“There's a town in
Ohio called Cincinnati and in it lives a catcher named Johnny Bench.
Just about everybody in America has heard of Cincinnati and Johnny
Bench.
“There's another town
in Ohio called Lucasville and in it lives a catcher named Fury Gene
Tenace. There is hardly anyone in America who has heard of Lucasville
and Fury Gene Tenace.
“That was until the
69th Octoberfest got under way in Cincinnati.”
Fury Gene Tenace, is a former Major
Leaague player and coach. He was a catcher and first baseman from
1969 through 1983. He played for the Oakland Athletics, the San Diego
Padres, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his
playing days ended, Tenace coached for several organizations, most
notably for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Now, Tenace is considered one of the
top catchers of his era. He once said, “I just have a habit of
being where the action is.” After all, he attained four World
Series rings while playing with his many teammates over the years.
That accomplishment, in itself, is phenomenal; however, in the Series
of 1972, Gene Tenace attained Ruthian grandeur. This is the story of
the week that put him forever among the legendary players of the
game.
Fury Gene “Gino” Tenace (The name
is pronounced “Tennis” although it was originally Tenacci,
pronounced “Ten-a-chi,” from his second generation Italian
ancestry.) is the paternal grandson of an Italian immigrant who
settled in Russelton, Pennsylvania, where he became a miner. (One
commentator quipped about Tenacci, “Heck, Gene's an Italian who
can't even speak Italian.”)
“That grandfather died in a cave-in
in the mines,” Tenace said. At the time Fiore Tenace, Gene's
father, was only nine-years-old. That tragedy didn't keep Fiore from
later working in the mines for nine years himself.
By the way, Gene's first name “Fury”
is said to be derived from “Fiore,” but Gene likes to tell: “My
father liked horses and named me for the horse “Fury” in the
movies, I guess.”
Fiore Tenace had always wanted to
become a major league baseball player, too. But he suffered an injury
when he was 15 years old – a bat swung accidentally by someone
cracked him in the base of the skull – and he felt that the injury
stunted his athletic progress. In 1939, he joined the Merchant
Marines, then entered the Navy when World War II broke out. He also
served in the Korean War and was stationed in Philadelphia when Gene
was four years old. Afterward, he became a laborer, doing everything
from ditch-digging to working on highrise buildings to driving a
truck.
Gene said, “My father was a real
baseball fanatic. He played some semi-pro ball himself. He was
determined that I would play in the big leagues. He stuck a ball in
my hand when I was two years old. I ate and slept baseball. I played
all day long.”
Tenace admitted that his father, named
Fiore was guilty of applying as lot of pressure on him – as do many
doting parents.
“Especially when I was in the Little
League. My father didn't think I should ever let a third strike go by
or make a mistake. If I booted one, he'd call me aside and chew me
out.”
“It was embarrassing to me –
especially in front of all the other guys. As I look back, I can
understand it a little. I had a lot of respect for my dad. He just
was determined that his son would make the big leagues.”
Gene's family moved to Lucasville,
Ohio, where he played football and baseball for Valley Local High
School. Just a little more than a speck on the road map, Lucasville
and Valley High School were “a lease on a bigger life to come”
for Gene Tenace.
“Yeah, we were small,” Tenace said.
“I think my freshman year we had 100 kids (in his class), total
enrollment. When I graduated we only had 80. So 20 of them
disappeared and know one knew where. But it didn’t seem small to us
back then. In the 60s it was all we knew. Everyone knew everyone and
everything about everyone. I played football and baseball because it
was fun and because it provided the opportunity to do something
competitive with my friends. Sports was a big deal to us then, and we
had a lot of good athletes in those 80 kids.”
Gene's favorite sport then? Guess
again, it was not baseball.
“I played baseball, but you know, my
first love was football. I loved football. My sophomore year we were
10-0 and won the SOC (Southern Ohio Conference). My dad was dead set
against that. He kept telling me that I’d tear up a knee and never
get get out of Lucasville as a baseball player. If I wanted to go
anywhere and play professionally, my dad told me that it had to be in
baseball. But he left it up to me and I played football for four
years. I never got hurt, outside of some bumps and scrapes.”
