Richard Joseph Tracewski (born February 3, 1935) is a retired American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. During his active career, he was an infielder 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 ...

and Detroit Tigers of

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), ...

, appearing in 614 games over eight seasons (1962–69). He threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, stood tall and weighed . Tracewski was a four-time

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

champion as a player and coach. He participated in three Fall Classics as a player: two with Los Angeles (

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

, 1965) and one with Detroit (

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

). He was the starting second baseman in the Dodgers' four-game sweep of the Yankees in 1963, and also started four games at second during the seven-game 1965 classic. He also served as first-base coach for the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

in the

1984 World Series The 1984 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1984 season. The 81st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Detroit Tigers and the Nationa ...

. Tracewski's playing career began in the Brooklyn Dodgers' organization in 1953 and it took him almost a decade to reach the majors. After early and late-season trials with the 1962 Dodgers, Tracewski earned a spot as a

utility infielder In baseball, a utility player is a player who typically does not have the offensive abilities to justify a regular starting role on the team but is capable of playing more than one defensive position. These players are able to give the various s ...

, getting into more than 100 games in both and . He was the Dodgers' second baseman on the evening of September 9, 1965, when

Sandy Koufax Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...

tossed a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs. He was traded to the Tigers for Phil Regan on December 15, 1965, and spent the rest of his career in the Detroit organization. During his eight-season MLB playing tenure, he batted .213, with eight

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 91

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. His 262 hits (in 1,231 at bats) also included 31 doubles and nine triples. He went 4-for-30 (.133) in World Series play. Tracewski then managed in the Detroit farm system for two seasons (1970–71). In 1972, he began a 24-year stint as a coach for Detroit, longer than any other coach in Tiger history. Tracewski, on two occasions, filled in as the Tigers' interim manager. He managed the club for two games in 1979 (the Tigers winning both) before

Sparky Anderson George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (February 22, 1934 – November 4, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player, coach, and manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third ...

arrived, and from May 20, 1989, to early July while Anderson recovered from exhaustion. Tracewski retired from baseball after the season, as did his long-time boss, Anderson.

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tracewski, Dick 1935 births Living people American people of Polish descent Asheville Tourists players Atlanta Crackers players Bakersfield Dodgers players Baseball coaches from Pennsylvania Baseball players from Pennsylvania Cedar Rapids Raiders players Detroit Tigers coaches Detroit Tigers managers Detroit Tigers players Fort Worth Cats players Hornell Dodgers players Lakeland Flying Tigers managers Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball third base coaches Omaha Dodgers players People from Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Pueblo Dodgers players Sheboygan Indians players Spokane Indians players Thomasville Dodgers players American expatriate baseball players in Colombia American expatriate baseball players in Panama