Mike Ivie

The Mike Ivie story is so illogical it was once called the strangest in baseball history.1 A young catcher picked first in the 1970 MLB draft and hailed as “the next Johnny Bench” failed to realize his potential because he wouldn’t try. Consequently, neither Ivie nor anyone else would ever know whether he truly had elite baseball talent.

As a young minor-leaguer, he defied San Diego Padres President Buzzie Bavasi and managers Preston Gomez and Don Zimmer when they demanded that he play catcher. He later resisted or outright refused lineup assignments from managers John McNamara, Alvin Dark, and Dave Bristol. His career likely ended because he would play no on-field position for Bill Virdon or Sparky Anderson.

Playing mainly at first base, Ivie did produce thrilling moments and had a respectable big-league career, mostly with the Padres and the San Francisco Giants. He had good power, though only once did he hit more than 14 homers, with a career-high 27 for the Giants in 1979. His unquestionable potential kept him in the majors for 11 seasons. 

Sadly, Ivie somersaulted through a recurring pattern of accomplishment, then depression, followed by calamity. What makes his career notable was his internal battle to remain in the game despite being made miserable by it. His tale is a cautionary reminder that the struggle for baseball success can exact a high toll.  

***

Michael Wilson Ivie was born to William Wilson and Betty Ann (Robinson) Ivie in Atlanta on August 8, 1952. Bill Ivie worked for the Georgia Power Company and played some amateur ball. He coached his son from age six, on through the local Babe Ruth Youth League and the Connie Mack League for 17- and 18-year-olds, where, at age 15, Mike was the starting catcher for Georgia state champion Gresham Park. From there, he played American Legion ball for Bob Scraggs’ Post 50 team.

The Yankees scouted the youngster when he was in the ninth grade. In 1970, Ivie wrote that his greatest baseball thrill came when he was asked to complete the Yankees’ information card. “I thought I was signed,” he said.2

Ivie hit .465 as a sophomore at Atlanta’s Walker High School. He hit .550 for the Warhawks in his junior year – demonstrating astonishing power. It was reported that he hit 21 homers in a stretch of 21 games, including a moon shot in Calhoun, Georgia, that traveled 450 to 475 feet. Then came a disappointing senior season, when as many as 33 professional scouts were attending his games. His batting average plummeted to .235. “I was going to show the scouts how good I was,” Ivie explained. “I started going for the long ball [and] had a terrible year.”3

Most of the scouts were unconcerned, possibly influenced by professional ball’s demand for good catchers. Charlie Roberts of the Atlanta Constitution reassured his readers that Ivie was coveted most for “his catching ability and strong throwing arm.”4

Padres scout Leon Hamilton signed Ivie to his first pro contract on June 7, 1970, just three days after the draft. Manager Preston Gomez dampened expectations that the 17-year-old would soon join the big-league club. “He needs to learn how to throw,” he said. “Let’s let him catch for two or three years and then we’ll see.”5

Eight days after he was signed, Ivie was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ national high school team. One month after that, he hit his first pro home run in the fifth inning of the second game of a doubleheader between his new team, the Class A Tri-City Padres (Kennewick, Washington), and the Bend (Oregon) Rainbows.6 He was selected to play in the Northwest League All-Star game the following week.

Ivie had a banner year in 1971 playing for the Class A Lodi Padres. He had 112 hits, 15 home runs, and a .305 batting average in 102 games. He was named the California League’s Most Improved Player and Best Defensive Catcher and was selected for the Topps National Class A All Star Team. The 19-year-old was rewarded with a brief call-up to the big club in early September, making a remarkable, expectation-setting debut.

He reached base 10 times (eight hits, one walk, and one hit by a pitch) in only 19 plate appearances in the six games he played. Despite allowing six stolen bases, including three to Braves speedster Ralph Garr, his confidence in his catching ability seemed sky-high. “I think I can catch up here,” he told Roberts. Gomez agreed, “as far as [his] receiving is concerned.”7

Ivie’s defensive development looked to be on schedule. In his two minor-league seasons, he had fewer passed balls and an error rate similar to those of the other future big-league catchers – Barry Foote (Expos) and Darrell Porter (Brewers) – who were also among the first four picks in the 1970 draft. More tellingly, no sports reporter was criticizing Ivie’s catching or throwing.

