Richard Francis Stelmaszek (October 8, 1948 – November 6, 2017) was an American

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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

, and

bullpen coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decision ...

for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

. Stelmaszek spent 32 consecutive seasons (–) on the Twins' coaching staff and was the longest-tenured coach in Minnesota history. Stelmaszek trails only

Nick Altrock Nicholas Altrock (September 15, 1876 – January 20, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and Coach (baseball), coach. He played in the major leagues as a left-handed pitcher between 1898 and 1919. After the 1919 season he continu ...

, who spent 42 consecutive years (–) as a coach with the old Washington Senators (the predecessor to the Twins' franchise), and

Manny Mota Manuel Rafael Mota Geronimo, more commonly known as Manny Mota (born February 18, 1938), is a Dominican Republic, Dominican former Major League Baseball outfielder who played 20 seasons for the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and Montr ...

, who worked as a

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

coach for 34 straight years (1980–2013), as the longest-tenured coach in continuous service with one franchise in MLB history.

Early years

Stelmaszek was drafted on June 6, 1967, by the Washington Senators in the 11th round (205th overall) of the

1967 Major League Baseball draft The 1967 Major League Baseball draft recruits amateur baseball players into the American Major League Baseball (MLB) league. The players selected in 1967 included many talented prospects who later had careers in the professional league. Some sel ...

out of Mendel Catholic High School in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, but didn't sign until August 28, keeping him from his minor league debut until . The following year, Stelmaszek was assigned to low Single-A

Geneva Senators Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and spent time between Geneva and the high Single-A

Salisbury Senators Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

, batting a combined .232 with five home runs and 37

runs 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 101 games. In 1969, he was back at Single-A, this time for the Shelby Senators in the

Western Carolinas League The Western Carolinas League was a Class D level (1948–52; 1960–62) and a low Class A level (1963–79) full-season league in American minor league baseball. The Western Carolinas League changed its name prior to the 1980 season and has been ...

. Stelmaszek played well, hitting .288 with five home runs and 58 RBI in 115 games, earning a spot on the league All-Star team. In 1970, he was promoted to the Double-A Pittsfield Senators and despite his overall production at the plate dropping (hitting only .246 with four

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 and 47 RBI in 128 games), he was again named to the league all-star team. The 1971 campaign would see Stelmaszek promoted to the Triple-A

Denver Bears Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of th ...

, where he hit only .247 with almost no power (one home run, one

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

, one

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

and 25 RBI in 73 games), but he earned a call up to the Senators and made his major league debut on June 25 against the

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

. However, after going hitless in nine

at-bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

, he was back in the minors within a month. During the offseason, the Washington franchise moved to

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

, and became the Texas Rangers.

Major League career

After spending all of in the minors, splitting time between

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

and Denver, Stelmaszek earned a second call to the majors in . He was batting .111 in seven games with the Rangers when he was dealt along with

Mike Epstein Michael Peter Epstein (born April 4, 1943), nicknamed "Super Jew", is an American former professional baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators / Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, and California Angels of Major League Ba ...

and

Rich Hand Richard Allen Hand (born July 10, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, he played for four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and California Angels. Born ...

to the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

for

Lloyd Allen Lloyd Cecil Allen (born May 8, 1950) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the California Angels (-), Texas Rangers (-), and Chicago White Sox (-). He was the first big league player ...

and

Jim Spencer James Lloyd Spencer (July 30, 1947 – February 10, 2002) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. Born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, the left-handed Spencer was recognized for his excellent fielding ability, but also served in later y ...

on May 20. Stelmaszek would last only 22 games with the Angels, batting .154 with 3 RBI. He spent most of the season at Triple-A with the

Salt Lake City Angels In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as ro ...

, hitting .269 with six home runs and 40 RBI in 83 games. Stelmaszek started the season back with Salt Lake City, but was traded to the

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 ...

on July 28 for

Horacio Piña Horacio Piña García ee'-nyah(born March 12, 1945) is a Mexican former relief pitcher who played in Major League Baseball over eight seasons between and . Piña also played professionally in Mexico for all or portions of nine years. He batte ...

