- Rod Gaspar
Infobox MLB retired
name=Rod Gaspar
position=Outfielder
bgcolor1=#ff5700
bgcolor2=#003581
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=#ff5700
bats=Switch
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1946|4|3Long Beach, California
deathdate=
debutdate=April 8
debutyear= by|1969
debutteam=New York Mets
finaldate=July 19
finalyear=by|1974
finalteam=San Diego Padres
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.208
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=1
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=17
teams=
*New York Mets (by|1969-by|1970)
*San Diego Padres (by|1971, by|1974)
highlights=
*World Series champion: 1969Rodney Earl Gaspar (born
April 3 ,1946 inLong Beach, California ) is a formerMajor League Baseball outfielder .A
switch hitter , Gaspar played for theNew York Mets (1969-70) andSan Diego Padres (1971, 1974).A former player at Long Beach State, Gaspar played 178 games in his career, 118 of them in his rookie year, by|1969. He began the year as the Mets’ starting
right fielder , then became a utility outfielder (he also played left and center field on occasion) afterRon Swoboda became the regular right fielder. That year, he hit .228, recorded in 14 of his 17 career runs batted in, and hit his only Major Leaguehome run , off Mike McCormick of theSan Francisco Giants onMay 30 . He also excelled defensively, leading all Mets outfielders in assists with 12 and double plays with six.That year, Gaspar was a member of the Miracle Mets team that unexpectedly won the World Series in five games over the
Baltimore Orioles . In Game Four of that Series, Gaspar scored the winning run on a controversial play. With the score tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the tenth, Gaspar pinch-ran forJerry Grote , who had led off the inning with a double. An intentional walk toAl Weis followed, after whichJ. C. Martin , pinch-hitting forTom Seaver , bunted to the mound. Both runners advanced, and as Martin was running to first,Pete Richert 's throw hit him on the arm and ricocheted away, the error allowing Gaspar to score the winning run. (Replays would later show that Martin had been running inside the baseline, which could have resulted in him being called out for interference; however, the umpires said they didn’t make the call because they felt Martin didn’t "intentionally" interfere with the play.)Gaspar's son Cade is a former
minor league baseball pitcher .Today, Gaspar owns an insurance company in
Mission Viejo, California . [http://www.rodgasparinsurance.com/]External links
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gasparo01.shtml Gaspar’s career stats and analysis]
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