“Penguin Power”: Baseball legend Ron Cey visits Spokane and signs books before the Spokane Indians game

Ron Cey is a busy man. Maybe not as busy as he was when he was part of the “best infield in baseball,” but at 76, the man who was affectionately known as “Penguin” during his playing days shows no signs of slowing down.

Cey, who played third base in the major leagues for 17 seasons for three organizations – most notably the Los Angeles Dodgers – will be in Spokane on Friday as part of a tour promoting his book “Penguin Power.” He will sign copies of the book and meet fans at Avista Stadium the night before the Indians’ game against Tri-City.

He enjoys meeting fans at his book signings.

“I’m happy that they’re interested in something I’ve done – that they like my stories,” Cey said. “And I get to hear their stories about me as I was coming up or how they really liked my career. That’s great feedback. It’s nice to do this. I have to stay visible at this age. I’m trying to get some things done. I enjoy it.”

It’s a full-circle moment for Cey, who grew up in Tacoma and played two years for Washington State, where he earned his colorful nickname. He began his professional career at Tri-City and enjoyed one of the best seasons in Spokane Indians history in 1971.

“When I played in Washington State and Spokane, I had pretty good support and a big following there.”

That season, as a 23-year-old in Triple-A, Cey posted a .328 batting average with a .400 on-base percentage with 32 home runs and 123 RBIs in 137 games—a Pacific Coast League record at the time.

“I had just come off a year where I was injured,” he said. “(Manager Tommy) Lasorda knew who I was. I was one of ‘his guys.’ He didn’t care how well you played in spring training. ‘You’re my guy,’ he said. I went into spring training feeling good because I knew my spot was locked in.”

Cey was one of three dominant players for Spokane this season, despite the Indians finishing with a losing record. Tom Hutton hit .352 with 19 home runs and Tom Paciorek hit .306 with 15 home runs. All three had more than 100 RBIs on the season.

“Spokane was the starting point,” said Cey. “We had a lot of great players. A lot of great Dodgers made their way to the major leagues through Spokane. I have a lot of great memories of this park.”

He was once voted by fans as the best player in Spokane baseball history.

“I have a lot of relatives in Spokane,” he said. “That must have given me a boost.”

He made his MLB debut at the end of that season, the same week he got married.

“September 2 and 11 are the two most significant days of my life,” he said.

In the following season, Cey returned to Triple-A, but it was not until his call-up at the end of 1972 that his career path really began.

Once established at the Dodgers’ “hot corner,” Cey stayed there for 12 years, appearing in the All-Star Game six times and receiving MVP votes four times. He was named MVP of the 1981 World Series when the Dodgers defeated the Yankees in six games.

Cey spent five seasons with the Chicago Cubs, where he met a young second baseman from Spokane named Ryne Sandberg, before capping his illustrious career with the Oakland A’s. Cey was on hand last month for the unveiling of a statue honoring Hall of Famer Sandberg at Wrigley Field.

“He was my second baseman in Chicago,” he said. “He was a young guy then and I was the veteran. We got to know each other very well.”

After his playing career, Cey was a long-time coach and ambassador for the Dodgers. But a few years ago, when his time as a coach was over, Cey was looking for a new chapter in his life. The book deal was his top priority. After his first co-author dropped out of the project for health reasons, Cey teamed up with long-time Dodgers sports journalist Ken Gurnick to write his autobiography.

“It was about 40 years of pushing,” Cey said. “I wasn’t really interested in a book. I wasn’t sure if I had a story to tell – if people would be interested in what I had to say. There’s so much social media these days, you just have to ‘Google’ me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go in there and expose the rest of it.”

Cey said that because of his grandchildren, he is thinking about leaving a memory for posterity.

“I’ve finally come to the conclusion that I have a story to tell. I have many stories to tell.”

After the book went into production, Cey took the step into modern communication – he started a podcast.

“We’ll See About That – The Ron Cey Show” bills itself as “real talk, real sports.” Cey and co-host Mike Garey discuss the sports and entertainment topics of the day with guests from both industries. The show is produced by CRN Talk Digital Radio and is available on Apple, Amazon, Google, Spotify and Roku.

“It’s a diverse show,” said Cey. “It covers a wide variety of topics. I find it extremely interesting.”

Cey is even on Instagram at @theofficialroncey.

“You have to market yourself,” he said. “You have to go out and essentially drive it yourself.”

Similar to the book, podcasting is about expanding the former baseball player’s personal boundaries.

“It wasn’t planned that way,” he said. “I was wondering what I was going to do next. If you had told me five years ago that my priority was to work with the Dodgers year-round … I had no experience in radio. I would be behind the microphone now instead of in front of it. It took me a while to adjust. … The real benefit for me is that I get to hear from a lot of people about their experiences and share their views and thoughts with them. All of that has been helpful and useful to me.”