San Diego Padres

Date of birth: October 10, 1946 Russellton, PA

High School:  Valley HS (Lucasville, OH).

Nickname: Steamboat. I was searching for the why and this article only states his grandpa gave him the nickname. It’s a fantastic article about Tenace.

First Impression; How much darker could this card be? The ripples in his pants make the middle of the card almost appear out of focus. Other than that, magnificent stance!

Career stats player: Gene knocked 201 homers and hit .241 with a .388 on base percentage over 1555 career games as a Catcher. He was an All-Star in 1975. He was once World Series MVP and won 4 rings.

All Time Stat: Great eye, and that makes sense being a catcher. Get this; he walked 984 times, leading the league twice, and in his career he struck out 998 times. HOWEVER, if you remove his rookie season where he walked one time and struck out 15, his career totals are even at 983.

Accounting for 1970 through 2025 75 players walked more than Tenace, however only about a dozen struck out less. Under these parameters the best all time in lowest strikeouts is Ozzie Smith with 589, Mark Grace 2nd at 642 and Willie Randolph 675. (1500 G, 1000 BB -which Tenace doesnt qualify for).

The above stat shows overall he had a great eye and was in elite company. But how about compared solely to his contemporaries? I reran the list and made the date range 1969-1983 which was Tenace’s career. He jumps to 8th all time in walks but his strikeout total is still higher than most of the top 7.

Narrowing it down even further to get Gene his props, in that area there were 4 catchers who played 1500 games, Tenace has the most walks followed by Hall of Famers Johnny Bench 855 and Ted Simmons 719.

Career stats manager: 19-14. Gene was on staff for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1990-1997. He also was tasked with managing the club in 1991 while manager Cito Gaston was out with a herniated disc. After Cito returned they went on to win back to back rings, giving Gene 6. He retired in 2009, never managing again.

Fun Fact: Lets play around with the name a bit. As a kid I always thought his name should be spelled Tennis. His real first name is Fury. Fury Gene Tenace who was born Fiore Gino Tenacci.

Ever a Future Star?  He was on the 1970 two paneled Rookie Stars with Vida Blue.

Rookie or final card? No

Hall of Fame? Number retired? Oakland A’s Hall of Fame. He and Vida Blue would probably be in the next wave if there was ever a tier II Hall of Fame. But how many players have 4 rings?

Links to stories including Gene Tenace.