Ron Cey: Remembering The Penguin

                                             Number 10 on your scorecards, “The Penguin”, Ron Cey, 3B. Cey was one of my favorite Dodgers back in the day. Cey was a member of the 1968 draft class. Long considered the best draft class in Dodger history. He was chosen in the third round of the secondary phase out of Washington State University. He had previously been drafted in the 19th round in 1966 by the Mets. 

                                            He joined Tri-City of the Northwest League as a 20-year-old in 68. He played 74 games there, hitting .299 with 9 homers and 62 driven in. Tri-City was a low A team. In 69 he first played at Class-A Bakersfield. In 98 games he hit .331 with 22 homers and 56 driven in. He did not fare as well at AA Albuquerque, hitting only .156 with no homers. He hit .330 that winter in the AIL with 3 homers and 17 driven in. 

                                            The year 1970 started with Cey once again at AA where he hit .331 in 71 games with just 4 homers and 56 driven in. He was promoted to AAA Spokane in 71 and had a great year hitting .328 with 32 bombs and 123 driven in.  That earned him a September call up to the Dodgers. He got into 2 games, had 2 at bats and struck out both times. In 72, the Dodgers moved their AAA team to Albuquerque under manager Tommy Lasorda. Cey had another good season, batting .329/23/103 in 145 games. That earned him another September look with LA. This time he got into 11 games hitting .270 with his first MLB homer and 3 driven in. “The Penguin” would not see the minors again. He would spend the next 10 years as the Dodgers primary starting third baseman. And he was a member of an infield that stayed together as a unit for 8 1/2 years. An MLB record. 

                                          Cey was born in Tacoma Washington on February 15th, 1948. He was a multi-sport athlete at Tahoma High School earning nine varsity letters. The first to do so. He then went on to Washington State University and played two years for the Cougar baseball team before being drafted by the Dodgers in June of 1968. The Dodgers sent the young third baseman to Tri-Cities to start his career. 

                                           He climbed the ladder quickly and in 1973, Alston mad Cey his starting 3rd baseman. He had beaten out teammate Steve Garvey for the spot. The reason was simple, Garvey was not very good making throws from third. The patrons along the right field line were in danger of being plunked by an errant throw from Garvey. So Garvey shared first base with Bill Buckner in 73. He would move to first all by himself in 74.

                                          Cey’s first full season was ok. He did not set the league on fire, but he was steady hitting .245/15/80 with an OPS of .723. In the field he made 18 errors on the season in 457 chances. Cey was never a spectacular fielder, but he was steady and played every day. LA won 95 games but finished 3.5 games back of the Reds.  His 74 season saw some improvement at the dish with a .262/18/97 line. He was becoming one of the better RBI men on the team. LA won the division and then defeated the Pirates 3 games to 1 to advance to the World Series. 

                                        Cey hit .313 with a homer and RBI against the Bucs with 4 extra base hits. Against the A’s he was not so good, hitting .171 with no extra base hits or RBI’s. Ron had his first 100 RBI season in 75. He smashed 25 homers, hit .283 and drove in 101 runs. But 75 was the first year of the Big Red Machine’s two-year dominance of the West. LA finished in second place, 20 games back of the Reds. 

                                       76 was a little better for the team, they won 92 games and finished just 10 games back of Cincinatti. Cey posted a 6 WAR season. He hit .277 mark with 25 homers and 80 driven in. His OPS was 3 points higher than in 75 at .848. He made the All-Star team for the third year in a row. Alston retired at the end of the season with a couple of games left, and he was replaced by a totally different type of personality in Tommy Lasorda. When spring training began in 1977, you could tell there was a whole new vibe in the Dodger locker room. 

                                      Whereas Alston was low key, and quiet, Lasorda was 180 degrees from that. Lasorda was a total rah-rah guy. He patted his players on the back and led the cheers. Yes, Tommy was a whole different animal than Alston. Tommy had also managed many of his players in the minors, so his actions, which may have seemed over the top to some of his veteran players, were perfectly normal for guys like Cey, Garvey, Lopes and Russell. LA had made some off-season moves after the 76 season, trading Bill Buckner to the Cubs for Rick Monday. 

                                      Monday took over in CF with 75 mid-season pickup Reggie Smith in RF and Dusty Baker manning left. Cey, Russell, Lopes and Garvey were the infielders with Steve Yeager doing the bulk of the catching. Tommy John’s second year back after missing all of 74 with the surgery which would be named after him, won 20 games. Rick Rhoden, Doug Rau, Don Sutton and Burt Hooton were the starting pitchers. All of them would start 30 games or more. 

                                    Cey earned player of the month honors in April with one of the best starts by a Dodger ever. The Penguin hit .425 with 9 homers and an MLB record 29 driven in. The 77 Dodgers won 98 games and finished 10 in front of the Big Red Machine. Cey hit just .241 but blasted 30 homers and drove in 110 runs. Along with Dusty Baker, Smith and Garvey, they became the first quartet to post 30 or more home runs. The Dodgers beat the Phillies in four games to win the pennant. 

