R.I.P. Stelly

Last night, the Minnesota Twins confirmed reports that longtime coach, Rick Stelmaszek, had passed away after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer; he was only 69.  "Stelly" spent 32 years on the coaching staff of the Twinkies, from 1981 through 2012.  Notably, this made his Minnesota tenure the third longest such continuous stint for a single franchise in baseball history.  Only Nick Altrock's time with the original Washington Senators (42 years) and Manny Mota's time spent with the Dodgers (34 years) exceed Rick's Twin time.  As such, the bullpen coach became a fan-favorite in the Twin Cities.

But, before any of that, Rick was a high school baseball prodigy in his native Chicago and logged time behind the dish for my Chicago Cubs; the colorful, airbrushed 1975 Topps single you see above (which resides in my CATRC) will attest to that latter point.

Rick starred on the diamond for Mendel Catholic High School, located in the Roseland neighborhood on the far south side of Chicago.  That institution shuttered it's doors in 1988, though the site continues to be used as a high school under the Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep Academy banner.  Anyway, Rick's skills were good enough to get him noticed by the expansion edition of the Washington Senators, leading to his being drafted in the 11th round of the 1967 amateur draft.  After four seasons in the minors, the catcher ascended to the Big Leagues for a six-game trial in our nation's capital in 1971.  After another full year back in the bushes, the Senators became the Rangers before Rick made it back.

Stelmaszek spent the next few years of his career riding the shuttle between AAA and the Majors.  His defensive work behind the dish kept earning him spot work as a backup in The Show; however, his anemic bat hindered him from earning any lengthy stay.  In 88 career at-bats from 1971-74, Rick swatted a soft .170.

In May of 1973, "Stelly" was traded from Texas to California, where he would spend a little more than a year in the Angels organization.  Then, the Cubs jettisoned their longtime, iron man catcher, Randy Hundley to the Twins before the '74 campaign found themselves in desperate need of catching depth.  Steve Swisher was called up to take over the bulk of the catching duties while the club traded reliever Horacio Pena to The Golden State in exchange for Stelmaszek; Rick wound up splitting backup duties with George Mitterwald and Tom Lundstedt in what would be his final Major League season, as a player.

Fun fact - not known for his power at the dish, Rick smashed the only home run of his career in a Cubs uniform.  He made it count too, as the drive came against Dodger great Don Sutton.

It was back to Wichita for "Stelly" in 1975 and, before the start of the '76 season, he was traded by the Cubs to the New York Yankees.  After a few more seasons of bouncing around the farm systems of a handful of clubs, Rick wrapped up his time as an active player for the organization with which he would come to be most associated with - the Minnesota Twins.

After a two years spent as a manager in their chain, the manager of the parent club, John Goryl (himself a former Cub), hired Stelmaszek onto his coaching staff for the 1981 schedule.  Little did he know it at the time, but "Stelly" would stick around for the next three-plus decades, serving under five different managers (Goryl, Billy Gardner, Ray Miller, Tom Kelly, Ron Gardenhire) and earning two World Series Championship rings (1987 & '91) while calling the shots in the bullpen.  Along the way, Rick was described as "a tension-breaker, a consensus-builder" and his interactions with Twins players have been credited with helping the team get through the tumultuous mental and physical grind that is the MLB season.

It wasn't until his vision began to deteriorate and the Twins posted back-to-back 96-loss seasons from 2011-12 that Rick was finally handed his walking papers, ending one of the longest relationships in our pastime's lengthy history.

Two Twin greats - Kirby Puckett sharing a laugh with Stelmaszek in spring training '99. Courtesy of Jerry Holt, Star Tribune

In December of 2016, it was announced that the old catcher was suffering from pancreatic cancer and he would be undergoing treatment.  On April 3, the team brought him back to throw out the first pitch for Opening Day at Target Field and for their 30th anniversary celebration of the '87 World Series winners as a show of affection for their bullpen Buddha.  Additionally, he was set to be honored at the annual Diamond Awards in January, as he was named the recipient of the Herb Carneal Lifetime Achievement Award.  The baseball lifer will be missed by many and is certainly an all-time Twin.

He was a Chicago-native, former Cub backstop, and one of the modern era's most respected coaches. RIP, Rick.