Richard Alan Rhoden (born May 16, 1953) is a

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

and former

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) pitcher. During his 16-year baseball career, he played for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

(1974–1978), the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

(1979–1986), the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

(1987–1988), and the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

(1989).

Early years

Rhoden was born and raised in

Boynton Beach, Florida Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is situated about 57 miles north of Miami. The population was 68,217 at the 2010 census. In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 78,679 according to the University o ...

. Rhoden overcame a childhood bone disease,

osteomyelitis Osteomyelitis (OM) is an infection of bone. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The long bones of the arms and legs are most commonly involved in children e.g. the femur and humerus, while the ...

, and he wore a brace until age 12. He attended Seacrest High School in

Delray Beach, Florida Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles ...

, where he was the star pitcher for the school's baseball team. He was selected by the

in the first round of the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

amateur draft and played minor league baseball in

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

, and

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

until he was called up to the Major Leagues in 1974.

MLB career

Rick Rhoden (1976-07-13)(Gerald Ford Library) (cropped)

At the age of 21, Rhoden broke into the big leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 5, 1974. He was elected to the All-Star team twice (1976 with the Dodgers and 1986 with the Pirates) and won three

Silver Slugger Award The Silver Slugger Award has been awarded annually since 1980 to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. These voters co ...

s (1984–1986). His teams made it to the postseason twice during his career, both with the Dodgers in 1977 and 1978. In both of those years, the Dodgers reached the World Series against the

but lost in six games each year. Rick Rhoden pitching

Rhoden appeared in 413 major league games and was mostly a starting pitcher (380 games started). However, on April 17, 1983, he picked up his one and only major league save. Rhoden pitched the final 3 innings of a Pirates 7-0 victory over the Cubs, allowing 1 hit and zero runs. He saved the game for starting pitcher

John Candelaria John Robert Candelaria (born November 6, 1953) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. Nicknamed "The Candy Man", he played in MLB during the years 1975–1993 for eight teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates, California Angels, New York Mets, New Y ...

. Rhoden earned a reputation as an outstanding hitting pitcher. He had an eleven-game

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 plate ...

in 1984, one of the longest all-time for a pitcher. On June 11, 1988,

manager

Billy Martin Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...

made him the Yankees' starting designated hitter, and he went 0–1 with an RBI on a sacrifice fly. He batted seventh in the lineup, ahead of

Rafael Santana Rafael Francisco Santana de la Cruz (born January 31, 1958) is a former Major League Baseball shortstop who won a World Series ring with the 1986 New York Mets. He currently serves as the Dominican Republic scouting and player development superv ...

and

Joel Skinner Joel Patrick Skinner (born February 21, 1961) is an American professional baseball manager and coach, and former Major League catcher and manager. Skinner mostly has managed at the minor-league level, save for one half of one season at the helm ...

. He was the first pitcher to start a game at DH since the AL's adoption of the DH rule in 1973.

José Cruz José Cruz Dilan (born August 8, 1947) nicknamed Cheo, is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player, coach and baseball front office executive. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1970 to 1988, most prominently a ...

pinch hit for Rhoden in the Yankees' 8–6 victory over the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. Rhoden's final game was September 29, 1989, for the Houston Astros. In 413 career games, Rhoden compiled a 151–125 record, a 3.59 ERA, 1,419 strikeouts, and 1 save. Rhoden batted .238 with 9 home runs and 75 RBI. He also was an excellent fielding pitcher, compiling a career .989 fielding percentage.

Life after baseball: a second career in golf

Since retiring from baseball in 1989, Rhoden has spent a lot of time on the golf course. He has qualified for the

U.S. Senior Open The U.S. Senior Open is one of the five major championships in senior golf, introduced in 1980. It is administered by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and is recognized as a major championship by both the PGA Tour Champions and the Eu ...

and has become a dominant player on the Celebrity Players Tour. Rhoden has also played a number of Champions Tour events and has three career top 10 finishes: T-5 in the 2003

Allianz Championship :''There was also a tournament by the same name now called the Principal Charity Classic'' The Boca Raton Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions. Since 2007 Champions Tour, 2007, it has been played at the Old Course at Broken ...

, T-6 in the 2006 3M Championship, and T-8 in the 2005

Constellation Energy Classic The Constellation Energy Classic was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour from 1998 to 2006. It was last played in Hunt Valley, Maryland at the Hayfields Country Club. The purse for the 2006 tournament was US$1,750,000, with $255,000 going to ...

. His career earnings on the Champions Tour exceed $250,000. He became conditionally exempt for the 2006 season. Rhoden's 2007 season was scuttled due to neck surgery, forcing him into the Tour's 2007

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. He finished joint first place over the four-day event, earning him a spot into open qualifiers at all regular Champions Tour events in 2008. Rhoden is a regular competitor at the

American Century Championship The American Century Championship is a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada, United States. It is held during the second full week of July at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, at the shore of Lake Tahoe. The course is at the southeast edg ...

, the annual competition to determine the best golfers among American sports and entertainment celebrities. He won the tournament in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2008, and 2009, and he has a total of 22 top 10 finishes. The tournament, televised by NBC in July, is played at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in

Lake Tahoe, Nevada Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake ...

.Edgewood-Tahoe Golf Course - Celebrity Golf
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhoden, Rick Baseball players from Florida National League All-Stars Los Angeles Dodgers players Pittsburgh Pirates players New York Yankees players Houston Astros players Major League Baseball pitchers Daytona Beach Dodgers players El Paso Dodgers players Albuquerque Dukes players Portland Beavers players Osceola Astros players Silver Slugger Award winners American male golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Sportspeople from Boynton Beach, Florida Sportspeople from Delray Beach, Florida 1953 births Living people