Gene Tenace
Gene Tenace | ||
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Runs batted in | 674 | |
Teams | ||
As player
As manager | ||
Career highlights and awards | ||
Fury Gene Tenace (/ˈtɛnɪs/; born Fiore Gino Tenacci; October 10, 1946), better known as Gene Tenace, is an American former professional baseball player and coach.[1] He played as a catcher and first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1969 through 1983, most notably as a member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive World Series championships between 1972 and 1974.
Tenace was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics from
After his playing days ended, Tenace coached for several organizations, most notably for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Playing career
Oakland Athletics (1969–76)
Tenace was selected in
He continued to play the next two years as the third-string catcher before serving as Dave Duncan's backup in 1971.[9] Tenace entered the 1972 season backing up Duncan, but was given a chance to show his abilities by being made the team's regular catcher in the post-season. Tenace took full advantage of this opportunity, excelling in the 1972 playoffs and World Series. In the 1972 American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers, he drove in the clinching run in Oakland's 2–1 victory in Game 5; it was his only hit of the series.[10] Tenace's heroics made up for an error in Game 4 of the series when he had to play second base (for the first time since high school) in the late innings due to regular second baseman Dick Green getting hurt and backup second baseman Ted Kubiak having to play shortstop due to Bert Campaneris being suspended. Tenace dropped a throw from Sal Bando on a potential game-ending double play attempt in the bottom of the 10th which kept the inning alive as the Tigers eventually won.
He put himself in the spotlight once again in Game 1 of the 1972 World Series when the Athletics faced the Cincinnati Reds. He became the first player to hit home runs in his first two World Series at bats and drove in all three runs in the A's 3–2 victory. Prior to Tenace's feat, only eight other players had homered in their first World Series at bat.[11] In Game 4, the A's were losing 2–1, with their only run to that point coming on Tenace's solo home run.[12] A ninth-inning one-out rally consisting of four singles, with Tenace's the second and the rest coming from pinch hitters, won the game against Cincinnati's ace relief pitcher, Clay Carroll. He hit a three-run home run in the A's Game 5 loss.[13] Before Game 6 of the 1972 Series, he was the target of a death threat.[14] In Game 7, he was once again the hero, driving in two runs in a 3–2 victory for Oakland.[15] In total, he went 8-for-23 in the Series, with four home runs and 9 RBI to earn the World Series Most Valuable Player Award.[10][16]
Tenace's heroics helped him earn a full-time job in Oakland's lineup. He served as the team's starting
As a member of the A's, Tenace hit what turned out to be the final home run in the history of Kansas City's
San Diego Padres (1977–80)
Tenace was one of several Athletics who became free agents after the 1976 season and participated in a newly created re-entry draft, in which teams acquired the rights to negotiate with veteran free agents. Tenace and teammate Rollie Fingers were the first players from that draft to sign, with both joining the San Diego Padres in December of that year.[20] In four years as a starter with the Padres, his power numbers dropped in part due to the cavernous dimensions of San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, only reaching 20 home runs once; but his batting eye remained, recording three more seasons of 100 walks, with a career best of 125 in 1977. In 1979, Tenace led National League catchers with a .998 fielding percentage, committing only one error in 94 games.[21] He recorded an on-base percentage of over .390 in each of his years in San Diego, and finished third in the National League in that department in three consecutive years.[1]
On August 1, 1979, Tenace was part of a bench-clearing brawl against the Atlanta Braves. After hitting a home run off of pitcher Eddie Solomon, he charged the mound when Solomon apparently said something to him, and the benches cleared. No punches were thrown, and the Braves won 5–4.[22]
St. Louis Cardinals (1981–82)
After the 1980 season, Tenace, Fingers, Bob Shirley, and Bob Geren joined the St. Louis Cardinals in a trade for Terry Kennedy and six minor league players.[20] In his two years in St. Louis, Tenace primarily played against left-handed pitchers, platooning with Darrell Porter. As a member of the Cardinals team he won the 1982 World Series, giving him four World Series rings.[23]
Pittsburgh Pirates (1983)
Tenace played his final season as a utility player and pinch-hitter, appearing in 53 games and batting just .177 with 6 RBI for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1983.[1] He retired after being released the following year in spring training.
Coaching career
Tenace became a coach after retiring as a player. He was touted as a possible managerial candidate during his later years. The
Managerial record
Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
TOR | 1991 | 33 | 19 | 14 | .576 | interim | – | – | – | – |
Total | 33 | 19 | 14 | .576 | 0 | 0 | – |
Hitting approach
Tenace advocates a more aggressive approach to hitting. Under his guidance, hitters spend less time working the count and more time preparing to hit. He stresses the mental part of hitting, such as the mental preparation for what a pitcher will do, rather than just the physical aspect.[30] Under Tenace, the philosophy of hitting can be described as "Grip It And Rip It" and more of an old school approach to hitting.[31]
During the 2008 season, prior to the hiring of Gaston, the Blue Jays had a record of 35–39. Once Gaston and his coaches took over the Blue Jays went 51–37 to finish with an 86–76 record. The offensive improvements under Gaston were one of the reasons for the resurgence and as the hitting coach, Tenace was credited with rejuvenating a stagnant offense. Adam Lind commented: "The thing is, a lot of people can teach you how to hit, but not a lot of people can teach you how to hit in the big leagues", referring to the major league experience of Gaston and Tenace.[32] Blue Jays' former center fielder Vernon Wells has said he likes the approach to hitting that Tenace teaches: "One thing Gene talks about is having that approach mentally when you go up there, in your mind you already guarantee yourself that one run on third, but you want to do more than that. Gene always says that first runner is a gimme, you should be able to come through in pretty much every situation like that. And then you try to do more damage than just that one run".
