Born June 17, 1948, in Ocumare de la Costa, Venezuela, Concepción’s father drove a truck for a living. His son fell in love with baseball as so many Venezuelans did – through the exploits of their record-setting countryman, Luis Aparicio.
On Sept. 12, 1967, Concepción signed with the Reds as an international free agent. At the time, he was working in the loan department of a Venezuelan bank.
“The scout had already signed three other guys, but his contract called for him to sign four,” Concepción told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “So, he said: ‘Concepción, you’re in. You’re a Cincinnati Red.’
“I signed. I was the only one who (made it to the majors).”
Concepción hit .234 in his first year in pro ball in 1968 with Class A Tampa of the Florida State League, quickly establishing himself as a top-shelf defender while leading the league in several fielding categories. He began the 1969 season with Double-A Asheville and hit .294 in 96 games, earning an in-season promotion to Triple-A Indianapolis.
With the Indians, Concepción hit .341 in 42 games – setting the stage for his debut in Cincinnati the following season.
After impressing Reds manager Sparky Anderson in Spring Training, Concepción was named Cincinnati’s Opening Day shortstop.
“If Concepción hits .220,” Reds pitching coach Larry Shepard told the Indianapolis Star, “he still helps the pitchers with his glove.”
Concepción hit regularly throughout the 1970 season, peaking at .310 in May and hitting .282 as late as Sept. 18 before a late slump saw him finish at .260. Defensively, however, he made 22 errors in 93 games at shortstop, prompting Anderson to often call on veteran Woody Woodward.
Woodward started all three games at short in the Reds’ sweep of the Pirates in the NLCS but had just one hit in 10 at-bats. After Woodward went 0-for-4 in the first two games of the World Series against the Orioles, Anderson turned to Concepción – who drove in two runs with a single and a sacrifice fly in Game 3 and added another RBI in Game 4.
The Reds lost the World Series in five games, but Concepción has established that he was the shortstop of the future
The Reds finished fourth the NL West in 1971, prompting a team shakeup that brought Joe Morgan to Cincinnati following a trade with Houston.
Morgan and Concepción would be the Reds’ double play combination for the next eight seasons, forming an air-tight seal up the middle. In those eight seasons, Concepción and Morgan would win five Gold Gloves apiece.
At 28 years old entering the 1977 season, Concepción was at his peak.
Beginning in 1972, Dave Concepción teamed up with future Hall of Famer Joe Morgan as the Reds' double play combination for eight seasons. (Lou Sauritch/National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)
He hit .271 with 64 RBI and 29 steals that year while yet again earning All-Star Game honors and a Gold Glove Award, then followed up by hitting .301 in 1978 with 67 RBI and 23 steals. His string of four straight Gold Gloves was snapped by Larry Bowa, but Concepción was widely regarded as the game’s most complete shortstop.
“Davey is the best shortstop in baseball,” said Reds manager John McNamara, who took over the team after Cincinnati finished in second place for the second straight season in 1978. “Look around and there isn’t a shortstop that fields as well as Davey and can, at the same time, hit .300 and drive in as many runs. You really appreciate Davey when you see him day-in and day-out.”
“Davey Concepción was the best shortstop I ever played with,” Joe Morgan said in 2007, “and the best shortstop I ever saw.”
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Originally Posted by Ron Madden