That changed during the first week of spring training the following year. Suddenly, Ivie struggled to make routine tosses, including return throws to his pitcher – the same “yips” that afflicted catchers Dale Murphy beginning in 1976 and Mackey Sasser in 1990. Ivie would double- and sometimes triple-pump and thump his pitcher’s protective screen with routine batting practice throws. Obviously frustrated, he walked out of spring training on February 29, 1972. Over his subsequent 11 seasons as a pro, he would appear behind the plate in just three games (for San Diego in 1975 and 1976).

Bill Ivie was not pleased when his son returned home and announced he was quitting baseball. “If you’re going to play . . . call the Padres,” he told his son. “If you aren’t, then burn [your] damn gloves.”8

After two months, Ivie told team president Buzzie Bavasi that he was prepared to return but not as a catcher. Bavasi expressed his outrage to a reporter:

He hit [poorly] his senior year in high school. Do you think we gave him $75,000 because of his hitting? We signed him for his catching. Now, if he wants to play first base, let him give us back the $75,000 we paid him . . . and we’ll give him a chance at first base.9

Bavasi capitulated, however, at least for the time being. Duke Snider, then manager of the AA Alexandria (Louisiana) Aces in the Texas League, was charged with teaching Ivie to play first base, third base, and the outfield.

Ivie responded with an outstanding offensive year. An Alexandria reporter wrote that electricity crackled through the crowd every time he came to bat.10 He hit 24 homers, including six in one week in June,11 and was named to the Texas League All Star Team.

“If [Ivie] would agree to catch, I’d bring him up and put him in the lineup right now,” said Padres’ manager Don Zimmer. “But he won’t do it.”12

Ivie married his grade school sweetheart, Mary Pamala Verner, during the off-season. He and Pam would have two children, Steven and Scott.

Not long after the wedding, Ivie was “cured” of his catching phobia by a former electronics repairman named José Silva, who used old-fashioned snake oil quackery to convince gullible customers that they could master mind control through ESP and clairvoyance.13 Ivie may also have been influenced by first baseman Nate Colbert’s 38 home runs and 111 RBIs during the Padres’ 1972 season.  

In a startling turnaround, Ivie arrived in spring training noticeably enthusiastic and expressing confidence in his catching ability. By all accounts, the Padres intended to open the 1973 season with him at catcher.

The plan shattered 10 days later when a team doctor attributed numbness in the index finger of Ivie’s glove hand to broken blood vessels caused by too much catching. An orthopedic surgeon told Ivie he shouldn’t play the catcher position for two years.

Thus foiled, the Padres sent Ivie to the AAA Hawaii Islanders to play first base. He lasted only 59 games before he quit baseball again, saying he was sick of traveling. He abandoned the team at the Portland, Oregon airport on June 15, while his teammates were boarding a connecting flight to a game with the Tacoma Twins.14

Ivie had been a mediocre performer on a dismal club buried in the cellar. He had only five home runs and 21 RBIs in 226 at-bats for a team that was 11 games out of first place and 16 games below .500.

He’s “finished,” said the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, adding that Ivie had been playing without “inner spark.”15 “I don’t care if he comes back this time or not,” said Bavasi. “[But] we’ll only take him back as a catcher.”16

Little more was written about Ivie – he had “retired,” and that was that – until the winter of 1973-74, when newspapers said he would report to spring training. Then, in another bizarre twist, the Padres loaned Ivie to the San Francisco Giants’ AAA team in Phoenix. Just as unexpectedly, the Padres recalled him at the end of training camp, reassigned him to the reluctant Islanders, rescinded the reassignment, and sent him back to the Class AA Alexandria team, which was thrilled to welcome him home.

