Dick Dietz | |||
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Catcher | |||
Born: Crawfordsville, Indiana |
September 18, 1941|||
Died: June 28, 2005 Clayton, Georgia |
(aged 63)|||
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MLB debut | |||
June 18, 1966, for the San Francisco Giants | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
September 30, 1973, for the Atlanta Braves | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .261 | ||
Home runs | 66 | ||
Runs batted in | 301 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
Richard Allen "Dick" Dietz (September 18, 1941 – June 28, 2005) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Atlanta Braves from 1966 to 1973.
Born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Dietz was signed by the San Francisco Giants as an amateur free agent before the start of the 1960 season. He showed some promise as a hitter, posting a .354 batting average with 35 home runs and 101 runs batted in while playing for the El Paso Sun Kings in the Texas League in 1963.
Dietz made his major league debut with the Giants on June 18, 1966 at the age of 24. Nicknamed Mule, he played as the Giants backup catcher behind Tom Haller in 1967. In September, Dietz was named to the 1967 Topps All-Star Rookie Team. In February 1968, the Giants were in need of good infielders, and with four young catching prospects in their system, including Dietz, club president Chub Feeney decided to trade Haller along with a player to be named later, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Ron Hunt and Nate Oliver. Dietz shared catching duties with Jack Hiatt and Bob Barton in 1968, producing a .272 batting average with 6 home runs and 38 runs batted in.