Bucky Dent

Russell Earl "Bucky" Dent (né O'Dey; November 25, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player and manager.

The Chicago White Sox selected Dent in the first round, with the sixth overall selection, in the 1970 MLB draft.

He played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, and Kansas City Royals from 1973 to 1984.

He made his MLB debut in 1973.

His best season with the White Sox was in 1975 when he batted .264, led American League shortstops with a .981 fielding percentage and was selected as a reserve for the MLB All-Star Game.

After his $50,000-a-year contract expired at the conclusion of the 1976 campaign, he rejected the White Sox's three-year $500,000 offer.

His agent Nick Buoniconti explained, "It's obvious that the White Sox can't afford Dent. He is one of the best shortstops in the American League, and he should be paid like one."

Dent earned two World Series rings as the starting shortstop for the Yankees in 1977 and 1978, both over the Los Angeles Dodgers and was voted the World Series Most Valuable Player Award in 1978.

The White Sox traded Dent to the New York Yankees for Oscar Gamble, LaMarr Hoyt, minor league pitcher Bob Polinsky and $250,000 on April 5, 1977.

He signed a three-year $600,000 contract upon his arrival.

For the Yankees, Dent was an upgrade over Fred Stanley, the starting shortstop the previous year.

The Yankees gave him uniform number 20 and they went on to win the World Series that year.

Dent is most famous for his home run in a tie-breaker game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park at the end of the 1978 regular season.

Born in Savannah, Georgia, to Denise O'Dey and Russell "Shorty" Stanford, Dent went home from the hospital with his mother's brother James Earl Dent, and James' wife, Sarah.

Bucky and his half-brother were raised by the Dents, who changed his last name to "Dent", but his mother would not allow them to legally adopt.

He and his half-brother were led to believe the Dents were their biological parents, until he was ten years old.

Dent was told the woman he knew as his aunt was in fact his mother.

Later in life, he was told the name of his father, whom he then found, thus sparking and developing a relationship.

Dent grew up in Sylvania, Georgia, and Hialeah, Florida, graduating from Hialeah High School.

In 1978, Dent is widely remembered for hitting a three-run home run that gave the Yankees a 3–2 lead in the AL East division tie-breaker game against the Boston Red Sox.

This was all the more remarkable because Dent was not a power hitter; his seventh-inning home run was one of only 40 he hit in his entire 12-year career.

Further, Dent occupied the ninth spot in the batting order, not generally considered a power slot, and did it with a bat borrowed from center fielder Mickey Rivers.

The Yankees went on to win the game 5–4 for the division title; Boston was left out of the playoffs, after squandering one of the largest July leads in major league history.

Generations of Red Sox fans have since referred to him as "Bucky Fucking Dent".

Dent continued his unusually high production by batting .417 (10–24, 7 RBI) in the World Series, earning Series Most Valuable Player honors, as the Yankees again defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games.

A three-time All-Star, Dent remained the Yankees' shortstop until 1982, when he was traded to the Texas Rangers in August for outfielder Lee Mazzilli.

During his six years with the Yankees, Dent lived in Wyckoff, New Jersey, in a home he later rented to Don Zimmer.

On the Rangers, his uniform number was 7.

Dent returned to the Yankees briefly in 1984 (but never played a game) before finishing his career that season with the Kansas City Royals, wearing uniform number 21.

He spent his entire 12-year playing career in the American League, with a .247 batting average and 423 RBI.

Tommy John observed that Dent's throwing arm was not the strongest and that his range was limited.

In spite of that, he was extremely reliable on balls he was able to get to.

"He knew how to position himself, and he got to balls that were missed by other shortstops with better range," John said, adding that the player "was kind of taken for granted, until the Yankees unloaded him and discovered what he meant to the infield".

After retiring as a player, Dent managed in the Yankees' minor-league system, notably with the Columbus Clippers.

He managed the Yankees in 1989 and 1990.

He served the Yankees as manager of the big-league club for portions of two seasons, compiling an 18–22 record in 1989 and an 18–31 record in 1990.

Owner George Steinbrenner hired Dent only as a stopgap, and did not believe he could lead the Yankees back to postseason play.

In 1989 Dent opened a baseball school at Delray Beach, Florida, which featured a miniature version of Fenway Park.

Although Dent had his greatest moment as a player at Fenway Park, his worst moment also came at Fenway Park when he was fired as manager of the Yankees.

He intended to replace Dent with Billy Martin at the earliest opportunity in 1990, but those plans were brought undone when Martin died in a car accident on Christmas Day in 1989.