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."
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Baseball player
Career start | July 15, 1952 |
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Career end | September 27, 1959 |
batting side | Left |
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throwing side | Right |