Rick Renick, a former Twins player who later became their third base coach for their 1987 World Series championship team, died Saturday, Jan. 31, at age 81.
Renick, who was living in Sarasota, Fla., played five seasons for the Twins from 1968 to 1972 before returning to the organization in 1987. Third base coach Tom Kelly became the interim manager in September 1986 when Ray Miller was fired, and when Kelly retained the job for the 1987 season, he chose Renick, his former minor league teammate who was working with the Montreal Expos, as his third base coach over former Seattle Mariners manager Chuck Cottier, who was owner Carl Pohlad’s preferred choice.
Renick was the lone new coach on the 1987 staff. “There seems to be good camaraderie, a good feeling, a good bunch of guys,” he said at 1987 spring training in Orlando. “When you have people who put a lot of heart and soul into their work, it’s a good thing to be around.”
Renick’s intuition proved correct, as the team went on to its first division championship since 1970, when Renick played for the Twins. After the 1987 Twins clinched the AL West title in Arlington, Texas, Renick said: “This one’s so special. In ’70 we were supposed to win. This team here, we were supposed to finish fifth. But I told them in spring training. I told they were good enough to do it. They didn’t know how good they could be.”
The Twins went on to beat the Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship Series, then the St. Louis Cardinals for Minnesota’s first World Series championship.
Renick, who earned a reputation as an extremely aggressive third base coach and also worked extensively with hitters, remained with the team for the next three seasons as well, but after the Twins finished in last place in the AL West in 1990, he was fired by General Manager Andy MacPhail and replaced the following season by Ron Gardenhire. Renick declined an opportunity to stay as a coach in the Twins farm system, instead opting to join the Chicago White Sox instead.
As a player, Renick signed with the Twins in 1964 after his sophomore season at Ohio State and made his major league debut on July 11, 1968 against the Tigers at Metropolitan Stadium. In the second inning, he hit a home run to left off Mickey Lolich to give the Twins a 2-0 lead in an eventual 5-4 victory, making him the first Twins player to homer in his first major league at-bat.
Primarily a third baseman and left fielder, Renick appeared in 276 games for the Twins over the next five seasons — his only major league playing experience — and appeared in the 1969 and ’70 ALCS with the team. He hit 20 home runs and had 71 RBI in 553 at-bats. His best season was 1970, when he hit .229 with seven home runs with 25 RBI in 81 games.
