Books and articles about Rick Rhoden

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Rhoden overcame childhood osteomyelitis (a bone disease; he wore a brace until he was 12, and had surgery to remove part of his left knee so it would not outgrow his right) and serious shoulder surgery in 1979 to become one of the more dependable pitchers of the 1980s. An All-Star in his rookie 1976 season (12-3) with the Dodgers, he followed with a 16-10 mark. In April 1979, he was traded to Pittsburgh for Jerry Reuss, but was disabled for all but one game. An intelligent, fastball-slider pitcher, from 1982 through 1986 he went 63-63, averaging 236 innings a year. He led the Pirates in wins in 1981 (nine), 1984 (14), and 1986 (15), and the Yankees in 1987 (16). An all-around athlete, he committed only six errors in his first 14 seasons, and won three NL Silver Slugger awards for pitchers in 1984-86, compiling a .239 NL batting average. (ME)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » May 29, 1977: Johnny Bench's 1st-inning grand slam off Rick Rhoden jump starts the Reds to a 8–1 win over the Dodgers. » May 15, 1982: Pirate pitcher Rick Rhoden makes his 12–9 win over the Reds a little easier when he doubles and homers in the Bucs' 9-run 3rd inning. Johnny Ray drives in five runs in the big inning. The Reds make it close with eight runs in the 8th and 9th. » June 26, 1984: Pirates Jason Thompson hits a pair of home runs in each game of a doubleheader split with the Cubs. The Pirates take the opener, 9–0 behind Rick Rhoden's four hitter, and lose the nitecap, 9–8. » April 28, 1985: Darryl Strawberry hits a grand slam in the first inning at New York but it takes another five hours before the Mets score again. Mookie Wilson scores from 3B when Clint Hurdle's grounder went through the legs of Pittsburgh first baseman Jason Thompson for an error in the 18th inning to give the Mets a 5-4 victory in a game that lasts five hours 21 minutes. Lee Tunnell, the Bucs 7th pitcher, takes the loss. A defensive gem by Rusty Staub, robs the Pirates of at least one run in the top of the 18th. Staub, 41, who weighs 230 is pressed into service when the Mets ran out of players in the 12th inning. Staub played right field when right-handed batters came up and left field when left-handed hitters batted. He was playing right in the top of the 18th. With Tunnell on second and two out, pinch hitter Rick Rhoden hits a looping fly ball down the RF line and Staub makes a running catch to save a run. In the bottom of the 18th Gary Carter draws a walk and Wilson, running for him, goes to third on Strawberry's single to right. When Hurdle's grounder went through Thompson, it ends the longest game in three years. Through one stretch in the marathon, in which 43 players were used, Pirate pitchers hold the Mets hitless for 10 innings. » May 25, 1985: Rick Rhoden wins his 100th and Bill Almon hits his 1st grand slam as the Pirates thump the Braves, 8–2. » November 24, 1986: In yet another unwise trade of prospects for aging veterans, the Yankees deal pitchers Brian Fisher, Doug Drabek, and Logan Easley to the Pirates for pitchers Rick Rhoden, Cecilio Guante, and Pat Clements. Drabek will win the NL Cy Young Award for Pittsburgh in 1990. » June 28, 1987: Don Baylor moves ahead of Ron Hunt on the all-time hit-by-pitch list when the Yankees Rick Rhoden plunks him during a 6–2 loss to the Red Sox. It is the 244th time that Baylor has been hit by the pitch. He'll end with 267, putting him 3rd on the list behind turn-of-the-century star Hughie Jennings. » April 5, 1988: Before 55,802 at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees score six runs off Frank Viola in five innings to top the Twins, 8–0. Rick Rhoden allows three hits in nine innings for the win. Roberto Kelly and Willie Randolph each have three hits, while Mike Pagliarulo and Rickey Henderson belt homers. » June 11, 1988: Batting seventh as the Yankees DH, ahead of Rafael Santana and Joel Skinner, pitcher Rick Rhoden hits a sacrifice fly in New York's 8–6 win over Baltimore. He is the first pitcher to start a game as a DH since the rule was adopted in 1973. Later, Jose Cruz replaces Rhoden as the DH.