RIP Merv Rettenmund

He wasn't a star in the major leagues, but he won World Series championships with the Orioles and Reds, and later coached. He also was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys as a running back after being a two-sport star at Ball State.

I never met Merv, but his brother Marv, who was a high school athletic director in the Detroit area, was a good guy.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/s...-mlb-player-and-coach-dies-at-81/76896382007/

Memorial Tribute: Two-Sport Star Merv Rettenmund - Ball State University Athletics

 

I met Merv one time when he was a coach with the 1989 A's. Only hit 66 regular-season homers but had two World Series homers for the Orioles, one against the Reds in 1970 and the other in 1971 against the Pirates.

He didn't really stand out, but with Brooks, Frank and Boog plus Buford and Blair, AND that killer rotation of Palmer-Cuellar-McNally-Dobson, he didn't have to. Just a solid fourth outfielder on a team with Hall of Famers at multiple positions.

RIP.

 

I started collecting baseball cards in 1976, and his card just happened to be one of the first I ever got. All of 8 years old, I remember thinking "Wow, he's on the Reds? He must be really good." Then, he closed out his career with the Angels, and then had a stint as Padres hitting coach when I was down in San Diego during the '9os. Just a journeyman and a common card, but what most of us wouldn't give to have even a journeyman's career in the MLB? RIP.

 

Read once that he really resisted going to the majors because the Orioles were loaded and he would sit on the bench. Was called up anyway.

He said he was pretty despondent after two years on the bench, but Paul Blair got injured in 1970 and that finally opened a spot for him finally.

 

I would've loved to meet their other brothers Mirv, Morv and Murv. And sometimes Myrv.