Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. (born on October 12 1945), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He makes occasional on-air appearances on the RAW brand and works as a backstage booker and producer on the ECW brand.
Rhodes is a 3-time NWA World Champion and former NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship. He has also won many other championships during his wrestling career. He is a member of the WCW, WWE, and Wrestling Observer Newsletter Halls of Fame.
James Lamar Rhodes (born May 13, 1927 in Matthews, Alabama) was an outfielder with a 7 year career from 1952-1957, 1959. He played for the New York Giants and San Francisco Giants, both of the National League.
Of him, the great manager Leo Durocher said "a buffoon is a drunk on a hitting spree." In the 1954 season, he was often used as a pinch-hitter for the future Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, and came through with an incredible number of clutch hits.
In the first game of the 1954 World Series, Rhodes had a pinch hit home run in the bottom of the tenth inning off of Bob Lemon to win the game. blank">http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B09290NY11954.htm. The next day he delivered a pinch hit single in the fifth inning and the remanied in the game to play left field. In the seventh inning he hit a homer off of _Early Wynn to help ensure the victory. blank">http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B09300NY11954.htm
_Roy Campanella, the Brooklyn Dodger catcher, said of Durocher and his action of pinch-hitting Rhodes: "If they have to pinch hit Rhodes for Irvin, they must be hurting." Willie Mays mocked this assumption in his autobiography, and it seems that Rhodes was the prototypical 'Durocher Player'––a man who on the surface seemed to be unable to run, hit, throw, or field, but beat you anyway. Durocher applied this theory to other players as well, most notably Eddie Stanky.
Dusty Rhodes remains a legend in New York City, where he exemplified the underdog in peak glory, even though the "Miracle" Giants have long since moved to San Francisco.
During the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece, Rhodes, of Greek heritage, was given the chance to coach for the host nation, Greece. Most of the players on the Greek Baseball team was made up of Americans with Greek heritage, including Clay Bellinger of the Baltimore Orioles.
After Rhodes career, Dusty worked for a friend on a tug boat for 25 years, a job in which Dusty said he loved. Dusty stated after his career when asked why his career was so short, "After Durocher left the Giants, baseball wasn't fun anymore."
