{"id":272,"date":"2023-08-11T20:32:59","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T20:32:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.314stories.com\/?page_id=272"},"modified":"2023-08-11T20:32:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T20:32:59","slug":"the-story-of-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.314stories.com\/?page_id=272","title":{"rendered":"The Story Of \u201cUs\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baseball is an unkind profession.\u00a0 The litany of players who toiled in the minors for ages just to earn the proverbial \u201ccup of coffee\u201d with at least one major league baseball team extends well beyond historical records.\u00a0 The list of Hall of Famers, though a bit more finite, is a still-changing quantity and will increase in the years to come, whether or not the members of the Steroid Era are allowed entry or not.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there are the numerous and often nameless players who scrabble along for years in the minors, eventually reaching the majors.\u00a0 They take on the roles of backup, platoon player, and journeymen, and theirs is a story seldom told.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those faces on the common cards we collected\u2014or, rather, ended up with\u2014in youth.\u00a0 The men who filled out the rosters of our favorite teams, taking their spots in the infield, outfield, or both, sometimes in the same game.\u00a0 We barely paid them any attention even when they had good games.\u00a0 Good games, for them, were an anomaly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They were <\/span>good enough<\/span><\/i> to be up with the big league squad\u2013so, already better than 98% of all baseball players\u2013and certainly good enough to hang on for lengthy MLB careers.\u00a0 We rarely remember their stories, and are not often interested in finding out about them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is the story of two of those men, the story of the everyman, the story of \u201cus,\u201d or, more aptly, a story of two men whose surnames end as such: Gary Pettis and Gary Redus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gary Pettis and Gary Redus, born within two years of one another\u2014 Redus on November 1, 1956, in Toomer, Alabama; Pettis on April 3, 1958, in Oakland;\u2014were both 6\u20191\u201d outfielders for the majority of their careers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pettis played at 165 pounds, Redus at 180.\u00a0 Redus was the first of the pair drafted, in the 17<\/span>th<\/span> round of the 1977 amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox, but he chose not to sign with them and re-entered the draft the following season, moving up two rounds, when he was selected by the Cincinnati Reds.\u00a0 Pettis was a higher draft pick, in the sixth round of the 1979 draft by the California Angels.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They debuted within a week of each other during the fall of 1982, Redus on September 7<\/span>th<\/span>, going 0 for 3 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Pettis on the 13<\/span>th<\/span>, appearing in pinch-running duty against the Chicago White Sox.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both men certainly fit the roles their various teams asked of them. Pettis played for six teams between 1982 and 1992\u2014six seasons with California, three with Detroit, two with Texas, and one with San Diego\u2014while Redus played for five teams between 1982 and 1994\u2014five seasons with Pittsburgh, four with Cincinnati, two with Texas, two with Chicago (AL), and one with Philadelphia.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gary Pettis\u2019 career ended two years earlier than Gary Redus\u2019, as Pettis made his final appearance on September 10, 1992, bookending his career with another appearance against the White Sox, this time going 0-3 at the plate.\u00a0 Redus hung on until 1994, when he made his final appearance in a July 23<\/span>rd<\/span> game against Texas in which he went 1-3.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the interim, the two men posted eerily similar offensive statistics, though Pettis only played eleven seasons, to Redus\u2019 thirteen.\u00a0 Pettis played 1183 games, to Redus\u2019 1159, had slightly more plate appearances (4237 to 4066) and at-bats (3629 to 3513), though they stroked nearly the same number of hits (Pettis: 853; Redus: 886) and scored about the same number of runs (Pettis: 568; Redus: 591.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Redus was slightly better known for his power, though neither men homered at an excessive rate (Redus: 90; Pettis: 21.)\u00a0 Redus also gained an edge in doubles (183 to 109.)\u00a0 Remarkably, though Pettis was known as more of a speedster, Redus stole only 32 fewer bases (322, to Pettis\u2019 354) and edged Pettis in triples, 51 to 49.<\/span><\/p>\n

Neither man was particularly consistent at the plate: Pettis batted .236 for his career, and Redus only .252.\u00a0 Due to his ability to draw walks (521 to 481), Pettis had a similar OBP, surprising given his abysmal batting average (Pettis\u2019s OBP was .332; Redus\u2019 .342.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Besides his (at the time) prototypical lead-off man skills, Pettis was primarily known as a glove-man.\u00a0 For his efforts, Gary Pettis won five Gold Gloves, in 1985, \u201986, \u201988, \u201989, and \u201990.\u00a0 Gary Redus won no Gold Gloves but did earn a 4<\/span>th<\/span> place in the 1983 Rookie of the Year voting.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for what form the field work actually took, Gary Pettis only played Centerfield during his eleven year career, while Gary Redus played all three outfield positions and some first base over thirteen years.\u00a0 In 3055 career chances, Gary Pettis made only 44 errors, had 2948 put-outs (986% career), 63 outfield assists, and turned 21 double plays.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gary Redus was certainly no match for Pettis in the outfield, though he did manage 1421 put-outs in his 1519 career chances, making only 39 errors (974%), to go along with his 39 outfield assists and 11 double plays.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite all of this, if there is one constant in baseball history, it is that unsung and unexpected heroes often rise to a challenge in the postseason, getting hot at the right time and helping their team to victory or, at least, staving off what might otherwise have been a humiliating defeat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Such was the case for both of these journeymen heroes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Gary Pettis, that chance came in his only postseason appearance: the 1986 American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox.