John Rikard Dempsey (born September 13, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player. He played for 24 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball from to , most prominently for the Baltimore Orioles where he played for 10 years and was a member of the 1983 World Series winning team. Dempsey was known for being one of the best defensive catchers of his era. In 1997, he was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame. Major League career Dempsey was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 15th round of the 1967 Major League Baseball draft out of Crespi Carmelite High School. After two seasons in the minor leagues, he made his major league debut late in the 1969 season for the division winning Twins managed by Billy Martin, however he didn't qualify for the postseason roster. Dempsey spent a few more seasons shuttling between the Twins and their minor league teams, before being traded to the New York Yankees for Danny Walton on October 31, 1972. During his tenure with the Yankees, he served as a reserve catcher to Thurman Munson, and received tutoring from Yankees coach and former catching standout Jim Hegan. After three and a half seasons with the Yankees, he was acquired along with Scott McGregor, Tippy Martinez, Rudy May and Dave Pagan by the Orioles for Ken Holtzman, Doyle Alexander, Elrod Hendricks, Grant Jackson and Jimmy Freeman at the trade deadline on June 15, 1976. He, McGregor and Martinez became part of a nucleus that kept the Orioles as perennial contender for the next decade. For the next ten and a half seasons, Dempsey would remain as the Orioles' starting catcher. He became known for his exceptional ability to handle pitching staffs, his strong throwing arm, and for his agility behind home plate. In 1979, the Orioles defeated the California Angels in the 1979 American League Championship Series to reach the World Series. In the 1979 World Series, the Orioles won three of the first four games against the Pittsburgh Pirates and seemed to be on the verge of winning the championship, when the Pirates, led by Willie Stargell, rebounded to win the final three games. It was one of Dempsey's greatest disappointments of his playing career. The highlight of his career came in 1983, when the Orioles won the American League Eastern Division pennant, then defeated the Chicago White Sox in