Dave Concepción

David Concepción
Shortstop
Born: (1948-06-17) June 17, 1948 Ocumare de la Costa, Venezuela
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 6, 1970 for the Cincinnati Reds
Last MLB appearance
September 15, 1988 for the Cincinnati Reds
Career statistics
Batting average	.267
Hits	2,326
Home runs	101
Runs batted in	950
Teams
Cincinnati Reds (1970–1988)
Career highlights and awards
9× All-Star selection (1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982) 2× World Series champion (1975, 1976) 5× Gold Glove Award winner (1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979) 2× Silver Slugger Award winner (1981, 1982) 1982 MLB All-Star Game MVP Cincinnati Reds #13 retired Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum induction (2003)

David Ismael Concepción Benitez (born June 17, 1948), better known as Dave Concepción, is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball. He was born in Ocumare de la Costa, Aragua State, Venezuela. On August 25, 2007 the Cincinnati Reds retired jersey number 13 in honor of Concepción's contributions to the team.

Career

Concepción gets a hit in the 1970s

Concepción was signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent in 1967. Following the steps of his childhood heroes Chico Carrasquel and Luis Aparicio, Jr., Concepción, originally drafted as a pitcher, came out of Venezuela to become one of Cincinnati baseball's more popular shortstops, making his debut on April 6, 1970. In his first three seasons, Reds manager Sparky Anderson played him part-time, sharing duties with Woody Woodward and Darrel Chaney.

In 1973 Concepción blossomed, both at bat and in the field, being named the starting shortstop. On May 9, in a Reds 9–7 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Johnny Bench hit three home runs and drove in seven runs against pitcher Steve Carlton. It was the second time that Bench smashed three homers against Carlton in a game. However, a Concepción two-run tie-breaker homer in the ninth, off Barry Lersch, was the game-winner. Concepción had been named to the NL All-Star team, but on July 22, two days before the game he broke his ankle (sliding into 3rd base after moving from first base with Dennis Menke base hit against the Expos in the bottom of the 7th inning at Riverfront, fracturing the fibula of left leg) and missed the second half of the year. At this time he was batting .287, with 8 HRs, 46 RBI, 39 runs, 18 doubles, three triples and 22 stolen bases.

Willie McCovey attempts to tag Cincinnati Reds' shortstop Dave Concepción out at first base in McCovey's final game at Candlestick Park, Copyright 1980 Sheldon Dunn

Concepción returned in 1974 and played 160 games. He enjoyed his best overall season, batting .281, with 14 HR, 82 RBI, as well as winning his first Gold Glove Award.

By 1975 Concepción joined Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Pérez, Ken Griffey, Sr., George Foster and César Gerónimo in the famous "Great Eight" starting lineup of The Big Red Machine that would help the Reds win the next two World Series titles. Even after Concepción had established himself in the major leagues as a star shortstop, he continued to play winter ball in Venezuela, helping to improve his batting. After his .274, 5, 49 totals in the 1975 season, Concepción posted marks of : .281, 9, 69 (1976) - .271, 8, 64 (1977) - .301, 6, 67 (1978) - .281, 16, 84 (1979) - .260, 5, 77 (1980) - .306, 5, 67 (1981) - .287, 5, 53 (1982).

On July 13, 1982, the first All-Star Game outside of the United States was held at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. Concepción hit a two-run homer to help the National League to a 4–1 win (the NL's 11th straight victory and 19th in the last 20 contests). Concepción was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

Later in his career, Concepción worked with Tony Pérez and perfected the one-bounce throw to first base. Concepción was the first shortstop to use this method to take advantage of the speedy artificial turf at Riverfront Stadium and other parks in the National League.

Hampered by age, an elbow injury and shoulder surgery in 1982, Concepción had consecutive sub-par seasons from 1983–84. Grooming Barry Larkin as his successor, he became a dependable handyman at all four infield positions. He was replaced by Larkin in 1986, only 44 games away from Larry Bowa's NL record for shortstops.

Concepción retired from baseball in 1988. During his last season, manager Pete Rose sent Concepción in to pitch 1⅓ innings in Dodger Stadium late in a blow-out game. He gave up two hits, no runs, and struck out one batter.

Dave Concepción's number 13 was retired by the Cincinnati Reds in 2007.

On August 25, 2007, Concepción's number 13 was retired by the Reds before their game against the Florida Marlins. It was the first occasion in MLB history that the number 13 had been retired by a team.

Quotation

"The best shortstop in baseball during the 1970s, Concepción was a graceful fielder who made himself into a fine hitter and used his speed well on the base paths. He and Joe Morgan formed one of the finest all-around double play combinations in history. In nineteen seasons -all with the Reds- Concepción played more than 2,100 games at the shortstop position. He was one of the last of the "Big Red Machine" everyday players to retire." – The Baseball Page

Books sections

• The Greatest Shortstops Of All Time, by Donald Honig - p. 80, 6 page(s). Dubuque, Ia: Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1992
• Baseball's Dream Team., by John Thorn - Dave Concepción: "Senor Slick" - p. 40, 10 page(s). New York: Ace Tempo Books, 1982

Articles

• Reds' Brass Excited Over Concepcion, Fast-Rising Infield Whiz. The Sporting News, by Earl Lawson - November 8, 1969 (Vol. 168, Issue 17) -- p. 39
• The Making of Dave Concepción. Baseball Digest, by Si Burick - August, 1974 (Vol. 33, Issue 8) -- p. 40, 3 page(s)
• Friday the 13th. Sports Illustrated, by Robert H. Boyle - June 23, 1980 (Vol. 52, Issue 26) -- p. 13, 14
• Dave Concepción Best in the Business. Boys' Life, by Jim Brosnan - September, 1975 (Vol. 65, Issue 9) -- p. 20, 4 page(s)

See also

• List of NL Gold Glove Winners at Shortstop
• List of Gold Glove middle infield duos
• List of MLB players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
• Players from Venezuela in MLB
• Tigres de Aragua

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Davidconcepcion - Official web site

Preceded by Gary Carter	National League Player of the Month April, 1981	Succeeded by Art Howe
Preceded by Gary Carter	Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player 1982	Succeeded by Fred Lynn