Comments on: Joe Rudi

By: catfish326

catfish326 — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:17:19 +0000

The first baseball card pack I ever had contained the 1975 Joe Rudi. I recall looking over this single pack of cards for hours on end. (The only other card I remember in that pack was Teddy Martinez with the Mets. I started to hate Teddy Martinez because the dub showed up again in my second pack I purchased.) But the glaring vibrant yellow and kelly green of the Rudi card made me love those 70′s A’s.

I do think Rudi was underrated. Defensively, he made some great grabs in the ’74 series as well. Solid, excellent ballplayer and a major key to the A’s run in the ’70′s.

By: granthartisgod

granthartisgod — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:25:43 +0000

Rickey’s arrival was extremely gratifying. Needless to say, Rickey quickly became my favorite, and he remains my favorite to this day.

Forgot to mention that the seeming ubiquitousness of the Oakland Coliseum in those late ’70s cards probably played a part in me being seduced into A’s fandom. When dad took me to Oakland in 1980 (Mickey Klutts hit a walk-off tater off Ron Guidry in my first-ever in-person game), it felt like I’d made it home, in some strange, over-romanticized way.

I’ve never forgiven, and never will forgive, Al Davis for that monstrosity in center field.

Congrats on the pub in the NYT, by the way. The big time beckons!

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:55:24 +0000

granthartisgod:

That’s a great story about how you became an A’s fan. Honorable, too, considering that jumping on the A’s bandwagon at that time was about as far from front-running as a person could get. Must have been very gratifying when Rickey came along.

By: granthartisgod

granthartisgod — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:04:42 +0000

topps is responsible for making me an A’s fan. growing up in new mexico, i wasn’t beholden to any regional allegiances (not in baseball, anyway — in football it was either the cowboys or broncos … though when i was old enough to make up my mind, i became a Pats fan — and this is when they sucked).

i first started getting into baseball in 1977, and while i pulled for the Yankees in the series, something kept me from becoming a full-fledged NY fan (thank jebus). the albuquerque dukes were a dodgers affiliate, and so a lot of people around here were dodger fans, but i couldn’t get with that either.

it took my friend brock’s baseball card collection to lead me to the team that would be an obsession throughout the rest of my formative years. those 1978 A’s cards were mesmerizing … the colors, the elegant cursive script … I’d stare at them transfixed for hours. and when my best friend’s brother pulled out Statis-Pro Baseball and asked me to play, I chose the A’s. for better or worse, my fate was sealed.

By: bobhendley

bobhendley — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:30:09 +0000

Never hated the A’s as much as I should have for beating my Bums in ’74. I had always admired Campy and then the style of the early ’70s team. Must be something to have had them as the team that you fell in love with as a kid. For me, is was the early ’60s Dodgers.

By: seaver41

seaver41 — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:18:16 +0000

i always liked the way rudi played the outfield. with his mustache and straightforward name, he seemed like a hardworking blue-collar kind of guy who was difficult not to appreciate.

palmer even got to hit some home runs before the dh took over. it still bothers me greatly that he attempted that ridiculous comeback.

By: gedmaniac

gedmaniac — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:11:50 +0000

I was five the year we had Joe Rudi. I just remember singing “Joe Joe Rudi” to the Roto-Rooter jingle.

By: Ennui Willie Keeler

Ennui Willie Keeler — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:35:13 +0000

Rudi was superfluous, but the Red Sox bullpen ace at the time was Jim WIlloughby. I never read that Mustache Cap entry before. Hilarious.

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:02:58 +0000

stevechasey:
Thanks for the kind words. I can’t wait for opening day either, especially since my college hoops bracket has already experienced its annual shredding.

wisconsinteams:
“Around our neighborhood, the 1975 set was heavily scoffed at, mostly because there was a complete dearth of action photos in the series.”

I can totally see that, but I think since it was my first set this somehow added to the set’s ability to get under my skin. Those wax figure poses in the 1975 cards have more resonance for me than any other photos from later years, and the few action shots in ’75 stood out very memorably as well, even (or especially) the odd action shots (see my post on Rudy Meoli of the Angels).

spudrph:
Tha Fingers-Rudi sale would have helped. I don’t know where Rudi would have even fit into the lineup (didn’t we already have a billion talented outfielders then?) but Fingers would have shored up a glaring deficiency. Perhaps the deal was killed because it would have put the Red Sox over the Mustache Cap (see my post on Angel Rick Miller for explanation of that term).

livnlegend:
Thanks very much for chiming in! I appreciate it.

By: sb1902

sb1902 — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:01:39 +0000

“Rudi was so underrated that he was overrated. ”

I feel the same way about Rudi (The Rusty Greer Syndrome). I was puzzled as a kid as to why he was such a star. Granted, at the time I didn’t realize how depressed offensive numbers where the early ’70s, but even through OPS+ glasses, he seems to have been a bit overrated. Looking at him now, he was probably better than my childhood self thought, but runner-up in the MVP race seems a bit too much.

He hasn’t played in 27 years and I’m not sure what to think of him. Bill James I am not.