for $1 million each at the MLB trade deadline on June 15, 1976, rather than trading them (as he had done with Reggie Jackson and Ken Holtzman the year before) or risking losing them in free agency. Rudi actually reported to the Red Sox and was issued a uniform, but never was permitted to play, as baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the transaction as not being in the best interests of baseball. Rudi later played for Boston in 1981. Rudi, along with Don Baylor, ended up leaving the A's as a free agent and signed with the California Angels for the 1977 season. However, Rudi's tenure with the Angels was mostly injury-plagued, even though he posted respectable home run and RBI totals in his four seasons. His best year with the Angels was 1978, when he played in 133 games and hit .256 with 17 home runs and 79 RBI's. He missed the Angels' 1979 post-season run with injury. After the 1980 season, Rudi was traded by the Angels along with Frank Tanana to the Red Sox for Fred Lynn. After one injury-filled season, he closed his career back with the A's in 1982 and hit a home run in his last professional at-bat. In a sixteen-year major league career, Rudi played in 1,547 games, compiling a .264 batting average (1,468-for-5,556) with 684 runs scored, 287 doubles, 39 triples, 179 home runs, 810 RBI and 369 walks. His on-base percentage was .311 and slugging percentage was .427. Strong defensively, he recorded a career .991 fielding percentage at all three outfield positions. In 38 post-season games, covering five American League Championship Series and three World Series from 1971-75, he handled 124 total chances (120 putouts, 4 assists) without an error. Rudi is retired and lives with his wife Sharon, in The Villages, Florida. He is a long-time amateur radio operator with the call sign NK7U. See also List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders References External links , or Joe Rudi - Baseballbiography.com, or Baseball Page, or Retrosheet, or SABR Biography Project, or Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League), or Rudsi' Ham Radio Contest Station, or Rudi's Real Estate Site 1946 births Living people Amateur radio people American League All-Stars Arizona Instructional League Mesa players Baseball players from California Birmingham A's players Boston Red Sox players California Angels players Daytona Beach Islanders players