Mickey Rivers

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John Milton "Mickey" Rivers (born October 31, 1948 in Miami, Florida, USA) was a Major League Baseball player from 1970-1984 for the California Angels, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers. He was generally known as a speedy, hard-to-strikeout leadoff hitter and a good-fielding center fielder, albeit one with a weak arm.

Originally signed by the Atlanta Braves, "Mick The Quick" began his big league career in 1970 with the Angels, and stayed with them through the 1975 season. Rivers rode the bench in his first few years, but then started in 1974 and 1975. He led the league in triples both years and swiped a career-high 70 bases in 1975, tops in the American League.

Along with Ed Figueroa, Rivers was dealt to the Yankees in the 1975-76 off-season for Bobby Bonds. The trade immediately paid dividends for the Yankees. Figueroa won 19 games and Rivers enjoyed a career year. Rivers was named to the All-Star team, batted .312, stole 43 bases and posted then-career highs in home runs (8) and runs batted in (67). Rivers placed third in the Most Valuable Player voting behind teammate Thurman Munson and George Brett and was named an outfielder on The Sporting News AL All-Star team.

Rivers posted good numbers in his two other full seasons as a part of the "Bronx Zoo" including a .326 batting average in 1977, but was traded in the middle of the 1979 season to Texas. There he set the single-season record for hits by a Ranger, since eclipsed by Michael Young, with 210 in 1980. He concluded his career in 1984 with a .295 lifetime average, 267 stolen bases and 1,660 hits.

While Rivers played for them, the Yankees won the World Series in 1977 and 1978, both times against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They also won the 1976 pennant but lost in the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. Rivers posted a .308 average in his 29 postseason games.

Bill James ranked Mickey Rivers as the 59th greatest center fielder of all time.

[edit] Minor League Trivia

led the Pioneer League with 66 bases on balls (in 67 games) while playing for the Magic Valley Cowboys in 1969
tied for the Texas League lead in hits (154), and led in batting average (.343) and runs (99) while playing for the El Paso Sun Kings in 1970
led the Pacific Coast League in hits (187) and stolen bases (47) while playing for the Salt Lake City Angels in 1973