But, it was baseball that came knocking
with golden opportunity.
Tenace admits, “It actually was a
dream of mine…to sign and play professional baseball. You don’t
know you’re going to make it to the big leagues at that age, but I
knew I wanted to play someplace.”
Gene explains his fortune: “What
happened was I played Legion baseball in Portsmouth, and we played in
a lot of tournaments up and down the river and I got a lot of
exposure. There were a lot of scouts that followed those programs
back in those days and I was fortunate to get seen.” It didn't hurt
that future Major Leaguers Al Oliver and Larry Hisle were playing
there also – what a scout's paradise. “We could put some runs on
the board, but we just didn’t have the pitching to get past the
state playoffs,” recalled Tenace.
And, to add to his resume, as a senior
at Lucasville, Tenace played shortstop and led the Valley Indians to
the Class A state title game, homering for his team’s only run in a
game that they ultimately lost.
After his senior year, Gene was
selected by the Kansas City Athletics in the 20th round of the 1965
draft. He signed that coveted professional baseball contract, and he
received a bonus of $10,000, not huge but very impressive. It was off
the the minor leagues for Tenace.
At first, Tenace “puttered around the
Athletics organization as a utility player.” Once, while with
Peninsula of the Carolina League, Tenace played all nine positions in
one game as part of a promotion. “Once I even started a game as a
pitcher and went eight innings before a guy beat me with a home run,”
said Gene.
Knowing Tenace's versatility, the wise
promoter figured he could put a few people into the ball park by
allowing Tenace to play all nine position in one game. His drawing
power proved to be lacking.
“I played all nine position in one
game and even escaped intact in the inning I pitched. They drew a
couple of hundred (fans),” Tenace said, almost embarrassed. That
wasn't how many extra they drew. That was the entire crowd.
Later, Gene confirmed that Bert
Campaneris did it once in the Major Leagues. On September 8, 1965, as
part of a special promotion featuring the popular young player,
Campaneris became the first player to play every position in a major
league game. On the mound, he pitched ambidextrously, throwing lefty
to left-handers, and switched against right-handers. And, speaking of
promotions – on July 23, 1964, Campy Campaneris, was introduced on
air by Monte Moore, announcer, by explaining a promotional gimmick by
Charlie O. Finley, of Campy riding a donkey in from the bullpen.
The A's switched Tenace to the
outfield, but that's when his career hit hit rock bottom. He played
the outfield and looked on as Oakland signed a couple of kids from
Arizona – Rick Monday and Reggie Jackson. The two eventually became
big league stars.
Thoughts of quitting entered his mind.
The the A's turned Tenace into a catcher. “I figured it was all
right with me as long as it got me to the big leagues,” he said.
Converted into a catcher in 1968,
Tenace was brought up in September where he immediately faced in
succession such glittering pitchers as Sam McDowell, Luis Tiant, and
Denny McLain. He got one single out of them but hit his first home
off his next pitching foe, Earl Wilson, also one of the better
pitchers then. However, Dave Duncan kept outranking Gino as the No. 1
catcher.
In 1969, Gene finished the season with
an unimpressive .158 batting average, 1 home run and 2 runs batted
in, appearing in just 38 games as a third-string catcher.
In spite of that, though, Tenace became
the man behind the plate for what the Athletics regarded as their
“distinctive” games. He caught Vida Blue when the phenomenal
young man spun his no-hitter in 1970 and a year later Gino was at the
receiving end when both Blue and Catfish Hunter passed the notable
milestones of their 20th victories.
“I didn't even know Vida had a
no-hitter until the sixth inning of that game, Gene admitted
shamefacedly, “Whenever I went out to talk to him on the mound Ihad
nothing to say tohim. He just overpowered them with his fastball and
threw practically no breaking stuff.'
Tenace continued to play the next two
years as the third-string catcher before serving as Dave Duncan's
backup in 1971. Tenace entered the 1972 season backing up Duncan. His
big chance could not have come at a worse time. When Duncan failed to
extricate himself from a midseason slump, Manager Dick Williams
turned to Tenace. "Can you catch?" he asked the
bench-warmer. "Yes," said Tenace, who at the time had a
temperature of 104 and had lost 10 pounds from his normal playing
weight of 190.