\u00a0 Though the Angels (infamously) lost that series in heartbreaking fashion, Pettis owned the Sox: he went 9 for 26 (.346), hitting a homerun, walking three times, and making himself a general nuisance on the basepaths, with thirteen total bases.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Pettis also plated four runners in scoring position, though he did strike out five times.\u00a0 For the Series, his OPS was a robust .914, over 260 points higher than his .651 career average.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Gary Redus, the opportunity to shine came in his final postseason appearance when, at the age of 35, he played for Pittsburgh in their 1992 NLCS loss to the Atlanta Braves.\u00a0 Redus\u2014already the owner of two subpar performances in the 1990 and 1991 postseasons, batting .250 with three whiffs, and .158 with four Ks in them, respectively\u2014had his star turn in that NLCS, batting .438 ( 7 for 16) with four doubles, a triple, and three RBIs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That both of their teams lost to opponents who eventually went on to lose heartbreaking World Series was probably small consolation to the Garys.\u00a0 Their fifteen minutes had been spoiled.<\/span><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t to say their careers were completely devoid of highlights.\u00a0 Both men made many appearances on the end-of-season top ten leader lists in offensive and defensive categories.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gary Pettis\u2019 most frequent appearances on season-ending top ten lists, not surprisingly, occurred in stolen bases, as he had seven of those: he stole more than 40 bases five times and reached 50 stolen bases twice in his career, all top tens in their respective seasons.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The remainder of Pettis\u2019 appearances occurred in the mid- to late-80s: eight triples in 1985 put him in 7<\/span>th<\/span> place, and eight in 1990 left him in 6<\/span>th<\/span>.\u00a0 Pettis also finished 9<\/span>th<\/span> in walks in 1989 (with 84) but his free-swinging ways more often found him on the top ten whiffs list: 115 in 1984 (10<\/span>th<\/span>), 125 in 1985 (8<\/span>th<\/span>), and 132 in 1986 (10<\/span>th<\/span>.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As for ignominious top ten categories, Pettis finished 1<\/span>st<\/span> in errors by a centerfielder in 1987.\u00a0 Perhaps some of that had to do with the number of balls he had to face down that year, thanks to California\u2019s fly-ball friendly pitching staff\u2014he also finished 5<\/span>th<\/span> in the league in put-outs with 344.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gary Redus\u2019 top ten appearances also coincided with Pettis\u2019 and, not surprisingly, occurred in many of the same categories: his nine triples in 1983 landed him in 5<\/span>th<\/span> place, and his seven in 1989 left him in 9<\/span>th<\/span>.\u00a0 In part thanks to his greater propensity to get on base, Redus scored 90 runs in 1983, good for a 9<\/span>th<\/span> place finish.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While on base, Redus also wreaked <\/span>some<\/span><\/i> havoc, appearing on the top ten list in stolen bases four times, stealing 52 in 1987, and 48 in 1984 and 1985.\u00a0 But, unlike Pettis, Redus had a success rate indicative of a less-than-cautious baserunner: he was caught stealing 14 times in 1983 (9<\/span>th<\/span>), 12 times in 1985 (8<\/span>th<\/span>), and 11 times in 1987 (9<\/span>th<\/span>.)\u00a0 Then again Redus made more of his chances at the plate: he only appeared in the top ten in strikeouts once in his career, with 111 (6<\/span>th<\/span> place) in 1983.\u00a0 In that same 1983 season, arguably the high point of Redus\u2019 career statistically-speaking, Redus also finished in 7<\/span>th<\/span> place for errors made by a leftfielder, with 7.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As you might suspect from everymen like Gary Pettis and Gary Redus, neither made a lucrative living off of their baseball careers, at least in layman\u2019s terms.\u00a0 In his highest salary season (1992 with Texas) Pettis made just over one million dollars; Redus made $825,000 when he was 35 year-old outfielder\/first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1992.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Following their careers, both men got into coaching\u2014Pettis with Chicago (AL) in 2001 and 2002, New York (NL) 2003 and 2004,and recently, with the Texas Rangers as their First Base coach; Redus at Calhoun Community College for six seasons, and as a minor league roving instructor with Pittsburgh from 2001 to 2007 and Houston in 2008 and 2009.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It will remain up to the number-crunching nerds to determine who was the more valuable player, if anyone ever considers such career vagabonds as valuable in any certain terms, but Gary Redus at least has the edge over Gary Pettis in one regard: Redus still holds the record for single-season minor league batting average\u2014his .462 with Billings in the Pioneer Leagues during a 68-game season has not been touched, much less challenged, since he laid it down in 1978.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even journeymen have their heydays.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baseball is an unkind profession.\u00a0 The litany of players who toiled in the minors for ages just to earn the proverbial \u201ccup of coffee\u201d with at least one major league baseball team extends well beyond historical records.\u00a0 The list of Hall of Famers, though a bit more finite, is a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":186,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-272","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.314stories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.314stories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.314stories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.314stories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.314stories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.314stories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273,"href":"https:\/\/www.314stories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/272\/revisions\/273"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.314stories.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.314stories.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}