind home plate. Dempsey was a darn good catcher too, mostly with the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles. 7. It was a lot of fun because I was flexible enough to get around the field without pulling a muscle or breaking anything. Consider his "rain delay theater" a blend of both, and one of the more famous comedy bits in MLB history. The hard way. My father and I spent the majority of it eating in the machine room on the portch. After jury approval, Palmer was fined. His teammates and members of the opposing team would stand in the dugouts and applaud with the fans, especially when Dempsey concluded his routine with a mammoth belly-flop slide into home plate on the infield tarp, his momentum carrying him for yards, a rooster tail of rainwater behind him. Rick Dempsey's age is 73. The end, however, was near. I was skating to the ball and the organist started playing rain drops keep falling my head. [1] The secretary had gone home and it was dark outside. Think throwing a no-hitter got you a free pass in those days? 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. Best coffee city in the world? He retired in November 2020. Lunds favorite: During spring training one year, Dempsey said he broke into a room shared by three teammates and hid in the closet. Rick Dempsey and Rain Delays - The Times Have Changed roarfrom34.com/Baltim. Mike Scioscia and I got a lot of accolades for turning the staff around. I was in the outfield with Sparky during batting practice [with the Yankees] and he said one of these days Im going to run around the tarp and do a pantomime of Babe Ruth doing his home run, Dempsey said. Wild Bill Hagy gets the crowd goingOctober 1979With his signature look and humble backstory, Hagy, a local ice cream truck and cab driver, became a Baltimore sports icon for the way he famously led chants of O-R-I-O-L-E-S during the late '70s and early '80s from the upper deck at Memorial Stadium. Whenever I think of Dempsey as a player, two memories come to mind: his rain delay routine and his 1983 World Series MVP. I signed as a 145-pound catcher and two years later I was playing in the big leagues.. The son of two former vaudevillians, he had a knack for performance, and was particularly renowned for his Baseball Soliloquy in Pantomime. It was a comic turn hed occasionally perform during rain delays, stuffing his uniform with padding and prancing around a soggy tarpaulin performing exaggerated parodies of hitters, pitchers, umpires. [4] After two seasons in the minor leagues, he made his major league debut late in the 1969 season for the division winning Twins managed by Billy Martin, however he didn't qualify for the postseason roster. It ended when the second baseman and right fielder pulled up short on a fly ball between them. Blog Round-Up: There's Anger in the Air in Toronto, Flashback Friday: "Doubleheader Don" Aase, In Case You Were Wondering - Road Jerseys Edition. Rick Dempsey Autographed Signed Baltimore Orioles Jersey Inscribed MVP 83 Ws (JSA COA) BIG. Check resumes and CV, arrest records, social media profiles, public records, places of employment, publications, business records, photos and videos and news . Pictures of a book signing event at Barnes & Noble in Bel Air featuring former Baltimore . 5. It was tough for a while, Dempsey says. This is as much of an education for me as it is for them, he says. With that in mind, were taking stroll down memory lane to highlight the times in Orioles history that did just that.