Dusty Rhodes died he was 82

James Lamar Rhodes has died he was 82. Rhodes was an outfielder with a 7 year career from 1952-1957, 1959. He played for the New York Giants and San Francisco Giants, both of the National League.

(May 13, 1927, Mathews, Alabama – June 17, 2009

Of him, the great manager Leo Durocher said "a buffoon is a drunk on a hitting spree". In the 1954 season, he was often used as a pinch-hitter for Monte Irvin, and came through with an incredible number of clutch hits.

In the first game of the 1954 World Series, Rhodes had a pinch hit home run in the bottom of the tenth inning off Bob Lemon to win the game.^[2] The next day he delivered a pinch hit single in the fifth inning and then remained in the game to play left field. In the seventh inning he hit a homer off Early Wynn to help ensure the victory.^[3]

Roy Campanella, the Brooklyn Dodger catcher, said of Durocher and his action of pinch-hitting Rhodes: "If they have to pinch hit Rhodes for Irvin, they must be hurting." Willie Mays mocked this assumption in his autobiography. Mays considered Rhodes to be a "fabulous hitter", as did Durocher, who wrote in his autobiography, "...boy could he hit!", while commenting on Rhodes atrocious fielding abilities. [1]

After his sports career, Dusty Rhodes worked for a friend on a tug boat for 25 years, a job which Dusty said he loved. Dusty stated after his career when asked why his career was so short, "After Durocher left the Giants, baseball wasn't fun anymore."

Rhodes retired to Boca Raton, Fla., then to Henderson, Nev., with Gloria, his wife of 30 years.

"He loved baseball. He loved his kids. He loved his wife," Turco said. "I don't know in what order. But he was a funny guy. He would tell you a story and you'd fall on the floor."

Over the last two years, Rhodes battled heart problems, diabetes and emphysema, which resulted in frequent visits to hospital emergency rooms, Turco said.

He was on his way to a regular medical check-up when he went into cardiopulmonary arrest, dying a few hours later at Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las Vegas, according to a spokeswoman for the Clark County coroner's office.

In addition to his wife, Rhodes' survivors include three children from a previous marriage; a sister; and 11 grandchildren.