. He hit his only career Major League home run as a member of the Cubs on August 20 against future

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

Don Sutton Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sutton won a total of 324 games, pitched 58 s ...

of the

. Prior to spring training , Stelmaszek was dealt to the

for

Gerry Pirtle Gerald Eugene Pirtle (born December 3, 1947) is an American former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Montreal Expos in their 1978 season. Listed at , , he batted and threw right handed. Career Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma h ...

, and he spent the season at Triple-A

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

, with the exception of a brief call-up to the Yankees' Major League roster in April, during which he did not get into any games. He returned to the Rangers' organization in , but again spent the season at Triple-A, this time with the

Tucson Toros The Tucson Toros were a professional baseball team based in Tucson, Arizona, in the United States. The original Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from 1969 to 1997, where they won the PCL Championship in ...

. Stelmaszek would spend 1978, his last year playing organized ball, in the Minnesota Twins organization as a

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for the Single-A

Wisconsin Rapids Wisconsin Rapids is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Wisconsin, United States, along the Wisconsin River. The population was 18,877 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Marshfield–Wisconsin Rapids micropolitan stati ...

Coaching career

After retiring as a player at the end of the 1978 season, Stelmaszek was hired on as the full-time manager of the Rapids. In , he was named Midwest League Manager of the Year after leading his team to a 77–64 record. Following the season, he joined the Twins' major league coaching staff under

Johnny Goryl John Albert Goryl (born October 21, 1933) is an American former infielder, manager and coach in Major League Baseball. A right-handed batter and thrower who stood tall and weighed , Goryl apprenticed in the farm systems of the Boston / Milwauk ...

. During his coaching tenure with the Twins, which began in , Stelmaszek was a member of two

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

championship teams (the and Twins) and he worked under five different Minnesota

managers Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administr ...

(Goryl,

Billy Gardner William Frederick Gardner (July 19, 1927 – January 3, 2024) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. During his ten-season active career in Major League Baseball (MLB), Gardner was a second baseman for the New York G ...

, Ray Miller, Tom Kelly, and

Ron Gardenhire Ronald Clyde Gardenhire (born October 24, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played as a shortstop in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets from 1981 to 1985. After another year playing i ...

). The Twins signed him to a contract extension through in November . Stelmaszek missed spring training and the first month of the 2011 season due to eye surgery. Former Twins catcher

Phil Roof Philip Anthony Roof (born March 5, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and minor league manager. He played for 15 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball in and from to , most notably for the Kansas City/Oak ...

served as his replacement during his recovery. On October 3, 2012, following a 2–1 season-ending loss to the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

which capped the first back-to-back 96-loss seasons for the Twins, interim General Manager Terry Ryan announced the firing of Stelmaszek after 32 seasons with the club. Stelmaszek was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2016. On April 3, 2017, he was honored to throw out the first pitch at

Target Field Target Field is a baseball stadium in the North Loop, Minneapolis, historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. It is named for Tar ...

as the Twins opened their 57th season. Beforehand, he explained his goal: "Throw the ball and then walk from the mound to the dugout without falling." Stelmaszek died on November 6, 2017, aged 69. Longtime Twins reliever

Glen Perkins Glen Weston Perkins (born March 2, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and a television analyst. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins. He made his major league debut with the Mi ...

had this to say following Stelmaszek's death:

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stelmaszek, Rick 1948 births 2017 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela American people of Polish descent Baseball players from Chicago California Angels players Chicago Cubs players Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Illinois Denver Bears players Florida Instructional League Senators players Geneva Senators players Hawaii Islanders players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball catchers Minnesota Twins coaches Minor league baseball managers Navegantes del Magallanes players Pittsfield Senators players Salisbury Senators players Salt Lake City Angels players Shelby Senators players Syracuse Chiefs players Texas Rangers players Tucson Toros players Washington Senators (1961–1971) players 20th-century American sportsmen Wichita Aeros players Wisconsin Rapids Twins players