Richard L. Gedman, Jr. 

Position: Catcher Born: 9/26/59, Worcester, MA 
Debut: September 1980, Boston Red Sox 
Bats: Left Throws: Right. 
Height: 6 Weight: 215 

Rich Gedman was a hefty pitcher/1B in high school His teammate was J. P. Ricciardi, Jr., now the Oakland A's national cross-checker director [since then, promoted to Special Assistant to the General Manager, as of December 1, 1995]. 

After MLB scouts saw Gedman his senior year, he was ignored in the '77 June draft. Two months later Gedman was signed as a high school free agent by the Red Sox, who sent him to instructional league that fall to learn the catching position. Despite the difficulties in adjusting to this new position, Gedman moved rapidly through the Red Sox system, reaching Pawtucket Triple-A by 1980...where he caught the first 9 innings of that *Longest Game* (33 innings) that started in April and ended in June. Several weeks before his 21st 

Carlton Fisk was gone for good from Boston in '81, so Gedman did the Pawtucket-Boston shuttle several times that year, sharing the catching duties with Jeff Newman and Gary Allenson. He played well enough to be named the 1981 Sporting News Rookie of the Year. In 1982 and 1983 Gedman proved to have arrived in the Show for good, his hitting improving each of the following years. Defensively in peaks and valleys over his career, Gedman went from leading the league in errors at his position, to placing second to Lance Parrish and Bob Boone several years in fielding percentage (also in those years placing 2nd to Lance Parrish in a number of offensive categories for catchers). 

In 1985 Gedman became the 16th Red Sox player (and only the 6th catcher since 1900) to hit for the cycle. In 1986 Gedman set an AL record for put-outs when he caught Roger Clemens 20-strikeout game against Seattle. In those two years Gedman was named to the AL All-Star team (with an eventful stint catching knuckleballer Charlie Hough in the '86 game) and also to the UPI and Sporting News All-Star teams in '86. Gedman hit .357 in the '86 League Championship Series against the California Angels, and hit .357 again in '88 against the Oakland A's. The '86 World Series pitted an underdog Red Sox team against the New York Mets...the series went to seven games; and the 6th and 7th games are the stuff of baseball history. 

The 1986 offseason was noteworthy for Gedman in another way: He and a number of other free agent MLB players known as the Big 8 failed to attract interest in the free agent market from any other clubs. Most of these players and their agents failed to recognize the resolve of MLB owners in holding down salary increased to under 100% (*collusion*), consequently many were shut out by signing regulations until May 1987. Gedman being the type of player for whom Spring Training is an absolute necessity, this sequence of events resulted in unreadiness, poor performance, fan dissatisfaction, and a series of injuries which limited his 1987 season to only 151 at-bats. 

Those injuries and others (left wrist, right clavicle, right hand, left cheekbone, groin, left thumb, right foot) accumulated in the mid-80s took their toll on Gedman's overall game by the '89 season, and he was supplanted at the catcher position in Boston by Rick Cerone that year. 

The beginning of the end of Rich Gedman's MLB career was in the first two-plus months of 1990 as back-up catcher to Tony Pena, who was acquired by the Red Sox during the offseason. Gedman played in only 10 games for the Red Sox in that period, garnering only 15 at-bats. 

He was traded June 7, 1990 to the Houston Astros for APTBNL, and immediately had difficulty making an impact due to his rustiness. He was not re-signed by the Astros despite their need to move Craig Biggio out from behind the plate.

When Pagnozzi made remarks in 1991 about wanting to play all 162 games, Gedman's days as a hitting, producing catcher were numbered, and his .102 batting average in 94 at-bats showed it. He was further hampered by, of all things, a poorly measured and filled contact lens prescription. He couldn't see the rotation of the ball! Gedman was re-signed by the Cards for 1992 as *insurance*, regaining a little self-respect with a .219 BA in 105 at-bats, but he was not signed for a third year. 

Gedman was forced to accept a Columbus Clippers (Yankees) Triple-A assignment in May 1993 after the Oakland A's invited him to Spring Training as a non-roster player, but released him in March 1993 (despite hitting ..524 in 21 AB with a .571 slugging% and a .615 OB%). No other major league teams called. 

Gedman never was called up to New York during that 1993 season despite the Yankees' catching woes, although Gedman posted a Columbus .266 BA with 12 home runs and 35 RBI in 271 at bats. He tried out in Spring Training 1994 for the Baltimore Orioles, but when faced with a demotion to Triple-A Rochester and no assurance again of being called up to the major leagues, Gedman chose to retire at age 34.