Dick Green keeps us in the AL and brings back the action shot. Here he
turns the pivot as Ben Oglivie of Boston
slides in a tad late. By the time this card came out Dick had retired – again –
and then un-retired because new Oakland
manager Al Dark talked him into playing again. Good thing, too, because Dick’s
glove did some Series magic against the Dodgers. But back in ’73 things were both good and
bad for Dick. Pretty much healed from his ’72 back injury that cost him almost the whole
season, he was again the regular second baseman. At least until he was benched
early in the season. And not all the time even when he wasn’t. ’73 was the year
Charlie O turned second into Bizzaro World when on the road he had a pinch
hitter hit for Dick his first at bat, before he hit the field. Then, depending
on the situation, he’d get pinched for on his next at bat. That went on for a
little bit, frustrating Dick and manager Dick Williams, and kept Green’s at
bats pretty low. Add that to a thriving moving business back in Rapid City and no wonder
he wanted to retire. But there were some good moments also. After the benching
and once in the regular line-up and allowed to hit, Dick pulled his average up
to one of his best for a full season. Plus he had a big grand slam against the
Angels during the playoff run. And then another Series championship. Tough call
I guess.
Dick Green was born in Iowa and by the time he hit high school
relocated to South Dakota, where he was a star in the big three sports. After
some summer ball following his senior year he was signed by Kansas City and went to D ball where he didn’t
hit too well but led league shortstops in fielding. I have read from at least
one source that he played for the Yankees in the minors but I have found no
evidence of that (maybe winter ball?). In ’61 he picked up his offense nicely
when he moved to B ball and third base and hit .273 with 64 RBI’s. He then had a
nice run in Double A in '62 but missed a bunch of the season for military duty. Then
in ’63 after a big spring he went down to Triple A to work on a new position –
second base – since Ed Charles was becoming established up top at third. After
a decent season power-wise – 15 homers and 65 RBI’s – and a pretty good job in
the fielding transition he came up in September for good.
In ’63 KC had an infield that could hit but not much in the
way of pitching or outfielders. Green put in more time at shortstop than second
in his short stay that Fall. In ’64 incumbent second baseman Jerry Lumpe was
traded to Detroit
and Dick got the starting job and hit much better than expected. In ’65 he got
a new DP partner in Bert Campaneris and did another nice job in the field
though his strikeouts ratcheted up and his average went south by 30 points. He
had hurt his leg that season which hampered his stroke although he did peak
career-wise with 15 homers. After his average revived a bit in ’66 and he led
the team in RBI’s, ’67 would get weird. Dick put in as much time at third base
as at second as between military duty, injuries, and the transition from
Charles to Sal Bando at third base the infield was sort of a mess most of the season.
That, plus an average that tanked to below .200 had him out of sorts. His high
point that season was a couple three-run homers against Detroit that August. Then in ’68 while he
pulled his average up he basically split starting time at second with John
Donaldson and Ted Kubiak. But expansion helped as Donaldson went to Seattle, Dick re-claimed
second, and he put together his best offensive season in '69. He was being recognized
for his defensive prowess and the team was rapidly improving. Oakland would continue doing so in ’70 but
Dick wouldn’t as he more than failed to post a good follow-up season and
crashed and burned at the plate with a year even worse than his ’67. After
that season he retired for the first time but Dick Williams coaxed him back to Oakland; his ’71 was much better; and his boys made the playoffs for the first time in
many years. Then came the back injury from which he returned just in time for
the post-season. After retirement number two he came back in ’74, missed six
weeks with a broken heel, returned to the Series, and set a couple fielding
records for DP’s in a game – three – and in a five-game Series – six. By then a
new kid named Phil Garner was ready to take over at second and Dick retired,
this time for good. He put up a .240 average and hit .155 in 36 post-season
games. Defensively he resides in the top 100 for putouts, double plays, and fielding percentage at second base.
After playing Green returned to South Dakota and the moving business
full-time. He did that for over 20 years and then sold his interest to his
partner in ’97. He continues to reside there.
We get the defensive props for Dick in the star bullets. I
do not believe he ever turned the horse hobby into a professional gig but in
that part of the country I sure hope they had long coats.
June is over so it’s time to finish up music news for that
month. On June 29, 1973 the first rendition of Deep Purple officially came to
an end as vocalist Ian Gillan and guitarist Roger Glover split the band. On the
30th we get two new Number Ones. In the US George Harrison’s “Give
Me Love” replaces former band-mate Paul McCartney’s “Band on the Run.” In the
UK Slade’s new chart topper is “Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me.”
Their songs all sounded pretty much the same to me. In ’74 the charts also
showed two new Number Ones on the 29th. “Sundown” by mellow Canadian
guy Gordon Lightfoot took over the top spot in the States. In the UK it was “She”
by Charles Axnavour, another song I never heard of until researching this blog.
Think of something along the lines of the elder Julio Iglesias.
A guy mentioned above helps in the hook-up:
1. Green and Ted Kubiak ’67 to ’69 and ’72 to ’74 A’s;
2. Kubiak and Dave May ’70 to ’71 Brewers;
3. May and Billy Champion ’73 to ’76 Brewers.
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