“With drama usually reserved for tales in story books,” wrote Bill Carter, “Ivie celebrated his return [to the Aces] by blasting a 400-foot, three-run homer his first time up.” Overjoyed, team owner Pete Tattersall rewarded him with a horse from his Rosalie Plantation.17

Ivie finished the 1974 season batting .292 with 18 home runs. He was promoted to the majors for good in September. His first big-league home run, on September 11, was a seventh-inning two-run shot off Astros pitcher Don Wilson. It gave the Padres a 2-0 win.

Ivie, who still qualified as a rookie, had a successful first full campaign in the majors in 1975. He split playing time between third base (61 games) and spelling achy-kneed 37-year-old Willie McCovey at first base (78 games). He even played one inning at catcher as an emergency replacement for a tired Randy Hundley in a 15-inning game in Atlanta on August 2. For the season, he hit .249 with 94 hits, eight home runs, and 46 RBIs in 111 games. All in all, it was enough to land him on the Topps All-Rookie Team.

Ivie became the Padres’ primary first baseman in 1976. His .291 batting average led the team. He drove in 70 runs, with 19 doubles and seven home runs, and was named National League Player of the Week for the week ending August 29 (6 RBIs and 9 hits in 19 at-bats).

Ivie shifted from first base to catcher in the 10th inning of a home game against Cincinnati that went 14 innings. He allowed two stolen bases, committing a throwing error on the first. He started a game behind the plate (at last!) on July 5 against the Cubs. Manager John McNamara wanted both Ivie and McCovey in the batting order to avoid playing either of his then weak-hitting catchers, Fred Kendall, batting .224, and Bob Davis, batting .176. McNamara hinted that the position switch would be permanent when he told a reporter that no one would ever know how much hard work had gone into getting Ivie to catch.18

Unfortunately, the only run in the Padres’ 1-0 loss occurred on Ivie’s throwing error. Rick Monday trotted home from third base when Ivie threw the ball into center field trying to throw out José Cardenal, who was racing to steal second. Physically and emotionally drained, Ivie was given the next day off. He would never agree to catch again.

His recurring attitude problem resurfaced during the 1977 season. On May 2, he refused to play third base in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. He said he couldn’t hit when he played the hot corner. “Kindergarten is now over,” replied McNamara.19 He placed Ivie on immediate suspension, fined him $400, and ordered him to remove his uniform and leave the stadium. “Sure, [Ivie] had emotional problems,” the manager later boasted. “He did quit in a big sulk and go home. But he didn’t push me around.”20

Ivie quickly apologized. He rejoined the team the following day and was inserted into the lineup as a pinch-hitter. Over the next two weeks, he was held out of five games. In the games he played, he pinch-hit three times, played first base once, and played third base twice. He returned to the lineup as the starting first baseman on May 19.

Team owner Ray Kroc fired McNamara nine days later. The Padres were 20-28 at the time, 14½ games out of first place and going nowhere. In Kroc’s view, the sorry state of affairs was easily explainable: McNamara was too easy on his players.

Ivie starred in Alvin Dark’s first two games as the Padres’ new manager, a doubleheader sweep against the Giants in San Francisco on Monday, May 30. Dark’s decision to move Ivie from fifth to third in the batting order proved brilliant. Ivie had six RBIs and seven hits in 10 at-bats, including five doubles – two in one inning. He had two more hits the following day.

Dark played Ivie exclusively at first base until three games in early July, when he shifted him to third in late innings. On August 17, Dark moved Ivie to third base, seemingly for good, giving him only spot starts and late innings at first base. Ivie remained outwardly poised until September 6, when he threw a ball in the dirt with the bases loaded; the error caused a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. After the game, he asked to be traded or put back at first base. It took a few more months, but eventually the Padres gave up on Ivie. He was sent to the Giants for Derrel Thomas in February 1978. Dark was fired a few weeks later.

The trade was unpopular with San Francisco players at first, including first baseman Willie McCovey,21 who had rejoined the club of his glory years after his unconditional release by the Oakland Athletics in November 1976.

However, Ivie proved his mettle. He was a key contributor during the Giants’ battle with the Dodgers for the 1978 NL West title.

