Ron Cey was an All Star, a World Series champion, and the third baseman of baseball’s longest-running infield with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which showcased Steve Garvey at first base, Davey Lopes at second, and shortstop Bill Russell. “The Penguin”, as he was well known, hit 316 home runs during his time in the majors, and had an affinity for coming through in clutch situations. He also spent time with the Chicago Cubs and the Oakland Athletics, but it was in Los Angeles that he appeared in four World Series and was named co-MVP of the 1981 World Series, along with Steve Yeager and Pedro Guerrero, as the Dodgers bested the New York Yankees. There was much for him to be proud of after winning it all in his fourth try.
“The fact that we had spent so many years seeking our goal,” Cey said. “[Game 6] was also the last game that the infield, the fabled infield, played together.”
The former Washington State Cougar had to battle adversity during that 1981 season. He was hit by a pitch in his left forearm by Tom Griffin of the San Francisco Giants, which put Cey in a cast for the next three weeks. While he returned for the NLCS against the Montreal Expos, the Dodgers first had to overcome an 0-2 deficit in the Division Series against the Houston Astros, during which Cey was still out of commission.
“It’s a big task to try to beat anybody three in a row in the playoffs,” he said. “We had them on our turf and our guys responded and won three in a row and set us against the Montreal Expos.”
After taking down the Expos in the decisive fifth game, a familiar adversary in the Yankees stood in the way of Cey and the Dodgers. The Bronx Bombers had crushed the title dreams of the Penguin in 1977 and 1978. The series began in an inauspicious manner for Los Angeles. Just like in the Houston series, they found themselves trailing 0-2. Also like that series, they found a way to dig themselves out of the hole.
“I just think we felt like we were the team of destiny,” Cey said. “We’d been able to overcome all the adversity and this was just another one of those things that we had to bear down and take care of.”
The 33-year-old third baseman batted .350 in that year’s Fall Classic. He drove in six runs. His lone homer was a three run shot off of that season’s A.L. Rookie of the Year, Dave Righetti, in the bottom of the first in game three. The Dodgers would win each of games three, four, and five by one run. He didn’t finish Game 5, however, because he was drilled in the head by a pitch from Hall of Famer Goose Gossage.
“I remember falling in slow motion,” Cey said. “I wasn’t bleeding and there wasn’t anything that happened other than me having a concussion and under today’s rules and regulations I would’ve been ruled out for the rest of the series, but they were different at that point in time and the decision was left up to me after I was cleared… I was given the okay to go back to New York and ready to go.”
After going all the way, he would spend one more year at Chavez Ravine before being dealt to the Cubs in January of 1983, following which he helped them win the N.L. East in 1984 as their everyday third baseman. However, the Cubs could not put the Padres away in San Diego after going up 2-0 at Wrigley Field. That would be his only playoff trip with Chicago, which also turned out to be the last of his career. He played his final game for Oakland in July of 1987.
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