Speaking of Centerfield Maz (see the post below) – he is cool enough to let us borrow entire articles form his site. We share not only our love of the Mets but of remembering the New York Giants. Unfortunately, this is a sad article:
THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2009
The Passing of New York Giants Dusty Rhodes
James Lamar Rhodes was Born May 13, 1927 in the cotton fieldsof Matthews, Alabama. He would make it to the big city, and become a hero playing a seven year career in the 1950s. The carefree young man missed many a curfew, because he loved drinking, night life & the ladies.
After six years in the minors,he came up to the NY Giants as a backup outfielder in 1952. Playing in only 67 games, he hit 10 HRs with 36 RBIs. He didn’t care if the pitcher was right or left hander, he just wanted to hit. He became a Leo Durocher favorite, ready anytime he was called upon. Rhodes once said “I could get out of a coffin & get base hitâ€.
In 1953,in 76 games he hit 11 HRs with 30 RBIs but only batted .233. In the 1954 World Championship season, Rhodes became a NY Giants legend, batting .341 in 82 games, 15 HRs, 50 RBIs, 7 doubles and 31 runs scored. He was often used as a pinch-hitter for Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, and came through with an incredible number of clutch hits, batting .333 as a pinch hitter. Irvin said Rhodes was the best natural hitter he ever saw.
In 1955 Rhodes enjoyed his last good season, hitting over .300 in 96 games. In 1956 he played in a career high 111 games but only hit .217 with 8 HRs & 33 RBIs. In 1957, he dropped to .205, and was the final batter in the history of the New York Giants, at the Polo Grounds on Sept. 29, 1957.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Rhodes, of Greek heritage, coached the Grecian baseball team. In 2007 Rhodes coached the University of North Florida’s baseball team.
Please add Centerfield Maz to the list of blogs you check out if you dug this one.
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@metspolice
Thanks for sharing this article. Hank Thompson was my great uncle (grandmother's brother).
The Dusty Rhodes who coached the Greek Baseball team at the Greek Olympics and is still the head coach at the University of North Florida is Jack Dusty Rhodes not Lamar James Rhodes who played with the New York Giants.