The Giants were an exciting club that year. Forty-two of their wins were by a single run. They held first place for 76 games and led the division as late as mid-August.

Ivie was superb, particularly coming off the bench. A pinch hit that season proved to be his biggest moment in baseball, as well as one of the most celebrated hits in Giants history. It occurred in the bottom of the sixth inning in a game against the Dodgers on Memorial Day weekend, Sunday, May 28, 1978, when Giants manager Joe Altobelli called on him to bat for shortstop Vic Harris.

Just one year earlier, the team had finished 28 games behind the Dodgers. Worse, they had gone 4-14 against them in head-to-head competition. Now, the Giants were in first place and playing before 56,103 fans, the largest crowd in Candlestick Park history. They were down, 3-1 – but had loaded the bases with nobody out.

Facing future Hall of Famer Don Sutton with a 2-0 count, Ivie opened his stance and squarely hit Sutton’s tight inside fastball, hammering a grand slam over the outstretched glove of Dodgers left fielder Dusty Baker. Ecstatic fans leaped up and yelled. “I felt like . . . jumping up and down and screaming my fool head off for five minutes,” said Giant Darrell Evans. “[It] was the biggest thrill I’ve ever had in baseball,” said Ivie. 22

The following day, the Sacramento Bee called the Giants’ 6-5 win “the most electric, most important, and most watched game ever played in Candlestick Park.”23

Ivie continued to produce in this role. “If there is a better pinch-hitter than Mike Ivie, the Giants would like to see him,” wrote the San Francisco Examiner on August 19.24  He hit .387 with four home runs and 20 RBIs in only 31 pinch-hit at-bats. Two of his pinch-hit homers were grand slams.

Giants fans adored him. The Washington Post said he was greeted when he came to bat with “a chant from the stands with a nice rhythm to it: ‘I-VIE, I-VIE!’”25

“Now I feel I am playing up to my potential,” Ivie said.26 He finished the season with 318 at-bats, 11 home runs, and 55 RBIs, playing 76 games at first base behind McCovey and 22 games in left field in addition to pinch hitting.

The Giants announced that Ivie would be the first baseman at the start of the 1979 season. He responded with his best year. He led the team in home runs with 27 (tied for 11th in the NL) and 89 RBIs. He played wherever he was needed except catcher (98 games at first base, one at second base, four at third base, and 24 in the outfield). On June 11, he signed a five-year contract effective with the 1980 season for a reported $800,000. He was only 26 and on his way to stardom.

Until the following year, when he quit baseball again.

The Giants had been in last place, playing poorly, and in full revolt. In the space of the two weeks between June 5 and June 19, 1980, the following events unfolded:

• The Examiner ran the cynical headline “Giants Get Runner to Second;”
• Several players demanded to be traded (others demanded that teammates be traded);
• Outfielder Jack Clark called his team “the worst . . . in organized baseball;” and
• Bristol, the manager, sucker-punched his pitcher, John “Count” Montefusco, or so Montefusco claimed.27

Ivie was on the 15-day disabled list for mental stress when McCovey announced he would retire after rumors surfaced that he would be released if he didn’t. Then Ivie announced his own out of left field retirement on June 25, four days after he had returned to the team.

His season had gone poorly – he had a .231 batting average, with only two home runs and six RBIs – at least partially stemming from a sprained left ankle and an offseason accident with a hunting knife that severed the flexor tendon in the little finger on his right hand. 

Ivie insisted that this time, his retirement was final. “Peace of mind is what I want,” he explained. “I was . . . going to the [ball]park at two in the afternoon and just sitting at my locker for hours. [I was] right at the point of a nervous breakdown.”28 He told his wife he felt as though he were trapped in a burning building.

Bristol was sympathetic and kind, at least at first. “It’s a deep-rooted thing,” he said. “I feel very badly for Mike.”29 Later, it was reported that he considered Ivie a cancer in the clubhouse.

Ivie’s resolve lasted only one day. He said he was merely taking a leave of absence to get some things in order. He credited his decision to return to an unexpected source: a sympathetic telephone call from McCovey, offering encouragement and support.