But Williams, ever the tinkerer, put
Gene at first base that day. He hit a triple, despite his illness,
and was given a chance to show his abilities by being make the team's
regular catcher the next day. He continued to man that position in
the post season. He ended the regular season with only a .225
average. But given his opportunity to play in the postseason, Tenace
was ready to take full advantage of the opportunity.
The American League Championship came
first. But when the Oakland Athletics played the Detroit Tigers in
the playoffs that year, it appeared Tenace was about to be forever
remembered as a goat. For 16 at bats in the playoffs he went without
a hit. And, even worse, he committed a costly error, dropping a
double-play ball at second in the 10th inning of Game
Four, which helped the Tigers win and force a climactic fifth game.
Gene had been taken out of a play by
huge Gates Brown. Tenace never blamed the fact that he was out of
position that particular day. He'd played there often in Dick
Williams's platoon system, and he'd played there as a minor leaguer.
And, he never blamed Gates for his tough, determined play. To the
team, and of course to Gene, the mistake was monumental.
But, Tenace hung in there and was not
to be denied. On at bat No. 17 in Game Five, Gene hit a single. It
merely won the fifth and deciding game of the playoffs to put Oakland
in the World Series for the first time since 1931.
And, he suddenly became a hero.
Needless to say, to Gene Tenace, the hero's role was being worn
lightly.
“But I didn't drop the ball,” Gene
later insisted with a smile as he talked about the critical error
that could have cost the team a trip to the fall classic. He was
smiling for good reason because his memory about his performance in
the World Series is much better. As it should be.
World Series of 1972
In 1972 World Series featured the
Oakland Athletics against the Cincinnati Reds. It was billed “The
Hairs vs. the Squares.” Most of the A’s had grown mustaches and
the like because Finley thought it would help the team stand out. He
offered his players $300 each to grow facial hair. This was odd, even
in 1972, but it was quintessential Finley. He had suggested the
designated hitter rule and nighttime World Series games, but he
alienated many fellow owners, players and fans with his aggressive,
hands-on style. Tenace, himself, an imposing figure with a receding
hair line and mustache, fit the Oakland outlaw mold.
Gene had grown up in Reds county. His
hometown of Lucasville, Ohio was largely composed of die-hard Cincy
fans. But Tenace had hated the Reds. For this reason alone, Gene
stood out as a bit of a rebel.
One sportswriter said, “That was as
dangerous as living in Brooklyn and rooting for the Giants when the
Dodgers and Giants called New York home.”
“I was a Yankee fan,” the
26-year-old Oakland catcher recalled. “Don't ask me why. Maybe I
like pin-stripes. But I never rooted for the Reds. I used to watch
them on television a lot. And most of my friends rooted for them. Not
me.”
His reason was simple.
“What aggravated me was the way
they'd trade away their good players,” Gene said.
The Frank Robinson swap to Baltimore
was particularly appalling to him.
“That one really floored me,” he
said. “I understand why it was probably made, now that I'm in the
majors. Not then, though.”
That love for the Yankees, of course,
didn't last. Sometime it had to end and for Tenace it ended in his
senior year at high school. He had just helped his team to the finals
of the Ohio State Baseball Tournament when a Yankee scout came
visiting.
“That's when I quit liking the
Yankees,” he recalled. “He told me there was not way I could play
in the big leagues.” Still, in all fairness, a lot of other people
must have felt that way, though.
Whatever motivated the 26-year-old Gene
Tenace to play in the Series worked to perfection. With his
outstanding performance, he became a name forever recorded in the MLB
record books. His explosive play lifted the Athletics to their sixth
world championship. By all accounts, Tenace was an unlikely hero who
dominated the Series.
Just exactly what did Gene do? He had
only five homers all season with the Athletics, but when the World
Series came along, his first three hits were homers. At the time,
Tenace never realized that he had made baseball history by being the
first player ever to hit home runs in his first two times at bat in a
World Series.
“You mean that?” he asked a
reporter. “I'm not really a home-run hitter,” he said. “I
consider myself a line-drive hitter.”
