Saturday, April 5, 2014

#96 CHICO RUIZ




FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1970'S 
#96 CHICO RUIZ
ATLANTA BRAVES 1978, 1980

Utility infielder Chico Ruiz only played 18 games for the Braves during the 70's and hit .283 during that time. He also managed a .292 career average over 43 at-bats.

But what I remember him mostly for is a Monday night baseball gaffe by Howard Cosell. A better known player named Chico Ruiz played in the majors between 1964 and 1971, mostly for the Cincinnati Reds. That Chico Ruiz died in an automobile accident in 1972. Fast forward to the 1978 Monday night game and Howard Cosell states about the Brave Chico Ruiz about how this guy had been around the majors for a long time and such, clearly mixing up his Chico's. Howard obviously didn't get the news that the Chico he was thinking about died six years earlier. After a commercial break, Howard obviously was given the word that this was not the same Chico Ruiz and said something to the effect of "That's not the same Chico Ruiz." He didn't bring it up again that I remember.
Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 26, 2014 at 12:54 PM

    The two things I remember about the Monday Night game: 1) Cosell thinking that the Braves were starting a deceased infielder at second base 2) The real Chico Ruiz reaching across the plate and executing a perfect hit-and-run on a Tom Seaver pitchout.

    Great blog. This is my favorite era of Braves baseball.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Atlanta Braves Favorite Players of the 70’s and 80’sApril 28, 2014 at 11:29 AM

    Thanks! And I'm glad someone else remembers that game!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)