Dick Tracewski

Richard Joseph Tracewski (born February 3, 1935 in Eynon, Pennsylvania) was a player and coach in Major League Baseball. In his career, he was an infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers.

He participated in three World Series: two with Los Angeles (1963, 1965) and one with Detroit (1968). He also served as first base coach for the Tigers in the 1984 World Series. Tracewski was the Dodgers' second baseman the evening of September 9, 1965 when Sandy Koufax tossed a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs.

In an 8-season playing career, he batted .213, often playing around 75–100 games a year, serving as a good fielding backup infielder. He had 8 career home runs and 91 RBIs. He had 262 hits in 1231 at bats. He is right-handed. He was traded to the Tigers for Phil Regan on December 15, 1965.

Following his playing career, Tracewski managed in the Detroit farm system for two seasons (1970–71). In 1972, he began a 24-year stint as a coach for Detroit, longer than any other coach in Tiger history. Tracewski, on occasion, filled in as the Tigers interim manager. He managed the club for two games in 1979 before Sparky Anderson arrived, and for several weeks in 1989 while Anderson recovered from exhaustion.

Tracewski retired from baseball after the 1995 season, as did his long-time boss, Anderson.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet, or SABR Biography Project