Assured that it was, indeed, genuine,
he shook his head and said, “That just makes coming back to my home
state and playing in a World Series all the more of a thrill.”
Oakland won the World Series of 1972 in
seven games. The victory for the A's was the first for the franchise
since the days of Connie Mack when the team was in Philadelphia and
had won in 1930.
The star of the event, Tenace tied Babe
Ruth's 1926 record (shared also with Duke Snider and Hank Bauer) of
four homers in one Series. The catcher-first baseman also set a World
Series slugging record of .913 eclipsing the Babe's record of .900
with 21 bases on his eight hits in 23 at bats. He batted .347.
Tenace remained behind the plate until
the seventh game of the World Series, when Williams moved him to
first again, a move made necessary not so much by Tenace's inability
to throw out Cincinnati base runners as by the inability of Mike
Epstein, then the first baseman, to hit Reds' pitching.
Gene had two important hits in that
final Series game. Still, he was removed by Williams for pinch runner
Allan Lewis – the so-called "Panamanian Express" –
after he doubled in the sixth inning. For Tenace, who considers
himself at least the fifth fastest man on the team, it was a stunning
blow. He was deprived of a last chance at Ruth's record, and he would
not be in at the finish. Yet he was already the darling of A's fans
when he was replaced at second base.
The Reds outscored the A's, 21–16,
but lost each of their four games by a single run. Gene Tenace drove
in nine of those 16 Oakland runs. He was a Red's killer supreme,
almost single-handedly sinking Cincinnati's hopes for a title. Reds
fans would never forget his incredible performance.
Game 1: Oakland A's – 3, Cincinnati
Reds – 2
Game 2: Oakland A's – 2, Cincinnati Reds – 1
Game
3: Cincinnati Reds – 1, Oakland A's – 0
Game 4: Cincinnati
Reds – 2, Oakland A's – 3
Game 5: Cincinnati Reds – 5,
Oakland A's – 4
Game 6: Oakland A's – 1, Cincinnati Reds –
8
Game 7: Oakland A's – 3, Cincinnati Reds – 2
One terrible occurrence did happen to
Gene during the '72 Series. It is generally said to have occurred
before Game 6, but according to Tenace himself, the threat actually
occurred during Game 2. The confusion is likely due to the fact that
Game 6 was the next game in Cincinnati after the threat was made, so
that’s when security was tightest. But according to Tenace himself
(and he would have cause to remember better than anyone else), he was
called into manager Dick Williams’ office in the Riverfront
visitors’ clubhouse after Game 2, where he was introduced to two
men who turned out to be FBI agents.In Tenace’s own words:
“One of (the FBI agents) goes into
this story that a woman on a concession line early in Game 2 at
Riverfront Stadium stood behind this man who was saying to no one in
particular, 'If that guy on Oakland hits another homer, I’m gonna
put a bullet in his head as he rounds third base.' A couple of
people around him laughed it off, but this one woman went to an usher
who grabbed security and a police officer. They found the guy, got
him out of the line and sure enough he had a .22 in one pocket
(loaded, too) and bottle of bourbon in the other.”
The perpetrator was a 32 year old man
from Louisville. The man was arrested of course, but there was the
possibility that he could have had friends or accomplices who still
posed a threat. Tenace described living under 24 hour guard and being
hustled out of the stadium via a secret door. He continued to play
well under the threat, although he didn’t homer at Riverfront
again.
Other visits to Cincinnati as a player
apparently passed without incident. It was with the Cardinals that he
returned to his fourth World Series in 1982, at which point the story
of the 1972 threat received a fairly odd postscript. Again, in
Tenace’s own words:
“10 years later, I’m with the
Cardinals, going back to the series in ’82 against the Milwaukee
Brewers, guess who I get a letter from? "Mr. Tenace, I’m so
sorry what I put you through. It was a bad time in my life. In and
out of jail, broke. Please forgive me." How about that? He was
apologizing. Fine, I guess, but I couldn’t believe, 10 years
later, this guy’s still got me on his mind? Are you kidding me?”
A
shaken Tenace turned the letter over to the police, and the memories
still make him a little nervous.