                                     Cey had a grand slam homer in game 1 in LA in the seventh inning off of Carlton tying the game. Phils eventually won with 2 in the top of the 9th. LA won the next three games to win the pennant and advance to the series against the Yankees. Cey hit just .170 with a homer and three driven in against the Yankees as the Dodgers fell in 6 games. His homer came in a game two in over Catfish Hunter. It was a 2-run shot in the first. LA won 6-1. 

                                      1978 was another pennant winning year. LA won 95 games and finished 2.5 games in front of the Reds. Cey compiled a 5.4 WAR to lead all the Dodgers. Cey improved his BA to .270. He hit 23 homers and drove in 84 runs. LA beat Philadelphia in the LCS again, 3 games to 1. And once more advanced to a World Series against the Yankees. LA won the first two games in LA then lost the next 4. Cey hit .286 this time, with a homer and 4 driven in. He also played in his fifth All-Star game in 78. 

                                    Ron had another 5 WAR season in 1979. But the Dodgers dropped under .500 at 79-83, falling to third place behind the division winning Reds and the second place Astros. Cey improved his BA to .281 with 28 homers and 81 driven in. He made his sixth straight All-Star team. It would be his last. Cey turned 31 before the 79-season started. He had been LA’s starting 3rd baseman for seven years. Cey had another 5 WAR year, 5.0 in 1980. The Dodgers would tie the Astros for the division lead on the last day of the year. Free agent signee Dave Goltz pitched game 163 and the Astros beat LA as they lost 7-1 to finish second. Cey hit .254 with 28 homers and 77 driven in.  He had a 2-run homer in the third game of that series with Houston but sat out game 163 with Mickey Hatcher getting the start. 

                                  In 1981 there were storm clouds on the horizon as the MLBPA and MLB were at loggerheads in negotiations over free agent compensation. The MLBPA set a date to strike on May 29th. That date was extended a little after the MLBPA’s unfair labor complaint was heard by the National Labor Relations Board. The strike began on June 12th and would cause the cancellation of 713 games in the middle of the season. 38% of the season was lost. The two sides reached an agreement on July 31st and play resumed with the All-Star game on August 9th and regular play resumed the next day. Because of the strike, the league decided there would be two halves, and the Dodgers were declared the winners of the west in the first half. 

                                LA went 36-21 in the first half, and 27-26 in the second. The Astros won the second half in the west. But the team with the best record was the Reds. The Reds won 35 games in the first half, finishing .5 games back of the Dodgers. In the second half, the Reds won 31 games and finished 1.5 games behind the Astros. So, the team with the best record in the NL totally missed the playoffs. 

                               Cey hit .288 with 13 homers and 50 driven in, but his season was cut short when on September 9th against the Giants, he was hit in the arm by Tom Griffin and left the game with a broken arm. I know, I was there, I sang the anthem that night. LA lost the game 6-3 and Cey for the rest of the year. Cey missed the series against the Astros that the Dodgers won 3 games to 2. He was back for the Montreal series. He hit .278 in the five-game series won by the Dodgers 3-2 when Monday homered for the win in game 5 in Montreal. 

                               The infield would now play in their third World Series against the Yankees. They desperately wanted to flip the script and beat the Bombers.  The series started on October 20th in New York. Ron Guidry against Jerry Reuss. NY jumped out to a 5-0 lead after four innings. The Dodgers scored the next 3 runs, but dropped game 1, 5-3.  Cey was 1-4. Game two was a 3-0 shutout for the Yankees by former Dodger, Tommy John. Cey was 0-4 with a K against John. 

                              The series moved back to LA with Valenzuela pitching for the Dodgers and Dave Righetti. Cey went 2-2 and blasted a 3 run homer in the first. The Yankees scored 2 in the second and again in the third. But LA came back with 2 in the bottom of the fifth, and Valenzuela pitched a complete game with LA winning 5-4. Cey had scored the winning run on a double play grounder by Mike Scioscia. 

                              Game four featured Bob Welch against Rick Reuschel. Welch lasted four hitters before being lifted for Dave Goltz. He gave up 3 hits, 2 runs and a walk. Goltz was tagged for 2 runs and 4 hits in his 3 innings of work, one of the hits a homer by Randolph in the 2nd inning. But the Dodgers scored 2 in the bottom of the third on a single by Lopes and a groundout by Cey. They scored their 3rd run in the bottom of the 5th off of Rudy May after a Garvey double and a Cey RBI single. 

                           The Yankees countered with 2 in the top of the 6th making it 6-3.  Ron Davis took over in the top of the 6th. He walked Scioscia with one out then surrendered a two-run PH homer to Jay Johnstone. Lopes was aboard on an error by Reggie Jackson. He stole second, then he stole third, and was singled home by Bill Russell. The game was tied. LA scored 2 more in the bottom of the 7th when Baker led off with an infield single. Monday hit a line drive to center that got by Bobby Brown when he tried to make a shoestring catch. With Baker at third and Monday at second, they intentionally walked Guererro. John replaced Frazier. Yeager PH for Scioscia and hit a sac-fly to make it 7-6. Monday moved to third and scored on an infield single by Lopes. John then retired the side and would pitch the last two innings. Gossage, the Yankee closer, never got into the game. 

