Ricky Jordan

I don't know why but Ricky Jordan will always have a place in my heart. He is just one of those Phillies players I took a liking to as a kid.

We mimicked his unmistakable, unorthodox batting stance when playing wiffle ball. His stance was a little open, with his arms in the air, waving the bat ever so slightly. (kind of like Kruk) You might think a stance like this would be easy to find a weakness, considering the distance the bat head would have to travel to make contact.... but he, like Kruk was always known for having a good bat. Unfortunately Jordan was often hurt and never truly had a shot to be the Phils everyday first baseman for more than one season. In that season he batted .285 with 12 HRs and 75 RBIs... that's pretty good production... that's Rico Brogna production.

Aaaahh.. there was a short time when all Phillies fans let out a sigh of relief and thought that Ricky Jordan and Ron Jones would lead us to the promised land... but it was not meant to be.

I can also recall Jordan always chewing bubble gum and would often do so open mouthed. When in the field this gum chewing would cause his temples to move unlike any other ballplayer.

I think we all remember the homerun in his first official at bat followed by his excellent rookie season. To this day, I still think he should have won rookie of the year over Chris Sabo. Consider these numbers.

Sabo - 538 ABs, 11 HRs, 44 RBIs, .271 avg., 46 SBs

Jordan - 273 ABs, 11 HR, 43 RBIs, .308 avg, 41 Runs

Granted, Ricky Jordan didn't have 46 stolen bases, but he did have the same amount of homeruns and RBIs with half as many at bats... that has to count for something.

Cheers to Ricky Jordan who seems to be happy and healthy living with his family in California. The Phillies website posted a good story about him....