"If
somebody can shoot the president of the United States out in the
open, they can shoot anybody," Gene said, recalling the incident
in 1992. "If somebody wants you bad enough, they can get you."
For his sterling play, Gene Tenace was
named Sport Magazine's most Valuable Player in the World
Series. He became an instant celebrity.
Gene, the Celebrity
There is nothing flamboyant about Gene
Tenace, and it was somewhat bewildering to him to be catapulted from
relative obscurity to the focal point of press attention during the
World Series. In the wake of his nine-day rendezvous with stardom, he
handled it in the same fashion he ordinarily played ball – with an
unspectacular competence.
Opportunities for speaking engagements,
television appearances, and agents' service came with the newfangled
fame, but Tenace remained modest in his notoriety. When Tony Perez
called and wanted him to do an act with him, Johnny Bench, Vida Blue
and others at Las Vegas, Gene passed up the offer that paid $10,000 –
a tidy sum by 1972 standards. “There've been a lot of other offers,
too,” he confided.
Gene told reporters, “I can sacrifice
money for my family. Money just isn't that important to me. My main
goal is happiness.”
In the Series, Gene's opposite number
was baseball legend Johnny Bench, considered by many baseball
historians to be the greatest catcher of all time. Naturally, the
press pushed a comparison during the Series and asked Tenace about
his sudden stardom.
“I'm not thinking I'm as good as
Johnny Bench,” Gene said quietly. “Bench has the God-given gifts
of a super player. I'm just having a good World Series. I just try to
do what I can. I've worked hard to improve my receiving this season,
and it has hurt my hitting. (Not enough, the Reds would testify.)
Tenace credited roomie Sal Bando with
giving him continued encouragement. It was the kind of support that
encouraged a small town resident to compete on the highest level.
“What kind of a town is Lucasville?”
a reporter asked.
“Little Italy,” Bando jokingly
suggested.
“No,” Gene said, “it's just a
nice little country town. I don't think there is another Italian
family there besides ours.”
The fame and fanfare that goes with
being the hero of baseball's World Series may seem like a pinch of
heaven to the average American boy, but not quite the ultimate to
Fury Gene Tenace.
“It's not that I don't appreciate it
– I just don't enjoy it,” Gene admitted after flying to New York
to accept a new automobile – a 1973 Dodge Charge from Sport
Magazine – for winning the Series Most Valuable Player Award.
With this honor, he joined the company of such baseball dignitaries
as Roberto Clemente, Brooks Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, and
Whitey Ford. The prestigious accolade was presented during at a
luncheon at famed.Mama Leone's Restaurant.
Attired in a light blue mod suit with a
flowered sport shirt open at the collar, Tenace sat at a table –
with cameras, flashbulbs and provocative questions popping from all
sides – and talked hesitatingly of his newly gained hero statude.
“Nothing's changed,” he said in a
subdued voice. “I'm no different. I'm still just me. Naturally it's
a big thrill for me. Maybe I'm goofy and it's not that I don't care.
I'm not the emotional type. I'm not big on this banquet type of
thing. I just take it as it comes.”
“I just want to go home,” Gene told
the press.
“I just want to get back to my
family. My wife Linda has been through a lot. I was on the bench most
of the season and when I did play I didn't do very well.” By the
way Linda often called Gene “Steamboat” or just “Boat.”
According to Gene, “My nickname was handed me by my grandfather –
my mother's father. I was always clumsy as a kid. He said I walked
like a big steamboat.”
“I have two small daughters (at the
time two-and-a-half year old Stacey and ten-month-old Merinda plus
their seven-month-old golden retriever Lance that was afraid of human
beings). I'd come home seething inside. I kept my disappointment to
myself. But I know Linda had to take a lot of abuse from me. I wasn't
very pleasant. I think Linda deserves a holiday and that's the first
thing I want to give her is a trip to Lake Tahoe or some place like
that.”
Some time after, the press actually
came to Lucasville to speak with Tenace. According to an account of
the visit, the reporter found no signs of Gene's newly acquired fame.
