Ron Cey was a third baseman for the LA Dodgers (1971-1982), Chicago Cubs (1983-1986), and Oakland A's (1987). Ron was drafted by the New York Mets in 1966 but he didn't sign. Cey was drafted by the Dodgers in 1968. He played in the minors from 1968-1972 and batted over .300 with 20 or more homers in each season. Ron struck out in his only two at bats for the Dodgers in 1971. He got another late season look in 1972 and batted .270 in 37 at bats.
The Dodgers decided to make Cey the full-time third baseman in 1973. Ron finished sixth in NL Rookie of the Year voting as he batted .245 wiht 15 homers in 152 games.
From 1974-1979 Cey made the NL All Star team each season even as he was overshadowed in the media by fellow third basemen Mike Schmidt and Pete Rose. In 1974 Ron batted .262 with 18 HR and 97 RBI. He started the 1974 All Star Game at third base and was 1 for 2 with a 2-run double. Cey batted .313 in the NLCS and .176 in the World Series.
In 1975 Ron started a string of seasons in which he hit 20 or more homers every year (except the 1981 strike year) from 1975-1985. He batted .283 with 25 HR and 101 RBI in 1975. Cey started at 3B for the NL in the All Star game and was 1 for 2. In 1976 Ron batted .277 with 23 HR and 80 RBI. He played in the late innings of the All Star game but didn't get to the plate.
Cey had career highs in home runs (30) and RBI (110), batted .241, and was 8th in NL MVP voting in 1977. He started at third base in the All Star game and was 0 for 2 with a walk. Ron batted .308 in the NLCS and .190 in the World Series. Why do the Experts Keep Under-Rating Ron Cey? - August 1977 Baseball Digest.
In 1978 Ron batted .270 with 23 HR and 80 RBI. He was 0 for 1 in the All Star Game. Cey batted .313 with a home run in the NLCS and .286 with a home run in the World Series. Ron was an All Star for the last time in 1979 (he was 0 for 1 with a walk) and batted .281 with 28 HR and 81 RBI. Cey batted .254 with 28 HR and 77 RBI in 1980.
The Dodgers won the World Championship in 1981. Cey was the co-MVP of the World Series along with Steve Yeager and Pedro Guerrero. During the strike-shortened season Ron batted .288 with 13 HR and 50 RBI. He batted .278 in the NLCS and .350 in the World Series. Cey was out with an injury for the last three weeks of the 1981 season and also missed the Divison Series against Houston.
Ron's last season with the Dodgers was 1982. He batted .254 with 24 HR and 79 RBI. After the 1982 season Cey was traded to the Chicago Cubs for a minor leaguer and Vance Lovelace. I hadn't realized that the Dodgers didn't get a whole lot for Mr. Cey. Ron batted .275 with 24 HR and 90 RBI for the Cubs in 1983.
Cey made it to the postseason again in 1984 when the Cubs won the NL East. He batted .240 with 25 HR and 97 RBI during the regular season, but he batted only .158 in the NLCS. In 1985 Ron started to show his age and his stats started to fall off. He batted .232 with 22 HR and 63 RBI in '85. Ron Cey of Cubs Overlooked among Top Third Basemen - May 1985 Baseball Digest. Cey played in only 97 games in 1986 and batted .273 with 13 HR and 36 RBI.
After the 1986 season Ron was traded to the Oakland A's for Luis Quinones. Cey was a DH for 30 of his 45 games with the A's in 1987. He also played a little bit of 1B for the A's. It was the only season in which Ron would play a position other than 3B. Cey was batting .221 with 4 HR and 11 RBI when the A's released him on July 15.
Ron Cey Contributes his 7" to Baseball History (it's not what you're probably thinking). Sometime during his Dodger career Ron recorded a couple of country songs and sold the record at autographs signings in the off season. The link is to a blog where the songs can be downloaded.
Here is a "Where are they now" article from 2000. Ron works in the LA Dodgers community affairs department.
Liked to face: Neil Allen (.520 in 25 AB); Frank Pastore (.481 in 27 AB); Jim Barr (.413 in 75 AB)
Hated to face: Mark Littell (.000 in 14 AB); Charlie Lea (.042 in 24 AB); Tommy Boggs (.080 in 25 AB)
Ron Cey gets the "Eaties for his Wheaties"
The Penguin!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time since I thought about that Wheaties commercial.
I never knew he was originally drafted by the Mets. Good decision, Mr. Cey.
Boy I thought Cey had huge forearms. Well before the steroid era.
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