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 All About Mickey

"Ain't no sense worrying: If you have no control over something, ain't no sense worrying about it -you have no control over it anyway. If you do have control, why worry? So either way, there ain't no sense worrying."
-Mickey Rivers
Overview

  • Birth Name:  John Milton Rivers    

  • Date of Birth:  October 30, 1948

  • Currently Resides:  New York & Florida

  • Positions:  Outfield, Designated Hitter

  • Bats:  Left

  • Throws:  Left

  • Height:  5'10"

  • Weight:  165 lbs.

  • Hair:  Black

  • Eyes:  Brown

  • Race:  African-American

 

Nicknames

  • Mickey (named, as a baby, after his resemblance to his Aunt Mickey)

  • Muddy (High School)

  • Weatherman (Junior College)

  • Buhla (Magic Valley Cowboys)

  • Jiminy Cricket (Magic Valley Cowboys)

  • Miami Greyhound (early in his career with the Angels)

  • Rambling

  • Gulfstream

  • Mick The Quick

  • The Almighty Tired Man (as deemed by Sandy Alomar Sr.)

  • Gozzlehead

  • Warplehead

  • The Chancellor

Education

  • High School: Northwestern High School Bulls (Miami, FL) Class of 1967

  • Junior College: Miami-Dade College Falcons 1968-1969

Military Service

  • United States Army 1970-71.

  • After Honorable Discharge in 1971 was assigned to the US Air Force Reserves.

Major League Draft(s)

  1. Selected by Chicago White Sox in the 1st round (13th pick overall) of the free-agent draft - did not sign (January 27, 1968).

  2. Selected by New York Mets in the 8th round (132nd pick overall) of the secondary phase of free-agent draft - did not sign (June 7, 1968).

  3. Selected by Washington Senators in the 1st round (8th pick overall) of the secondary phase of free-agent draft - did not sign (February 1, 1969).

  4. Selected by Atlanta Braves in the 2nd round (40th pick overall) of the secondary phase of free-agent draft (June 5, 1969).  On June 16, 1969, he was signed by Johnny Groth of the Atlanta Braves.

Professional Teams

  • Magic Valley Cowboys (Atlanta Braves' Single A affiliate in the Pioneer League)

  • Santurce Crabbers (Puerto Rican Winter League)

  • El Paso Sun Kings (California Angels'  AA afffiliate in the Texas League)

  • Salt Lake City Angels (California Angels' AAA affiliate in the Pacific Coast League)

  • Licey Tigres (Domincan Republic Winter League)

  • California Angels (American League)

  • New York Yankees (American League)

  • All-Star Team (American League)

  • Texas Rangers (American League)

  • West Palm Beach Tropics (Senior Professional Baseball Association)

Agents (Representation)

  • 1st:   Charlie Dye

  • 2nd:  Nick Buoniconti (NFL Hall of Famer and TV analyst)

  • 3rd:   Howard Mandell, Esq. (retired agent and and former City Attorney of Montgomery, AL)

  • 4th:   Rich Scott and Mike Frost (2000-02)

  • 5th:   Sandrell Rivers (2003-10)

  • 6th:   Mary Rivers (Current)

Uniform Numbers Worn

  • (21) 1967 Miami Northwestern Bulls HS

  • (2, 12) 1968-69 Miami-Dade College Falcons (see right)

  • (50) 1969 Magic Valley Cowboys

  • (64) 1970 California Angels Spring Training

  • (26) 1970 El Paso Sun Kings

  • (3) 1970 California Angels

  • (3) 1971 California Angels Spring Training

  • (5) 1971-72 California Angels

  • (15, 17, 25) 1972-74 Salt Lake Angels

  • (5,17) 1973 California Angels

  • (17) 1974-75 California Angels

  • (17) 1976-79 New York Yankees

  • (19) 1979 Texas Rangers (for 1 game on July 31, 1979)

  • (17) 1979-84 Texas Rangers

  • (17) 1989-90 West Palm Beach Tropics

Injuries

  • 1974 (September):  Broken carpal bone in right wrist

  • 1978 (June 16th):  Hairline fracture of right hand

  • 1978:  Hamstring pull and various leg problems during the season

  • 1982 (March 14th):  Right  knee buckled in spring training leading to arthroscopic surgery.

  • 1982 (May 6th):  Pulled up lame on May 6, 1982.

  • 1982 (August 4th):  Sprained left ankle, placed in a cast for over one month (see photo)

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