He wrote: “Although a newsman had been given instructions to look
for 'the last trailer on the right,' about the only thing that would
have given away the location of Tenace's home would have been his
1973 auto. He won the car for being named Sport Magazine's
most Valuable Player in the World Series.” The residenc didn't even
have his name on the mailbox.
The story continued – “But Tenace
plans to trade in the car for a Jeep. Hunting is his hobby and he
said he has always wanted a Jeep to get places where hunting is best.
'Besides, I have a chance to win another car from another commercial
group,' Gene said, 'Plus, I can win the Hickok belt, but what am I
going to dowith a $10,000 diamond-studded belt? Put cartridges in it
and wear it hunting?'”
“Gene also said the family intended
to purchase a house in Oakland and move in sometime during spring
training.'The series gave me security,' Tenace said. 'Before the
series there was talk of trading either me or Dave Duncan. After the
series, I figured I'd be stayin a while.'”
Gene actually spent much of the winter
working on his father-in-law's (Merle Osmeyer's) Christmas tree farm,
and hunting just about every day.
Tenace said one of the more meaningful
events of the off-season was “Gene Tenace night” in Lucasville.
Cincinnati Reds television announcer Tom Hedrick presented him a
plaque as part of the ceremones.
“They're also naming the field I used
to play on as a kid after me,” he said. “There'll be a monument
in centerfield and they've been given an American flag from the
Capitol Building to fly there.”
After Gene's magical series, bona fide
slugger Reggie Jackson said, "Every time Tenace bats, he will
hear the fans. He will feel the pressure of the home run."
"I'm not a home-run hitter,"
Tenace protested. "I'm a line-drive hitter. But I can't go
around telling people that. I know they will be expecting homers. I
can feel the people. I know they all saw the World Series."
Fury Gene Tenace ended his Major League
playing career as a Pittsburgh Pirate in 1983. He hit 201 career
home-runs, but none more important than those he hist in the 1972
World Series. From there, he went on to be a respected coach with the
Houston Astros, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Toronto Blue Jays.
He was part of Toronto's World Series-winning teams in 1992 and 1993,
giving him six rings in six World Series appearances as a player and
a coach.
One golden October, Fury Gene Tenace
put his indelible mark on Major League Baseball. His exploits of 1972
stand because of an opportunity of which Tenace took full advantage.
Now, his name forever shares company with such baseball greats as
Babe Ruth, Roberto Clemente, and Sandy Koufax. Knowing Gene, he had
no concern for fame and fortune. Instead, he believed he was simply a
man on a mission to do a job and return home to his family. In dong
so, Tenace lived out a childhood dream. Mission accomplished.
Gene and Rollie Fingers at Honors in 2012
Sources
Hal Bodley “Tenace Blasts Into
Prominence.” The News Journal. (Wilmington, Delaware)
October 20, 1972.
Arthur Daley “An Almost Forgotten
Hero.” The New York Times. June 10, 1973
Will Grimsley. “A's Catcher Surprised
by Home Run Feat.” Arizona Republic. (Phoenix) October 15,
1972.
Bill Van Kiekerken. “When the A’s
grew mustaches and grew into champions.” San Francisco
Chronicle. November 3, 2015.
John Kunda. “Sports Call: Who's the
Hero? Gino Tenacci, That's Who” The Morning Call.
(Allentown, Pa.) October 15, 1972
Andrew Shinkle. “Not-So-Great Moments
in Reds Fan History.” wwwredreporter.com. October 15, 1972.
Ron Fimrite “A Hero Finds There's No
One For Tenace.” Vault. April 2, 1973
Sonny Fulks.
“Gene Tenace: From Humble Beginnings, His Latest Honor.”
Press
Pros Magazine.
Ernie Salvatore. “Tenace Gets
Revenge.” The Journal News. White Plains New York .October
15, 1972
“Series Produces Unlikely Hero.”
Bob Hertzel. Cincinati Enquirer. October 15, 1972
“Series Hero Likes Family Life.”
Chillicothe O. Gazette. January 9, 1073.
“Tenace Stands Out” Daily
Time-News Burlington Jan 3, 1973
“Tenace
Unlikely Hero.” The Hartford Courant. October 21, 1972.
