Joseph Oden Rudi (born September 7, 1946 in Modesto, California) is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Kansas City & Oakland Athletics (1967-76, 1982), California Angels (1977-80) and Boston Red Sox (1981). He batted and threw right-handed. He currently works in real estate in Baker City, Oregon. [edit] Playing With The A's Rudi batted a career-high .309 in 1970 and had a career-best 181 hits in 1972. That year, he helped the Athletics reach the World Series and made a great game-saving catch in Game 2 that would be the highlight reel for many Major League Baseball films. With Tony Perez on first and Oakland leading 2-0 in the ninth inning, Rudi raced to the left-field fence and made a leaping, backhanded catch of Denis Menke's smash to save a run. Earlier in the game, Rudi had a solo home run. In 1974 he had a career best 22 home runs and 99 runs batted in and hit a home run in Game 5 of the 1974 World Series off Mike Marshall that would turn out to be the game winner and Series clincher. Rudi's Athletics became the first team since the 1949-1953 New York Yankees to win 3 straight World Championships. In a 16-year career, Rudi was a .264 hitter with 179 home runs and 810 RBI in 1547 games. He won American League Gold Gloves in 1974, 1975 and 1976, and played in the MLB All-Star Game in 1972, 1974 and 1975. [edit] See also [edit] External links | American League Outfielder Gold Glove Award | | 1958: Kaline, Piersall, Siebern | 1959: Jensen, Kaline, Miñoso | 1960: Landis, Maris, Miñoso | 1961: Kaline, Landis, Piersall | 1962: Kaline, Landis, Mantle | 1963: Kaline, Landis, Yastrzemski | 1964: Davalillo, Kaline, Landis | 1965: Kaline, Tresh, Yastrzemski | 1966: Agee, Kaline, Oliva | 1967: Blair, Kaline, Yastrzemski | 1968: Smith, Stanley, Yastrzemski | 1969: Blair, Stanley, Yastrzemski | 1970: Berry, Blair, Stanley | 1971: Blair, Otis, Yastrzemski | 1972: Berry, Blair, Murcer | 1973: Blair, Otis, Stanley | 1974: Blair, Otis, Rudi | 1975: Blair, Lynn, Rudi | 1976: Evans, Manning, Rudi | 1977: Beníquez, Cowens, Yastrzemski | 1978: Evans, Lynn, Miller | 1979: Evans, Lezcano, Lynn | 1980: Lynn, Murphy, Wilson | 1981: Evans, Henderson, Murphy | 1982: Evans, Murphy, Winfield | 1983: Evans, Murphy, Winfield | 1984: Evans, Murphy, Winfield | 1985: Evans/ Murphy, Pettis, Winfield | 1986: Barfield, Pettis, Puckett | 1987: Barfield, Puckett, Winfield | 1988: Pettis, Puckett, White | 1989: Pettis, Puckett, White | 1990: Burks, Griffey, Pettis | 1991: Griffey, Puckett, White | 1992: Griffey, Puckett, White | 1993: Griffey, Lofton, White | 1994: Griffey, Lofton, White | 1995: Griffey, Lofton, White | 1996: Buhner, Griffey, Lofton | 1997: Edmonds, Griffey, Williams | 1998: Edmonds, Griffey, Williams | 1999: Green, Griffey, Williams | 2000: Dye, Erstad, Williams | 2001: Cameron, Hunter, Ichiro | 2002: Erstad, Hunter, Ichiro | 2003: Cameron, Hunter, Ichiro | 2004: Hunter, Ichiro, Wells | 2005: Hunter, Ichiro, Wells | 2006: Hunter, Ichiro, Wells | 2007: Hunter, Ichiro, Sizemore | 2008: Hunter, Ichiro, Sizemore | 2009: Hunter, Ichiro, Jones | | |
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