Dick Tidrow joined the New York Mets when he signed as a free agent on January 27, 1984. The veteran was brought in to replace the recently traded Carlos Diaz in middle relief. Tidrow was part of the New York Yankees during three World Series. "I had great moments during my last stay in New York," he said at the time of the signing. "I'm not that familiar with the Mets, but I know they have a lot of good young starting pitchers and I want to help."The righthander made his debut with the Mets on Opening Day in Cincinnati. Throwing a scoreless ninth inning of relief during the New York 8-1 loss to the Reds on April 2, 1984. It would be one of his few strong outings. "Dirt" made his first Shea Stadium appearance on April 17th. He surrendered four runs in three innings while the Mets lost 10-0 to the Montreal Expos.
On May 8th, the Mets requested waivers on Tidrow for the purpose of granting him his unconditional release and recalled pitcher Brent Gaff from Triple-A Tidewater. Dick ended with a 0-0 record, and 9.19 ERA in 11 appearances. The move would end his major-league pitching career.
Tidrow rejoined the New York Yankees organization as a special assignment scout. He held that position from 1985 through 1993. The San Francisco native moved to the Giants as their scout for the American League prior to the 1994 season. The Giants elevated him to director of player personnel in 1997. His development of talent in the organization had a hand in the careers of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Brian Wilson and Madison Bumgarner. San Francisco's 2010 World Championship came during Tidrow's 12th year as their Vice President of Player Personnel. "Tidrow is pretty good at getting guys to the big leagues pretty fast," praised Giants General Manager Brian Sabean.
I created Dick Tidrow's card in the set from an autographed index card that I purchased from Bob Dowen on December 30, 2008.
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