Merv Rettenmund was a 13-year veteran of Major League Baseball who won two World Series rings playing with two different 1970s dynasties – the powerhouse Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine – then a third coaching the 1990s Oakland Athletics.
- Died: December 7, 2024 (Who else died on December 7?)
- Details of death: Died of cancer in San Diego at the age of 81.
- We invite you to share condolences for Merv Rettenmund in our Guest Book.
Merv Rettenmund’s legacy
Most Major League Baseball players never get the chance to earn a World Series ring, much less play with one of the sports’ great dynasties. Rettenmund took home three of them.
After gaining attention as an all-league player in two sports at Ball State University, excelling at both baseball and football, Rettenmund was drafted by the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, but instead chose to sign with the MLB’s Baltimore Orioles. He made his major league debut in 1968 and was on the team in their dramatic 1969 World Series upset loss to the “Miracle Mets.” He helped them make amends the following year, hitting a home run in Game Five of the Subway Series against the Cincinnati Reds and helping his team secure a World Series ring. It was their second of three American League pennants in a row, making the Orioles one of time’s true powerhouses.
In 1974, Rettenmund went to the Reds, the team he had helped beat. He joined at the tail end of the Big Red Machine era, during which the Reds went to four World Series championships in seven seasons, winning two of them. One was in 1975, with Rettenmund on board to take home his second ring.
He moved to the San Diego Padres a year later, so he wasn’t with the Reds for their consecutive win in ’76. He finished his career playing for the California Angels and retired after the 1980 season.
After his playing days were over, Rettenmund became a hitting coach, serving stints with the Padres, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Atlanta Braves, and Detroit Tigers. He won a third World Series ring, this time as a coach, with the 1989 Athletics, who were in the midst of three back-to-back World Series appearances at the time. Later, in the first of his two times helping guide the Padres, he was hitting coach for Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn (1960–2014) during the player’s storied run at .400 in 1994.
Rettenmund is an inductee into the Ball State University Hall of Fame.
On facing his last days:
“It’s been a great ride. Really and truly, I feel really good. I’m not in any pain. Everything is hunky dory.” — interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, 2024
Tributes to Merv Rettenmund
Full obituary: MLB.com