Dusty Rhodes Baseball player

James Lamar "Dusty" Rhodes (May 13, 1927 – June 17, 2009) was an outfielder with a 7 year career from 1952–1957, 1959. He played for the Giants franchise of the National League (1952-57 in New York, 1959 in San Francisco).Of him, manager Leo Durocher said "a buffoon is a drunk on a hitting spree". In the 1954 season, he was often used as a pinch-hitter for Monte Irvin, and came through with an incredible number of clutch hits.In the first game of the 1954 World Series, Rhodes had a pinch hit home run in the bottom of the tenth inning off Bob Lemon to win the game. The next day he delivered a pinch hit single in the fifth inning and then remained in the game to play left field. In the seventh inning he hit a homer off Early Wynn to help ensure the victory.Roy Campanella, the Brooklyn Dodger catcher, said of Durocher and his action of pinch-hitting Rhodes: "If they have to pinch hit Rhodes for Irvin, they must be hurting." Willie Mays'>Willie Mays mocked this assumption in his autobiography. Mays considered Rhodes to be a "fabulous hitter," as did Durocher, who wrote in his autobiography, ". . . boy could he hit!", while commenting on Rhodes atrocious fielding abilities.After his baseball career, Rhodes worked for a friend on a tug boat for 25 years, a job which he said he loved. When asked why his career was so short, Rhodes said, "After Durocher left the Giants, baseball wasn't fun anymore."

Personal facts

Alias (AKA)Rhodes James Lamar
Birth dateMay 13, 1927
Date of deathJune 17, 2009
Place of death
Nevada , Las Vegas Valley

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Baseball player

Career startJuly 15, 1952
Career endSeptember 27, 1959
batting sideLeft
position
Outfielder
teams
San Francisco Giants
throwing sideRight

Dusty Rhodes on Wikipedia