| Rocky Bridges | |
|---|---|
| Infielder | |
| Born: August 7, 1927 Refugio, Texas |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| April 17, 1951 for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 1, 1961 for the Los Angeles Angels | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .247 |
| Hits | 562 |
| RBI | 187 |
| Teams | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
Everett Lamar "Rocky" Bridges (born August 7, 1927, in Refugio, Texas) is a former utility infielder with an 11-year career in American Major League Baseball from 1951 to 1961. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals of the National League, and the Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels of the American League. He appeared at second base, shortstop, third base and, occasionally, in the outfield.
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Bridges had a career batting average of .247 and never hit more than 5 home runs or stole more than 6 bases in a season. Nevertheless, he was elected to the American League All-Star team in 1958.
Following his active playing career, he served two terms (1962–63; 1968–71) as the third-base coach of the Angels and one year (1985) in that role with the San Francisco Giants. He also had a long career as a minor league manager in the Angels, Giants, San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates organizations. Over 21 seasons stretched between 1964 and 1989, Bridges' teams won 1,300 games and lost 1,358 (.489).
His minor league managerial career is profiled in Jim Bouton's collection of baseball articles and essays entitled I Managed Good, But Boy Did They Play Bad.
The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book, Brendan C. Boyd & Fred C. Harris, Little Brown & Co, 1973, began a lengthy writeup next to a picture of a baseball card of the square-jawed, crew-cut, tobacco-chewing Bridges on p. 103: "Rocky Bridges looked like a ballplayer. In fact, he may have looked more like a ballplayer than any other ballplayer who ever lived."
Bridges is attributed as being the source of the famous quote about Jose Uribe. He said that Uribe was "the ultimate player to be named later" (Uribe changed his name before being delivered as the-player-to-be-named-later).