Rick Plautz

Richard L. Plautz

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 190 lb.
• School Grand Canyon College, Colorado Mesa University

• Born ~1958

BR register page

Biographical Information

Rick Plautz played two years in the minors.

In 1980, Plautz hit .480 and slugged .822 at Colorado Mesa; he would have set the school record for average but teammate Randy Ready was higher. He did set the slugging mark and it stood for 16 years before Willie Mosher topped it. The Kansas City Royals took him in the 24th round of the 1981 amateur draft. He hit .291/.363/.445 that summer for the GCL Royals Gold with 10 triples, 42 runs and 27 steals (in 31 tries) over 62 games. He was 6th in the Gulf Coast League in runs (between Roland Oruna and Eric Bullock), tied Bill Pecota for 3rd in hits (66), led in triples (one ahead of Rolando Roomes), tied for 5th in RBI (33), ranked fifth in steals, was 3rd in slugging (between Pecota and Denny Gonzalez), was 7th in OPS (between Oruna and Robyn Lynch) and led in total bases (101, 7 ahead of Pecota). He tied Butch Davis for the most triples by a KC farmhand. He joined Kevin Buckley and Oruna as the GCL All-Star outfielders.

He split 1982 between the Fort Myers Royals (.245/.313/.347 in 77 G) and Charleston Royals (.276/.328/.444 in 53 G). Despite his limited time in the league, he tied Ken Kinnard, Benny Distefano and Kenny Clark for the South Atlantic League in three-baggers (8); he also tied for 7th in the Florida State League with 7 more triples. For the year, he had 89 runs, 21 steals in 27 tries and 15 triples. He was third in the Royals chain in runs (behind Cliff Pastornicky and Bombo Rivera and easily led in triples (6 ahead of Buddy Biancalana). Among all minor leaguers, he tied Albert Hall for second in triples, 3 behind Stu Pederson. Despite two solid seasons, that was it for his career. He had hit .269/.333/.407 with 48 steals in 58 tries, 131 runs and 25 triples in 192 games. He had fielded .954 in the outfield.

Sources include Colorado Mesa leaders, 1982 Baseball Guide