Thursday, August 8, 2013

1983 NL Champions: Ivan DeJesus 1985 Topps #791

Today we have the other half of the trade referred to in Tuesday's Ryne Sandberg posting.   

1985 Topps #791 Ivan DeJesus

It would be more proper to state that Ivan DeJesus was acquired for Larry Bowa and Ryne Sandberg was a throw in, regardless the two men were involved in the same trade.

As we noted previously, the deal is a frequently mentioned as a Phillies trade blunder. In defense of DeJesus and the Phillies side it is worth mentioning that the 1983 Phillies won the NL Pennant.  Ryne Sandberg may have hit 280 homers for the Cubs, but none of those teams went to the World Series.

The Phillies were the 3rd of seven clubs DeJesus played for in his 15 year career. Steady best describes his 3 seasons with the Phillies. In 1983 he batted .254 while playing 158 games as the teams starting shortstop. DeJesus also started all 9 games of the Phillies 83 post season.  

Ivan De Jesus had done some coaching but appears to currently out of baseball.  His son Ivan De Jesus Jr has had a couple of Major league call ups. He is currently in the Pirates organization as a second baseman with the Indianapolis Indians (batting .328 in 86 games)  

1983 NL Champions Series
Darren Daulton
Ivan DeJesus
John Denny
Garry Maddox
Tony Perez


Steve Carlton Passes Walter Johnson

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
wikipedia.com
Indianapolis Indians Official site

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a thousand words

a thousand words
2008 World Champions