Kenneth John Reitz (June 24, 1951March 31, 2021) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

who played 11 seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). Nicknamed "

Zamboni An ice resurfacer is a vehicle or hand-pushed device for cleaning and smoothing the surface of a sheet of ice, usually in an ice rink. The first ice resurfacer was developed by American inventor and engineer Frank Zamboni in 1949 in Paramount, ...

", he played for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

, and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

from 1972 to 1982. He won the

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual Fielding (baseball), fielding performances. It is awar ...

in 1975 and was an

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

in 1980. He retired with the highest all-time career fielding percentage for National League third basemen at .970 after leading the National League in fielding percentage a record six times.

Early life

Reitz was born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

on June 24, 1951. He attended Jefferson High School in nearby

Daly City Daly City () is the second-most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and immediately south of San Francisco (sharing its northern border with almost all of San Francisco's southern ...

. He was subsequently drafted by the

in the 31st round of the

1969 Major League Baseball draft The 1969 Major League Baseball draft took place prior to the 1969 MLB season. The draft featured future Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven (pick 55) and Dave Winfield (pick 882). First round selections The following are the first round picks in the ...

Professional career

Reitz played four seasons in the minor leagues from 1969 to 1972. He made his MLB debut on September 5, 1972, at the age of 21, batting 2-for-3 with two

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

and a

run batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBI) in a 5–3 win over the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

. In his rookie season the following year, he replaced

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre Jr. (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball Senior management, executive and former player, Manager (baseball), manager, and television color commentator. He has served as a special assistant to the Commiss ...

as the Cardinals' starting third baseman, with Torre returning to

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. Reitz garnered the nickname "

" for his skill at scooping up ground balls on the

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

Busch Memorial Stadium Busch Memorial Stadium (Busch Stadium II) was a multi-purpose sports facility in St. Louis, Missouri, that operated for 40 years, from 1966 St. Louis Cardinals season, 1966 through 2005 St. Louis Cardinals season, 2005. Built as Civic Center Bu ...

. He led all

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL) third basemen in

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

in 1973 and 1974, and won the NL

at the position in 1975. This ended

Doug Rader Douglas Lee Rader (born July 30, 1944), nicknamed "the Red Rooster", is an American former manager, coach, and third baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who was known primarily for his defensive ability, winning five straight Gold Glove Awards ...

's streak of five consecutive Gold Gloves. He was traded to the

for

Pete Falcone Peter Frank Falcone (born October 1, 1953) is an American former professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets, and Atlanta Braves. Early years As a senior at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn, ...

at the

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

on December 8, 1975. Reitz played just one season with the Giants before being traded back to the Cardinals for Lynn McGlothen on December 10, 1976. He again led the NL in fielding percentage at third base in 1977, 1978, and 1980. He also established the NL record for fewest errors by a third baseman (9) in 1977; he bettered that record by committing only eight in 1980. He was a starter in the 1980 MLB All-Star Game. He was subsequently traded to the

for

Bruce Sutter Howard Bruce Sutter (; January 8, 1953 – October 13, 2022) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1976 and 1988. He was one of the sport's dominant relievers in the late 1970 ...

on December 9 of that same year. He led NL third basemen in fielding percentage for a sixth time in 1981, but played in just 82 games and was released prior to the 1982 season. He signed for the

in mid-May and went hitless in 11

plate appearance In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...

s. He played his final major league game on June 3, 1982, several weeks short of his 31st birthday, and was released two days later. In his career, Reitz batted .260 with 68 home runs and 548 RBIs in 1344

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

. He started the 1980 season batting over .400 until cooling off in the middle of May, finishing the season at .270. After batting .235 during his rookie season he finished below .250 only once over the next seven seasons. In each of his first five full seasons he increased his RBI production: 42 in 1973, 54 in 1974, 63 in 1975, 66 in 1976 (his only season with his hometown Giants), and 79 in 1977. Reitz established a career-high in

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s in 1977 with 17 – the same number he had hit in his previous three seasons total. Reitz played a key role in the second-longest major league game played in terms of innings. On September 11, 1974, against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

Shea Stadium William A. Shea Municipal Stadium ( ), typically shortened to Shea Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City.pinch runner In baseball or softball, a pinch runner is a player substituted into a game for the purpose of base running. Description A pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been s ...

Larry Herndon on base, he hit a home run off starter

Jerry Koosman Jerome Martin Koosman (born December 23, 1942) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies between and . Koo ...

to send the game into

extra innings Extra innings is the extension of a baseball or softball game in order to break a tie. Ordinarily, a baseball game consists of nine regulation innings (in softball and high school baseball games there are typically seven innings; in Little Lea ...

. The score remained tied 3–3 until

Bake McBride Arnold Ray McBride (born February 3, 1949), nicknamed "Shake 'n Bake" and "the Callaway Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, a ...

scored the winning run from first base on two Met errors in the top of the 25th inning.

Later life

After retiring from baseball, Reitz undertook promotional work for the Cardinals, taking part in the Cardinals Caravan during the offseason. He also took up golf and played on the celebrity tour. Ken Reitz died on March 31, 2021, at the age of 69. Survivors include a daughter, son, and six grandchildren.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reitz, Ken 1951 births 2021 deaths St. Louis Cardinals players San Francisco Giants players Chicago Cubs players Daytona Beach Explorers players Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Petersburg Cardinals players Arkansas Travelers players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Gulf Coast Cardinals players Cedar Rapids Cardinals players Orlando Juice players Tulsa Drillers players San Jose Bees players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball third basemen Gold Glove Award winners National League All-Stars Baseball players from San Francisco Jefferson High School (Daly City, California) alumni 20th-century American sportsmen

Early life

Professional career

Later life

See also

References

External links