The Giants reportedly attempted to trade Ivie at season’s end, but no one wanted him. “[N]ot even [the] Cubs,” said the San Francisco Examiner.30

In the spring of 1981, Ivie responded to encouragement from new manager Frank Robinson with a strong performance in training camp. But their relationship soured when Ivie learned the Giants would open the season with Enos Cabell at first base. Distraught, he demanded to be traded. “If anybody wants him, they can have him,” answered Robinson.31

Within three weeks, the Austin American Statesman reported that the Houston Astros had “unloaded” two players to the Giants in exchange for Ivie “and a headache to be named later.”32

Reporter Bob Slocum, who covered the Giants for the Modesto Bee, was disheartened by the trade. He wrote that, other than Jack Clark, Ivie was “the most innately gifted player on the [Giants] ballclub.” He thought Ivie might “immediately capture a Triple Crown with the Astros.”33 He could not have foreseen that Ivie would have only 52 plate appearances over parts of two seasons with his new team.

Ivie had a good early outing on May 1. His ninth-inning two-run double gave Houston a 5-3 win over the Pirates. But his stint with the Astros quickly unraveled. On Tuesday night, May 12, 1981, Cardinals closer Bruce Sutter struck him out in the bottom of the ninth inning with the winning run on second base. Ivie entered the clubhouse, sat beside his locker, and wept. He asked to speak to the team chaplain, John Tolson, who notified general manager Al Rosen. “He expects too much of himself,” Rosen told reporters, “and these feelings are deep-seated and . . . don’t always appear on the surface.”34

Few in baseball were supportive when they learned that Ivie was admitted to the Houston Methodist Hospital with “mental fatigue,” a euphemism for depression. Some published comments were cruel, none more so than a widely distributed quote attributed to Rick Monday of the Dodgers. He was said to have called Ivie “a $40 million airport with a $30 control tower.”35 

“He was afraid to fail,” said Astros owner John McMullen, “and he was afraid to succeed.”36

“I think the best thing for him would be to get out of baseball,” said Robinson.37

Houston placed Ivie on the 15-day disabled list, though he was not reactivated until September 1 (a players’ strike wiped out half of June, all of July and the early part of August). Manager Bill Virdon said that when Ivie finally came back, he “stayed about two minutes,” then “left without telling anybody.”38

Predictably, Ivie returned to action, pinch-hitting four times and making a pinch-running appearance over the remainder of the season. He was not giving up. He began seeing a psychiatrist three days a week. 

The Astros released him on April 30, 1982, after he told Virdon he could no longer play in the field. He joined the Detroit Tigers as a designated hitter on May 6. He started strongly, hitting five home runs in his first 15 games. Overall, it was a fairly respectable comeback: 14 homers and 38 RBIs in 80 games as the club’s most frequently used DH.

Anderson extolled Ivie through spring training for the 1983 season. In late March, he announced that Ivie would be the Tigers’ starting first baseman. Although it had been three seasons since Ivie played regularly in the field, he indeed started 12 of the Tigers’ first 23 games at first base before he disappeared entirely from daily box scores. Curiously, on May 1 the Detroit Free Press published high praise of Ivie from Bill James’ 1983 Baseball Abstract. “There are probably not 10 players in baseball today,” James wrote, “who have as much natural talent at hitting a baseball as Mike Ivie.”39

Ivie was released on May 16 – this time for good – and replaced on the roster by error-prone utility infielder Julio González. Anderson explained that he didn’t need Ivie just “sitting on the bench waiting to swing the bat.”40

Ivie, who last played on May 7, 1983, batted .269 in 11 major league seasons. He had 81 home runs and 411 RBIs.

Ivie resettled in Georgia to pursue his other loves: fishing and bow hunting. He opened an outdoor pro shop in the Atlanta area, hunted frequently with Atlanta Braves second baseman Glenn Hubbard, became a landscaper and youth baseball coach, and once offered his services to the Georgia State Patrol. 

