Michael George Sadek (May 30, 1946 – January 20, 2021) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player who was a

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). Originally drafted by the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, he spent his entire major league career with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

. He was a backup throughout his eight-year major league career, which spanned the years and through . Sadek's nickname was "The Sheik" which was coined by Giants teammate Craig Robinson who, upon seeing the name

Mohammed Ahmed Sadek Mohammed Ahmed Sadek ( ar, محمد أحمد صادق; 14 October 1917 – 25 March 1991) was an Egyptian colonel general who served as defense minister under the rule of President Anwar Sadat. Education Sadek graduated from the Egypt's military ...

, declared to the catcher, "Hey, you’re a sheik." In the 1996 film '' The Fan'', Sadek served as

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

body double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...

in scenes where DeNiro's character was throwing a baseball.Sadek profile, Internet Movie Database. Accessed June 4, 2016. Sadek died on January 20, 2021, in

San Andreas, California San Andreas (Spanish for "St. Andrew") is an unincorporated census-designated place and the county seat of Calaveras County, California. The population was 2,783 at the 2010 census, up from 2,615 at the 2000 census. Like most towns in the regio ...

, at the age of 74.

References

Sources

1946 births 2021 deaths Major League Baseball catchers San Francisco Giants players St. Cloud Rox players Orlando Twins players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Amarillo Giants players Phoenix Giants players Baseball players from Minneapolis Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball players {{US-baseball-catcher-1940s-stub