Dave Concepcion

Lore & Background

Concepción was born in Ocumare de la Costa, Aragua State, Venezuela, the son of a truck driver and his wife, Ernestina. He attended Liceo Agustín Codazzi. After high school, he worked as a bank teller and played part-time for the local Tigres de Aragua baseball team. His coach, Wilfredo Calviño, was also a Cincinnati Reds' scout, and Calviño signed Concepción to a Reds' contract in 1967.

Following the steps of his childhood heroes Chico Carrasquel and Luis Aparicio, Jr., Concepción, originally drafted as a pitcher, came out of Venezuela to become one of the Reds' and the National League's greatest all-time shortstops. He made his big-league debut at the age of 21 on April 6, 1970. In 1973, he blossomed, being named the starting shortstop. On July 22, 1973, he fractured his left ankle and tore ligaments sliding into third base and missed the second half of the year.

He returned in 1974 and played 160 games, winning his first of five Gold Glove Awards. By 1975, Concepción joined Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Pérez, Ken Griffey, Sr., George Foster and César Gerónimo in the famous 'Great Eight' starting lineup of The Big Red Machine. On July 13, 1982, the first All-Star Game outside of the United States was held at Montreal's Olympic Stadium; Concepción hit a two-run homer to help the National League to a 4–1 win and was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

Later in his career, Concepción worked with Tony Pérez and perfected the one-bounce throw to first base. He was the first shortstop to use this method to take advantage of the smooth artificial turf at Riverfront Stadium. In 1988, manager Pete Rose sent Concepción in to pitch 1.1 innings in Dodger Stadium; he gave up two hits, no runs, and struck out one batter. The Reds released Concepción after the 1988 season.

He attempted a 20th Major League season in 1989, trying out for the California Angels, but he failed to make the roster and retired at age 40. Concepcion ranks second in Cincinnati Reds history in career games played and at-bats; third in hits, doubles and stolen bases; and fifth in runs scored and total bases. He and his successor at shortstop Barry Larkin share the franchise record with 19 seasons played in a Reds uniform.

Reader's Guide

After retiring in 1989, he served as manager of the Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Concepción resides with his wife, Delia, in Urbanizacion El Castaño, a community in Maracay, Venezuela at the base of the mountains near Henri Pittier National Park. They have three grown children, sons David Alejandro and David Eduardo, and daughter Daneska. Concepción owns a farm as well as a trucking business.

On August 25, 2007, the Cincinnati Reds held a pre-game ceremony to retire Concepción's number 13. Joining him were several other all-time Reds greats whose numbers were retired, including former teammates Tony Pérez, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and manager Sparky Anderson as well as former teammates Ken Griffey and George Foster. Concepción has said that he originally chose that number to honor his mother, Ernestina, who was born in 1913. It was the first occasion in Major League history that the number 13 was retired by a team.

His number 13 was also retired by the Venezuelan team for which he played 20 years of winter ball, Tigres de Aragua of Maracay. In 2014, he was named vice president of the club. He is a member of the Caribbean Series Hall of Fame. In 2014, Concepción returned to Cincinnati to serve as grand marshal of the annual opening day Findlay Market Parade, and later he and his successor at shortstop for the Reds, Barry Larkin, threw the ceremonial first pitches prior to the Reds' season opener.