But retirement wasn’t easy. He and Pam divorced in 1984, and in 1985 he hungered to play again. He coaxed a spring training invitation from the Braves, which he then declined because it was not accompanied by a contract offer. A few years later, he expressed interest in becoming a minor-league coach or hitting instructor.

Nothing much had been published about Ivie for years when on July 1, 1999, Atlanta sports commentator Furman Bisher dropped an unanswered question into the middle of his daily column: “Whatever happened to Mike Ivie?”41

Three months later, Ivie trotted onto the field during old-timer introductions at the last game ever played in Candlestick Park. The crowd stirred, then erupted with a thunderous chant, “I-vie, I-vie, I-vie!” “[It sent] chills down my spine,” said Brad Margin of Sports Illustrated.42

After battling ongoing health issues, Mike Ivie died at his home in North Augusta, South Carolina, on July 21, 2023. He was survived by his second wife, Barbara Joiner Ivie, his two sons, and several grandchildren.43

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and David Bilmes and fact-checked by Dan Schoenholz.

Photo credit: Mike Ivie, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Bill Carter, “Mike Ivie Quits Again,” Alexandria Daily Town Talk (Alexandria, Louisiana), June 20, 1973: B-1.

2 Ancestry.com, U.S. Baseball Questionnaires, 1945 – 2005, Mike Ivie Questionnaire for William J. Weiss Baseball Statistics, June 19, 1970.

3 Joe Litsch, “It’s the Mike Ivie Show With a Cast of 33 Scouts,” The Atlanta Journal, April 29, 1970: 8-D (hit .465 & .550, and “33 scouts”); Furman Bisher, “Too Much Too Fast Was Ivie’s Problem,” The Atlanta Constitution, July 8, 1979:1-D (21 HRs); Joe Litsch, “Walker’s Ivie Can’t Take ‘Just Standing Around,’” The Atlanta Constitution, June 7, 1970: 6-H (moon shot & hit .235); Bill Carter, “Pressure Almost Broke Mike Ivie,” Alexandria Daily Town Talk, April 19, 1972: A-8 (“terrible year”).

4 Charlie Roberts, “Ivie Could Be No. 1,” The Atlanta Constitution, June 4, 1970: 1-D.

5 Charlie Roberts, “Ivie’s Confidence Impresses Gomez,” The Atlanta Constitution, July 4, 1970: 2-B.

6 Associated Press, “Tri-City loses despite no-no,” The Daily News (Longview. Washington), July 18, 1970: 12.

7 Charlie Roberts, “Braves Rap Padres, 5-2,” The Atlanta Constitution, September 22, 1971: 15.

8 Bill Carter, “Ivie Doesn’t Intend to Catch Again,” Alexandria Daily Town Talk, June 15, 1972: A-6.

9 Bill Carter, “Carter’s Column,” Alexandria Daily Town Talk, September 4, 1974 (from 1972 interview): B-1.

10 Bill Carter, “Ivie Drawing Card We Need, Says Tattersall,” Alexandria Daily Town Talk, March 31, 1974 (referring to Ivie’s performance in 1972): B-1.

11 Bill Carter, “Unlike Alamo, Bringhurst Survived” (and box score), Alexandria Daily Town Talk, June 29, 1972: A-8.

12 Jim Ferguson, “Catcher Who Doesn’t Want to Catch,” Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, July 30, 1972: 3-D.

13 Charlie Roberts, “His Fear Strikes Out, Ivie Tells Padres He’ll Catch,” The Atlanta Constitution, January 13, 1973: 3-C; and Promotional Ad, “Silva Mind Control Method,” The Atlanta Journal, October 21, 1972: 6-G.

14  “Mike Ivie hangs ‘em up again,” Honolulu Star-Advertiser, June 16, 1973: D-1.

15 James Hackleman, “Mike Ivie – An Incomplete Story,” The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, June 22, 1973: C-1.

