1976 Topps #88 - Duffy Dyer

• Duffy Dyer was born in Ohio but his family later moved to Arizona. He played at Cortez High School in Phoenix and then played his college baseball at Arizona State University and was a first round pick of the New York Mets in 1966. He didn't do so well in the minors from 1966-1968, but was called up for a cup of coffee at the end of 1968 and played in one game. Duffy started the 1969 season in AAA Tidewater but put up great stats (.313 BA, .515 SA, 1.000 fielding pct) and was called up to the Mets. He played in 29 games in 1969 and had his best batting average (.257).

• Dyer was a backup catcher for the Mets from 1969-1974. He was traded to the Pirates after the 1974 season for Gene Clines. Duffy was a great defensive catcher, but the Mets already had one of those guys (Jerry Grote).

• He spent the 1974-1978 seasons as the backup catcher for the Pirates. His best year for the Pirates was 1977 when he played in 94 games, batted .241, and had a .370 OBP. He was granted free agency after the 1978 season and signed with the Montreal Expos.

• Duffy played in only 28 games in 1979 -- Gary Carter was pretty durable and didn't take many days off. Dyer was traded to the Detroit Tigers after the '79 season for Jerry Manuel.

• He batted .185 in 48 games for the Tigers in 1980. He played in two games in 1981 and then was released on May 15, 1981.

• After his playing career Duffy did some minor league managing (1984-1988, 1999-2000, 2005). He also did some coaching at the major league level--he was a bullpen coach (Minnesota 1983), third base coach (Milwaukee 1989-1995), and coached for the Oakland A's from 1996-1998). In 2007 Dyer was named the minor league catching coordinator for the San Diego Padres.

• He once explained to a group of Little Leaguers that his nickname came from the popular radio show Duffy's Tavern. His mother had been listening to the show when she went into labor, and asked "How's Duffy?" after giving birth.