                          The Yankees scored a run in the top of the 9th off of Steve Howe on a Jackson homer, but he retired the side and LA won, 8-7 tying the series. Cey was 2-5 with 2 runs driven in. Game five in LA pitted Yankee ace, Guidry against Reuss again. This time, it was a pitcher’s duel. The Yankees scored in the second on a Jackson double, he moved to third on an error by Lopes and came home on Pinella’s infield single. The teams traded zeroes until the bottom of the sixth. 

                            Baker struck out. After he struck out Bakers suggested to Guererro and Yeager that they move up in the batter’s box to take away Guidry’s late breaking slider. The advice must have worked because first Guererro, then Yeager, hit back-to-back homers to almost the same spot in left center. Both on sliders. LA led 2-1. That would be the end of the scoring as the Dodgers won 2-1 despite committing three errors. There was a scary moment in eight inning when Gossage hit Cey in the head with a pitch, giving him a concussion. But after game six was delayed a day due to rain, the Penguin was cleared to play. 

                          Game six was scheduled for the 27th of October but delayed a day because of the weather. So, on the 28th at Yankee Stadium, the Dodgers faced the Yankees needing 1 win to erase the bad memories of 77-78. It would be Burt Hooton against Tommy John. John would pitch four innings allowing just 1 run and 6 hits. Hooton allowed a homer to Randolph in the third and LA tied it on a single by Yeager in the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th, Lemon made a controversial decision. Nettles led off with a double off of Hooton. Hooton retired the next two hitters and then intentionally walked Larry Milbourne to face John. With no DH in this series, Lemon made the choice to try and take the lead and had Bobby Murcer bat for John.  Cameras showed John’s disbelief at being lifted in the dugout. Murcer flied out to end the inning. It was revealed later that despite the collapse of the pen in the previous three games, Lemon and team owner, George Steinbrenner had decided on a strategy to get ahead early and let the bullpen protect the lead.

                      George Frazier, who had already chalked up two losses in relief, came in to replace John. He gave up 4 hits and 3 runs in his one inning of relief. Cey had an RBI single, and Guererro a 2-run triple. LA led 4-1. Hooton retired the Yankees in the bottom of the inning. Ron Davis took over for NY in the sixth and with one out, he walked Hooton and Lopes. Russell singled to short left, Hooton unexpectedly rounded third and headed home. Dave Winfield slipped on the wet grass and uncorked an errant throw. Hooton scored standing up. Lemon pulled Davis and brought in Reuschel. Lopes and Russell pulled of a double steal. Garvey was intentionally walked and then LA scored on a force out by Derrell Thomas. Baker reached on an error by Nettles, loading the bases again. Guererro then hit a 2-run single to end the scoring. LA was up 8-1. 

                      Howe replaced Hooton with 1 out in the sixth and gave up a single to Pinella scoring a run. Guererro capped his night with a solo shot in the 8th off of Rudy May. Howe shut the Yankees down for 3.2 innings and the Dodgers won their fourth game in a row and the series. Guererro, Cey and Yeager were named Co-MVPs, the first time in series history. Frazier became the first pitcher to lose three games in a best of seven series, and the second pitcher to lose three games in any series. Lefty Williams of the 1919 Black Sox lost three. 

                      Winfield’s throw typified his troubles in his first World Series. The future Hall of Famer was 1-22 at the plate. Steinbrenner felt he needed to apologize for his team’s performance and was soundly criticized for doing so. The 81 series was an end of an era. Both the Yankees and Dodgers, who had dominated the scene for so long, would not do so again for many years. 

                       As for Cey, he had a very good post-season. It would be his last as a Dodger. After the 1981 season, LA began breaking up the infield. Davey Lopes was traded to the A’s for Lance Hudson.  Steve Sax took over at second and became the 1982 ROY. Cey hit .254 with 24 homers and 79 driven in. It was his final year as a Dodger. Garvey left as a free agent, but Cey was traded to the Cubs for Dan Cataline, and Vance Lovelace. The reason for the trade? LA wanted to move Pedro Guererro to third and install rookie Mike Marshall in the outfield. Cey hit .264 over his 12 years as a Dodger. He slugged 228 homers and drove in 842 runs. He struck out over 100 times just once, 1977, as a Dodger. He did so twice as a Cub. 

                    Cey played four seasons in Chicago hitting 84 homers and driving in 286 runs. The Cubs made the playoffs only once, 1984 and lost 3-2 in the LCS with Garvey’s Padres. Cey was 3-19 in the series with a homer and 3 driven in. He finished his career with the A’s in 87 playing in 45 games with 4 homers and 11 driven in. Cey finished his career .261/316/1139.  Cey since retiring has been part of the community relations staff of the Dodgers. He can still be seen occasionally at Dodger games. 

                    There is a book about Cey called ” Ron Cey” Penguin Power, it was written by Ken Gurnick and Cey with a forward by Peter O’Malley. It is available on Amazon.