Rick Dempsey

Rick Dempsey is an American former professional baseball player, born John Rikard Dempsey on September 13, 1949, who played 24 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1992. He was chosen by the Minnesota Twins in the fifteenth round of the 1967 draft, was traded to the New York Yankees in 1972 as a reserve to Thurman Munson, and from 1976 became the starting catcher of the Baltimore Orioles, where he played ten years. He was known as one of the best defensive catchers of his era, with a strong throwing arm and an exceptional ability to handle pitching staffs, and he led American League catchers twice in fielding percentage. He was a member of the 1983 World Series winning team with the Orioles, winning the World Series Most Valuable Player Award, and he won another title in 1988 as a backup catcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 1997 and later managed in the minor leagues and worked as an Orioles coach and broadcaster.