19 Facts About Bucky Dent

1.

Bucky Dent earned two World Series rings as the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978 and was voted the World Series Most Valuable Player Award in 1978.

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2.

Bucky Dent was told the woman he knew as his aunt was in fact his mother.

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3.

Bucky Dent grew up in Sylvania, Georgia, and Hialeah, Florida, graduating from Hialeah High School.

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4.

Bucky Dent is one of the best shortstops in the American League, and he should be paid like one.

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5.

Bucky Dent was traded by the White Sox to the Yankees for Oscar Gamble, LaMarr Hoyt, minor league pitcher Bob Polinsky and He signed a three-year $600,000 contract upon his arrival.

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6.

In 1978, Bucky Dent is widely remembered for hitting a three-run home run that gave the Yankees a lead in the AL East division tie-breaker game against the Boston Red Sox.

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7.

Further, Bucky Dent occupied the ninth spot in the batting order, not generally considered a power slot, and did it with a bat borrowed from center fielder Mickey Rivers.

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8.

Three-time All-Star, Bucky Dent remained the Yankees' shortstop until 1982, when he was traded to the Texas Rangers in August for outfielder Lee Mazzilli.

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9.

Bucky Dent returned to the Yankees briefly in 1984 before finishing his career that season with the Kansas City Royals, wearing uniform number 21.

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10.

Tommy John observed that Bucky Dent's throwing arm was not the strongest and that his range was limited.

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11.

Bucky Dent intended to replace Dent with Billy Martin at the earliest opportunity in 1990, but those plans were brought undone when Martin died in a car accident on Christmas Day in 1989.

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12.

In 1989 Bucky Dent opened a baseball school at Delray Beach, Florida, which featured a miniature version of Fenway Park.

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13.

From 1991 to 1994, Bucky Dent served on the coaching staff of the St Louis Cardinals under manager Joe Torre, moving to the coaching staff of the Texas Rangers from 1995 to 2001.

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14.

In 2002, Bucky Dent served as the manager for the Omaha Royals, the Triple A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.

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15.

In 2003, when the Green Monster seats were added to Fenway Park, Bucky Dent attended the first game and sat in a Green Monster seat that was very near to where his 1978 home run landed.

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16.

Bucky Dent threw out the first pitch to Yogi Berra in the seventh and final game of the 2004 American League Championship Series.

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17.

Bucky Dent appeared in the September 1983 issue of Playgirl magazine wearing a swimsuit.

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18.

In 2014, Bucky Dent made a cameo as a father in the feature film Walt Before Mickey.

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19.

Bucky Dent has two children with his ex-wife, Karen “Stormie” Neale, Scott and Stacy.

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