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Richie Zisk

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Richie Zisk

Born:

February 6, 1949

(age 77)

, U.S.

Batted:

Right

Threw:

Right

MLB debut

September 8, 1971, for the Pittsburgh

Pirates

Last MLB appearance

September 21, 1983, for the Seattle

Mariners

MLB statistics

.287

207

792

Teams

(

–

)

(

)

(

–

)

(

–

)

Career highlights and awards

2×

(

)

Richard Walter Zisk

(born February 6, 1949) is an American former

professional

player,

and

. He played in

(MLB) as an

and

for the

and

. A two-time

player, Zisk was named the

1981

. He was the first position player in major league history to sign a

10-year contract.

Career

[

]

Pittsburgh Pirates

[

]

Zisk was drafted by the

out of

in the

third round of the

He made his major

league debut on September 8, 1971, replacing

in the eighth inning of Pittsburgh's 10–1 victory over the

. He

got a

in his first major league at-bat.

Zisk also appeared in 17

games with the

, however, he was not on either team's postseason

roster.

In Zisk's rookie season, 1973, he

.324 with 10

and 54

103 games.

On June 9, 1974, he

in a 14–1 victory over the

For the season, he hit .313 with

17 home runs and a team-high 100 RBI in 149 games.

He made his only

postseason appearances with the 1974 and 1975 Pirates. While batting an

impressive .400 in the postseason, Zisk only scored one

and had no RBI as

the Pirates lost in four games to the Dodgers in the

(NLCS) and were swept by the Reds in the

Chicago White Sox

[

]

Zisk with 1977

White Sox

Zisk was acquired along with

by the

from the

for

and

at the

on December 10, 1976.

His best season

was in 1977, his lone year with the White Sox, when he hit 30 home runs and had 101 RBI, both

career highs, in addition to a .290 batting average in 141 games.

He started in

for the

in the

, going 2-for-3 with a

and two RBIs.

Zisk became a

at the end of the

Texas Rangers

[

]

On November 9, 1977, he signed a 10-year, $2.75 million contract with the

This made him the first

major league position player to sign a 10-year contract.

He batted clean-up and started in right field at the

For the season, Zisk batted .262 with 22 home runs and 85 RBI in 140 games while

splitting time between left field, right field, and

Seattle Mariners

[

]

1983 Seattle Mariners

#22 Richie Zisk road jersey

After three seasons in Texas, the Rangers traded Zisk along with

and minor-league right-handed pitcher Steve Finch to the

for

, and

in an 11-player blockbuster deal on December 18, 1980.

In Zisk's first season in

, he batted .311 with 16 home runs and 43 RBI in 94 games to earn the

1981

honors.

After three seasons as the Mariners' designated hitter, he retired

after the 1983 season.

Career stats

[

]

Seasons

Games

Runs

Hits

RBI

HBP

Avg.

Slg.

OBP

FLD%

1,453

5,144

681

1,477

245

207

792

533

910

.287

.466

.353

2395

.981

Post-playing career

[

]

Zisk worked in the

organization after retiring. In 1987, he was a minor league hitting instructor,

serving as the coordinator of instruction from 1989 to 1992. In 1995, he became the

hitting coach. In

2002 and 2003, he was a roving minor league hitting instructor. In 2005, he managed Daytona. From 2006 to 2010, he

returned to the hitting coach role with Daytona.

The

retired Richie's number 22 in 2007 on his

day.

In 2011 and 2012, Zisk was in charge of pro

in Florida for the

Zisk was inducted into the

in 2014.

Personal life

[

]

Zisk was raised in

and played baseball at

His younger

brother, John, played a season in the

' organization and two for the independent

of the

Zisk and his wife have three children.

In 2004, Zisk was inducted into the