16 Wayne Minshew, “Ivie Quits Baseball Again,” The Atlanta Constitution, June 23, 1973: 1-D.

17 Bill Carter, “Ivie’s Drama Has Aces, fans Hot Again,” Alexandria Daily Town Talk: April 20, 1974: A-8.

18 UPI, “Pads Convince Ivie Catching Is His Spot, Mike Starts Behind the Plate,” July 6, 1976, The Blade-Tribune (N. San Diego): 14.

19 UPI, “Money buys only woe for Padres,” San Francisco Examiner, May 3, 1977: 46.

20 Bill Conlin, “He Doesn’t Want Ivie,” The Sacramento Bee, July 1, 1980: C-1, C-2.

21 Glenn Schwarz, “Giants grouse over Ivie deal,” San Francisco Examiner, March 03, 1978: 53.

22 Bob Padecky, “Ivie Poisons Dodgers,” The Sacramento Bee, May 29, 1978: D-1, D-2.

23 Padecky, “Ivie Poisons Dodgers.”

24 Glenn Schwarz, “Giants do, Phils die, on do-or-die caper,” San Francisco Examiner, August 19, 1978: 31-32.

25 Cynthia Gorney, “San Francisco Has the Fever,” The Washington Post, August 28, 1978 (misspells “Ivie” as “Ivey”). https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1978/08/28/san-francisco-has-the-fever/4a1fe080-b6de-41d8-9c48-d58ef107c8a7/

26 Schwarz, “Giants do, Phils die, on do-or-die caper.”

27 Glenn Schwarz, San Francisco Examiner, “Clark erupts, rips his team,” June 5, 1980: 65; “Giants get runner to second,” June 8, 1980: C-1; “Clark leads Giants’ chorus: ‘We need help,’” June 9, 1980: 53; and “Montefusco and Bristol tangle after Giants win,” June 19, 1980: F-1.  

28 Bob Rubin, “A Nightmare for Mike Ivie,” Miami Herald, July 3, 1980: 4-D.

29 Milton Richman, UPI, “Ivie maintains his retirement decision final,” Santa Maria Times, June 27, 1980: 15.

30 Bucky Walter, “Is Li’l Joe now leaning toward Dodgers?” San Francisco Examiner, January 20, 1981: F2.

31 Bee News Service, “Giants anxious to trade Ivie,” The Modesto Bee, April 4, 1981: D-5. After Ivie apologized, Robinson publicly stated that they both got carried away.

32 Bill Sullivan, “Mike Ivie is a package labeled ‘questionable,’” Austin American-Statesman, April 23, 1981: D1. The players traded for Ivie were Jeffrey Leonard and Dave Bergman.

33 Bob Slocum, “Giants strike out big with Mike Ivie trade,” The Modesto Bee, April 24, 1981: E-1.

34 Examiner News Services, “New scenery, same Ivie,” San Francisco Examiner, May 14, 1981: F1.

35 Bill Conlin, “Dad Dumped but Bump Jumps,” The Sacramento Bee, May 11, 1981: D2.

36 Joseph Durso, “Ivie: A Player Who Was Afraid to Fail,” The New York Times, September 3, 1981: D21. D25.

37 Nick Peters, “Mike Ivie faces an uncertain future in Houston,” Oakland Tribune, May 26, 1981: D-3.

38 Durso, “Ivie: A Player Who Was Afraid to Fail.”

39 Joe Lapointe, “Inside sports – Abstracting Baseball, James’ self-declared ‘bible’ damns Sparky, Cabell,” Detroit Free Press, May 1, 1983: 7G.

40 Brian Bragg, “Tigers keep Fahey, release Ivie,” Detroit Free Press, May 17, 1983: 1D.

41 Furman Bisher, “All talk no action over freshman ineligibility,” Atlanta-Journal Constitution, July 1, 1999: G3.

42 Margin Photographic Archives, “Tell It Goodbye: Giants last game at Candlestick,” marginphotography.net/2011/12/tell-it-goodbye-the-giants-last-game-at-candlestick/, posted December 5, 2011.

43 “Obituary for Michael Wilson Ivie,” Posey Funeral Directors website, https://www.poseyfuneraldirectors.com/obituaries/Michael-Ivie/#!/Obituary.