Career statistics
In a 15-year major league career, Tenace played in 1,555
In his book, The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, baseball historian Bill James ranked Tenace 23rd all-time among major league catchers.[35] Chuck Rosciam, a baseball historian and a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, believes that Tenace deserves to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Using six offensive measures–batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs batted in, runs created and win shares, all league-era adjusted—Rosciam ranks Tenace sixth offensively behind Mickey Cochrane, Mike Piazza, Bill Dickey, Gabby Hartnett and Joe Torre among catchers. Among major league catchers, he is fourth overall in career on-base percentage (OBP) behind Mickey Cochrane, Wally Schang and Joe Mauer.[36] He is tied with Johnny Bench and Joe Torre for third in career on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) behind only Roy Campanella and Yogi Berra.[37]
Notable achievements
- AL All-Star (1975)
- 1972 World SeriesMVP
- 2-time League Bases on Balls Leader (1974/AL & 1977/NL)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 5 (1973–1976 & 1979)
- Caught Vida Blue's no-hitter on September 21, 1970[38]
- Won four World Series as a player with the Oakland Athletics (1972, 1973 & 1974) and the St. Louis Cardinals (1982)
- Won two World Series as a coach with the Toronto Blue Jays (1992 & 1993)
Appearances in other media
- Tenace did a voice cameo in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Regarding Margie" in 2006.
- Tenace appeared in a television commercial for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2008.
- Tenace was mentioned by sportscaster Champ Kind in the party scene in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy while describing his signature catchphrase. "Gene Tenace at the plate, and Whammmy!"
- Tenace is portrayed on one of the Floodwall Murals in Portsmouth, Ohio honoring local Major League Baseball players.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Gene Tenace". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ "Baseball Reference catcher WAR ranking". Baseball Reference.com.
- ^ Jaffe, Jay (April 1, 2020). "Remembering Jimmy Wynn, the Toy Cannon (1942-2020)". FanGraphs. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- ^ Simon, Andrew (January 16, 2019). "Best low batting average players MLB history". MLB.com. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- Fangraphs.com.
- ^ "Post-Season World Series MVP Awards & All-Star Game MVP Award Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ "May 29, 1969 Tigers-Athletics box score". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. May 29, 1969. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ "June 6, 1969 Athletics-Tigers box score". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. June 6, 1969. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ "1971 Oakland Athletics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ a b "Gene Tenace post-season statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ Murray, Jim (January 1973). How The A's Curbed the Big Red Machine. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help) [dead link] - ^ "1972 World Series Game 4 box score". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ "1972 World Series Game 5 box score". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ Fimrite, Ron (April 2, 1973). "A Hero Finds There's No One For Tenace". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
- ^ "1972 World Series Game 7 box score". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ Reiter, Ben (July 2, 2007). "Video". Sports Illustrated. CNN. Archived from the original on April 4, 2008. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
- ^ "1974 American League Batting Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ "1975 American League Most Valuable Player Award balloting". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ "1975 All-Star Game". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ a b "Gene Tenace Trades and Transactions". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ "1979 National League Fielding Leaders". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ Brown, Frank (August 2, 1979). "Foster sidelined, but his bat still assisting Reds". The Lewiston Evening Journal. Associated Press. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
- ^ "1982 World Series". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
- ^ "The Official Site of the Houston Astros: History: Astros All-Time Coaches". Houston Astros. MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2007.
- ^ "The Official Site of the Toronto Blue Jays: History: Blue Jays All-Time Coaches". Toronto Blue Jays. MLB.com. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2007.
- ^ "Jays' Manager is Hospitalized". The New York Times. August 22, 1991. Retrieved May 26, 2007.
- ^ "Cardinals make staff additions and promotions at minor league and scouting levels". St. Louis Cardinals. MLB.com. December 12, 2006. Archived from the original on May 17, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2007.
- ^ Bastian, Jordan (June 20, 2008). "Gibbons out; Gaston returns to Jays". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on June 22, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
- ^ "Gaston to manage Blue Jays one more year". Toronto Star. October 30, 2009. Retrieved November 1, 2009.
- ^ Laurila, David (October 26, 2008). "Prospectus Q & A: Gene Tenace". Baseball Prospectus. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
- ^ Rutsey, Mike (June 23, 2008). "Blue Jays grip it and rip it". Canoe.com. Sun Media. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
- ^ Kelly, Malcolm (July 29, 2008). "Lind finds comfort in a big league approach". CBC Sports. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
- ^ Lowest Batting Average While Leading the League in Walks. November 1988. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help) [dead link] - ^ Lowest Batting Average With .400 On Base Percentage. June 2004. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
{{cite book}}
:|work=
ignored (help) [dead link] - ISBN 0-684-80697-5.
- ^ Rosciam, Chuck. "On Base Percentage (Top 50 Catchers)". tripod.com. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- ^ Elliott, Bob (September 8, 2008). "According to a baseball historian, Blue Jays hitting coach and former catcher Gene Tenace deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on February 7, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
- ^ "September 21, 1970 Twins-Athletics box score". Retrosheet. September 21, 1970. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
- Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Baseball Evolution Hall of Fame
- Baseball Gauge
- Gene Tenace - Baseballbiography.com
- Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers
- Retrosheet
- Venezuelan Professional Baseball League
- Gene Tenace at IMDb