Birmingham’s Rickwood Classic honors Bucky Dent
Former New York Yankee and World Series MVP Bucky Dent is in Birmingham for today's Rickwood Classic. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr./Alabama NewsCenter)
Before Bucky Dent was a legendary baseball player for the storied New York Yankees, he was a running back on the football field.
“I loved football more than I did baseball back when I was growing up,” said Dent, the special guest at today’s Rickwood Classic game between the Birmingham Barons and the Chattanooga Lookouts (weather permitting). “In my senior year, I had to make a choice. I chose baseball because I thought I could go a little further. I think I made the right choice.”
Who could argue a decision that led the former running back from Savannah, Georgia, into notoriety as the starting shortstop of back-to-back World Series champions in 1977 and 1978. He was MVP of the latter championship, as the Yanks knocked off the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second year in a row.
“When I was growing up, I was Mickey Mantle,” Dent said, recalling his youthful years playing in his backyard. “I always dreamed of hitting a big home run, playing in the big game, winning a World Series. I got a chance to do it all.
“I got a chance to win my first world championship in ’77 (and) I got a chance to play on a great team in ’78,” he said. “There was a one-game playoff where the whole world would stop and I got a chance to hit a big home run and be a part of history. It’s a great feeling and I’m very honored to be part of the Yankee organization and be part of a Major League team. Not many guys get to do that. I feel very fortunate and lucky I got a chance to do that.”
Dent signed baseballs and talked baseball during his Tuesday appearance downtown at Levy’s Fine Jewelry, a sponsor of the Classic. But he did take a moment to recall a chance meeting with Paul “Bear” Bryant when the Yankees came to Tuscaloosa in 1978 for an exhibition game against the Crimson Tide.
“I was walking down the hall and talking to E.J. Junior, and George (Steinbrenner, the Yankees owner) and Bear were coming down and we stopped,” he recalled. “I guess they were playing Miami in ’68 or ’69 and he said he watched me play.
“I always loved Alabama,” Dent continued. “That was a good feeling, just to be able to talk to him, because he was one of my favorite people.”
Outside of a continued interest in the gridiron as a spectator – “I still love watching college football” – Dent says baseball is his whole life.
“I grew up loving the Yankees,” he recalled. “I came up in the White Sox organization but got a chance to be a part of the Yankees organization. (Mickey) Mantle was my hero and I got a chance to be on some great teams. The ’77 and ’78 teams, we won back to back World Series. Actually, this year is the 40th anniversary of our ’78 team. I love the game and I still follow it.”
Today’s Rickwood Classic will be a step down memory lane for the former shortstop who played minor league baseball for Knoxville in 1972.
“We came here and played in the old stadium, but I haven’t seen it lately,” Dent said. “I’m looking forward to going back and seeing it.”
The Barons return to Rickwood after a year away from the nation’s oldest ballpark. The Double-A Chicago White Sox affiliate played a Turn Back The Clock game at Regions Field in 2017 as Rickwood underwent needed repairs to shore up concrete and steel under the stands.
“We’re coming back and we’re coming back strong,” said Gerald Watkins, chairman of the Friends of Rickwood. “We hope to have a really nice crowd. It looks like the weather may hold off. We just hope this is the beginning of a new run of Rickwood Classics and everyone has a good time.”
The game is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Gates open at 11 a.m.
