2039.5 Historic News Bears: In Dusty We Trusty
Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:54 am
When San Fernando acquired Dusty Rhodes from Edmonton on June 10th it was a move that didnt seem to make a lot of sense. At the time San Fernando was dealing with injuries to its pitching staff and instead of trying to patch the rotation they went out and got an aging designated hitter. Well it turned out that GM Randy Weigand knew what he was doing as Rhodes put on a historic stretch in San Fernando that propelled him to the top of the all-time record books. Aided greatly by that 100 game stretch in the valley that saw him slash .410/.443/.550, Rhodes finished the season with a .388/.421/.512 line featuring 257 hits and 218 singles (both of which are BBA records). The .388 average was good for 8th all time, and the first time since 2003 that anyone had broken .380.
Wearing his trademark scowl in the clubhouse following the final game of the season which saw him break the hits record, Rhodes simply shrugged his shoulders and said "the team is paying me to go out there and hit, so the way I look at it I was just doing my job". First year manager Abe Colbert was far more effusive in his praise of the veteran hit maestro as he said "there are a lot of people out there who want to criticize Dusty because he doesnt take a walk or hit the ball into the gaps. What they dont realize is that a single is just as good as a walk and that our park is death to anyone who relies on gap power for their skill set. I have had some challenges this year but Dusty wasnt one of them, he is a true plug and play guy who knows his role and does it better than anyone in the history of the game".
Wearing his trademark scowl in the clubhouse following the final game of the season which saw him break the hits record, Rhodes simply shrugged his shoulders and said "the team is paying me to go out there and hit, so the way I look at it I was just doing my job". First year manager Abe Colbert was far more effusive in his praise of the veteran hit maestro as he said "there are a lot of people out there who want to criticize Dusty because he doesnt take a walk or hit the ball into the gaps. What they dont realize is that a single is just as good as a walk and that our park is death to anyone who relies on gap power for their skill set. I have had some challenges this year but Dusty wasnt one of them, he is a true plug and play guy who knows his role and does it better than anyone in the history of the game".