Kurt Bevacqua

Career statistics | .236/.305/.327, 970 games, 379 as PH
Teams | Cleveland (1971-72), Royals (73-74), Pirates (74), Brewers (75-76), Rangers (77-78), Padres (79-80), Pirates (80-81), Padres (82-85)

How he was acquired I | Traded by the Rangers with Bill Fahey and Mike Hargrove to the Padres for Oscar Gamble, Dave Roberts and $300,000 on on Oct. 25, 1978.

How he left I | Traded by the Padres with a player to be named later to the Pirates for Rick Lancellotti and Luis Salazar on Aug. 5, 1980.

Career year (1977) 5 home runs, 28 RBIs, .333 batting average, .365 on-base percentage, .604 slugging percentage in 104 plate appearances.

BAZOOKA BUMBLE GUM BLOWING CHAMPION | 1975



How he was acquired II | Signed as a free agent with the Padres on April 2, 1982.

How he left II | Released by the Padres on March 24, 1986.

Players most similar to | Bevacqua ranked fourth on Ray Robinson’s list of the 12 best bench jockeys of all time. The others were Billy Martin, Earl Weaver, Bill Rigney, Leo Durocher, Eddie Stanky, Jimmy Dykes, Frankie Frisch, Lefty Gomez, Whitey Ford, John McGraw and Dizzy Dean.

THE LASORDA RANT | 1982



The Kurt Bevacqua Library
• Prayer for Expansion, Part 1 | Cardboard Gods (March 27, 2007)
• Prayer for Expansion, Part 2 | Cardboard Gods (March 28, 2007)
• Where have you gone, Kurt Bevacqua? | MLB.com (Aug. 15, 2002)
• Pinch-Hitter’s Pinch-Hitter | Los Angeles Times (March 27, 1985)

Ozzie Smith

Ozzie Smith is the greatest fielding shortstop of all time, and he began establishing that claim in his four seasons in San Diego.

San Diego is where Smith made his greatest play — on a ground ball up the middle by Atlanta’s Jeff Burroughs, just 10 games into his rookie season. “He hit a ball back up the middle that everybody thought was going into center field,” Smith said. “I instinctively broke to my left and dove behind second. As I was in the air, the ball took a bad hop and caromed behind me, but I was able to catch it with my bare hand. I hit the ground, bounced back up and threw Burroughs out at first.”

San Diego is where Smith first performed his famous back flip, on the last day of the season in 1978, at the urging of Padres promotion director Andy Strasberg.

San Diego is where Smith should have beat out Bob Horner (who played just 89 games) for the Rookie of the Year award and Larry Bowa for the Gold Glove award.

San Diego is where Smith won the first two of his 13 Gold Glove awards, where he led the National League in defensive WAR in 1980 and set the single-season record for most assists by a shortstop (621).

San Diego is where Smith was first called “The Wizard of Oz,” by the Yuma (Ariz.) Daily Sun in a March 1981 feature story.

San Diego is where it all began for Ozzie Smith.
— Kevin Brewer



Career statistics | .262/.337/.328, 580 stolen bases
Teams | Padres (1978-81) Cardinals (82-96)

How he was acquired | Drafted by the Padres in the fourth round of the 1977 amateur draft.

How he was lost | Traded by the Padres with Steve Mura to the Cardinals for Garry Templeton and Sixto Lezcano on Dec. 10, 1981 — the worst trade in franchise history.

Player most similar to | Luis Aparicio
Career year (1987) 0 home runs, 75 RBIs, .303 batting average, .392 on-base percentage, .383 slugging percentage, 104 runs, 40 doubles, 43 stolen bases.

Resume
• Inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame (2002)
• Top 10 in MVP voting (1987)
• 15-time All-Star (1981-92, 94-96)
• 13 Gold Glove awards (1980-92)
• 1985 NLCS MVP