Biography
Rodney Earl Gaspar (born April 3, 1946 in Long Beach, California) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. A switch hitter, Gaspar played for the New York Mets (1969-70) and San Diego Padres (1971, 1974). A former player at Long Beach State, Gaspar played 178 games in his career, 118 of them in his rookie year, 1969. He began the year as the Mets’ starting right fielder, then became a utility outfielder (he also played left and center field on occasion) after Ron Swoboda became the regular right fielder. That year, he hit .228, recorded in 14 of his 17 career runs batted in, and hit his only Major League home run, off Mike McCormick of the San Francisco Giants on May 30. He also excelled defensively, leading all Mets outfielders in assists with 12 and double plays with six. That year, Gaspar was a member of the Miracle Mets team that unexpectedly won the World Series in five games over the Baltimore Orioles. In Game Four of that Series, Gaspar scored the winning run on a controversial play. With the score tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the tenth, Gaspar pinch-ran for Jerry Grote, who had led off the inning with a double. An intentional walk to Al Weis followed, after which J. C. Martin, pinch-hitting for Tom Seaver, bunted to the mound. Both runners advanced, and as Martin was running to first, Pete Richert's throw hit him on the arm and ricocheted away, the error allowing Gaspar to score the winning run. (Replays would later show that Martin had been running inside the baseline, which could have resulted in him being called out for interference; however, the umpires said they didn’t make the call because they felt Martin didn’t intentionally interfere with the play.) Gaspar's son Cade is a former minor league baseball pitcher. Today, Gaspar owns an insurance company in Mission Viejo, California. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Gaspar
