Career Statistics
In a 24 year career, Dempsey played in 1765 games, accumulating 1093 hits in 4692 at bats for a .233 career batting average along with 96 home runs and 471 runs batted in. He ended his career with a .988 fielding percentage. Dempsey led American League catchers twice in fielding percentage, twice in baserunners caught stealing and once in assists. He played more games as a catcher than any other player in Orioles history (1230). During his career, Dempsey caught ten different twenty game winning pitchers. He was a durable player, only going on the disabled list twice in his career.
While he was a light-hitting player, Dempsey's lengthy major league career was due in part to his excellent defensive skills. He usually did not make a large contribution offensively; he holds the major league record for the most seasons with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title with less than 50 runs or RBI, with 22. During his season with the Brewers, Dempsey made two relief pitching appearances, giving three hits and one run in two innings pitched. Dempsey also won a Little League World Series in 1963 with the team from Canoga Park-Woodland Hills, California. He is the uncle of major league catcher Gregg Zaun. Dempsey is one of only 32 players to play in four different calendar decades.
Read more about this topic: Rick Dempsey
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