{{Short description|American baseball player (1935–1999)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Dick Bertell |position=Catcher |image=Dick Bertell 1964.jpg |bats=Right |throws=Right |birth_date={{Birth date|1935|11|21|mf=y}} |birth_place=Oak Park, Illinois, U.S. |death_date={{death date and age|1999|12|20|1935|11|21}} |death_place=Mission Viejo, California, U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=September 22 |debutyear=1960 |debutteam=Chicago Cubs |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=April 12 |finalyear=1967 |finalteam=Chicago Cubs |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Batting average |stat1value=.250 |stat2label=Home runs |stat2value=10 |stat3label=Runs batted in |stat3value=112 |teams= *Chicago Cubs (1960–1965) *San Francisco Giants (1965) *Chicago Cubs (1967) }} '''Richard George Bertell''' (November 21, 1935 – December 20, 1999) was an American right-handed professional baseball catcher who played Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants from 1960 to 1967.<ref name="Dick Bertell at Baseball Reference">{{cite web |title=Dick Bertell Stats |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bertedi01.shtml |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> Although he was a light hitter offensively, he had a strong arm, throwing out 47.74% of the base runners who tried steal on him, ranking him fourth on the all-time list.<ref>{{cite web |title=100 Best Catcher CS% Totals |url=http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/100BestCSCar.pdf |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=The Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers}}</ref>
==Chicago Cubs== Bertell was born in Oak Park, Illinois. The Cubs signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Iowa State University in {{By|1957}}.<ref name="Dick Bertell Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac">{{cite web |title=Dick Bertell Trades and Transactions |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=bertedi01 |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=Baseball Almanac}}</ref> He made his major league debut with the Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader on September 22, 1960. Though he went hitless, Bertell knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly in his first at-bat. He recorded his first major league hit three days later, singling off Bob Grim of the St. Louis Cardinals. He went 2-for-15 in his first season, knocking in two runs in five games.<ref name="Dick Bertell at Baseball Reference"/>
Bertell found himself in a platoon role with the Cubs in 1961, seeing the majority of the playing time (92 games) behind the plate for the hapless Cubs.<ref name="Dick Bertell at Baseball Reference"/> He hit his first major league home run on July 6 off Pittsburgh's Vinegar Bend Mizell, and, overall, had a decent season at the plate for a catcher. Bertell hit .273 with two home runs and 33 RBI.<ref name="Dick Bertell at Baseball Reference"/> However, his playing time decreased the next season as the Cubs again stumbled to a ninth-place finish in the National League. In 77 games, he posted a career-best batting average of .302 with two home runs and 18 RBIs, and despite playing in fewer than half the team's games, Bertell still played more innings at catcher than anyone else on the 1962 team.<ref name="Dick Bertell at Baseball Reference"/>
The 1963 season found the Cubs rebounding and posting a winning record for the first time since 1946. Bertell also saw his playing time increase, his third straight season as the club's starting catcher. He led National League catchers in {{By|1963}} with a 60.8% baserunners caught stealing percentage, the twelfth highest single-season total in Major League history.<ref>{{cite web |title=1963 National League Fielding Leaders |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1963-fielding-leaders.shtml |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Season Fielding Leaders |url=http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/fieldsea.htm |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers}}</ref> Unfortunately, he could not maintain his previous season's batting prowess, dipping to .233 with 2 home runs and 14 RBI.<ref name="Dick Bertell at Baseball Reference"/> In 1964, Bertell had career best totals of doubles (11), triples (3), home runs (4) and RBIs (35), and had a batting average of .238.<ref name="Dick Bertell at Baseball Reference"/> He also led National League catchers in throwing out baserunners with 34.<ref>{{cite web |title=1964 National League Fielding Leaders |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1964-fielding-leaders.shtml |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>
==San Francisco Giants== Bertell spent the first two months of the 1965 campaign as the Cubs' starting catcher. He batted .214 with two extra-base hits (both doubles) in 34 games.<ref name="Dick Bertell at Baseball Reference"/> On May 29, the Cubs traded him along with Len Gabrielson to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Harvey Kuenn, Ed Bailey, and Bob Hendley.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 30, 1965 |title=Ed Bailey, Hendley, Kuenn Traded for Bertell, Gabe |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IDlWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AOkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7206%2C5099352 |access-date=2025-01-05 |work=The Spokesman-Review |page=Sports 2 |via=Google News Archive |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> His playing time significantly decreased with the Giants, as he saw action in 22 games over the final four months of the season, hitting .188 as a backup to regular catcher Tom Haller.<ref name="Dick Bertell at Baseball Reference"/>
Bertell was under contract to San Francisco in {{By|1966}} but he did not play in the majors. Just prior to the beginning of the 1967 season, the Giants traded him back to the Cubs for Don Bryant.<ref name="Dick Bertell Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac"/> He played two games with the Cubs, on April 11 and April 12, before being released. His final major league hit was a triple off Hall of Famer Jim Bunning, his first triple since 1964.<ref>{{cite web |date=April 11, 1967 |title=Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago Cubs Box Score, April 11, 1967 |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN196704110.shtml |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref>
==Death== Bertell died on December 20, 1999, in Mission Viejo, California.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1999-12-22 |title=Former catcher dies |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WY9XAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KvIDAAAAIBAJ&dq=dick%20bertell%20dies&pg=4723%2C408247 |access-date=2025-01-05 |work=The Spokesman-Review |page=C2 |via=Google News Archive}}</ref>
In 2000, Bertell was inducted into the Iowa State Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dick Bertell - Hall of Fame Class of 2000 |url=http://www.cyclones.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10700&ATCLID=605232 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228030239/http://www.cyclones.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10700&ATCLID=605232 |archive-date=2010-02-28 |website=Iowa State Hall of Fame}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{baseballstats|mlb=110942|espn=19166|br=b/bertedi01|fangraphs=1000913|brm=bertel001ric|retro=B/Pbertd101}} * {{Cite magazine |last=Holtzman |first=Jerome |date=June 1965 |title=Dick Bertell's 60-foot Trip to Success |magazine=Baseball Digest |volume=24 |issue=5 |issn=0005-609X}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertell, Dick}} Category:1935 births Category:1999 deaths Category:Baseball players from Oak Park, Illinois Category:Chicago Cubs players Category:San Francisco Giants players Category:Major League Baseball catchers Category:Des Moines Bruins players Category:Fort Worth Cats players Category:Pueblo Dodgers players Category:Lancaster Red Roses players Category:San Antonio Missions players Category:Houston Buffs players Category:Phoenix Giants players Category:San Diego Padres (minor league) players Category:Iowa State Cyclones baseball players Category:Deaths from influenza in the United States Category:Baseball players from Mission Viejo, California Category:20th-century American sportsmen