On New Year’s Eve 1985, former child star and teeny heartthrob/pop idol Ricky Nelson died when his small plane burned during an emergency landing attempt heading to a concert.
He was just 45 years old.
That same night, 26-year-old Mariners outfielder Ricky Nelson was presumably somewhere celebrating the dawn of a new year with family and friends. Maybe somewhere back home in Arizona.
His whereabouts that night are a matter of speculation.
What we do know for sure is where baseball Ricky Nelson spent his summers from 1981 through 1987.
Originally selected in the 24th round of the 1980 draft by the California Angels, Nelson decided to return to Arizona State University for one more college season.
The next year, in June of 1981, the Seattle Mariners picked Nelson in the fourth round, and he signed on the dotted line.
After half a season at Low-A Bellingham, Nelson spent 1982 with the Single-A Bakersfield Mariners. A batting line of .307, 11 home runs, 101 RBI, and 43 stolen bases jumped him all the way to the Triple-A Salt Lake City Gulls in 1983.
Twenty-nine games into the new season, the lefty-hitting Nelson was hitting with .333 with five homers. Meanwhile, the big-league Mariners were already angling toward a 100-loss season, so what did they have to lose trying out some youngsters?
Nelson got the call, and manager Rene Lachemann found a slot for the rookie on May 18, 1983. In that game at the Kingdome against the Angels, Nelson — a lefty hitter — started in left field and went 0-for-4 against right-hander Bruce Kison.
Things got a bit better for Nelson from there on out, and he stayed with the Mariners through an ugly season that ended with a 60-102 record and involved an in-season managerial change, with Del Crandall taking over.
Overall, Nelson appeared in 98 games (75 starts) and hit .256 with five home runs, 36 RBI, and seven steals. That earned him a spot on the M’s 1984 roster and, of course, the rookie card you see above (plus RCs in 1984 Fleer and Donruss sets, too).
But the Mariners were finally starting to develop some other young talent, and the 1984 season would see strong performances by youngsters like Alvin Davis (American League Rookie of the Year), Phil Bradley, Dave Henderson, Jim Presley, and others.
Seattle had also traded pitcher Bryan Clark to the Blue Jays for left fielder Barry Bonnell in the offseason.
All that relegated Nelson to part-time and pinch-hit duty early in 1984. By the middle of April, he had made just two starts among his nine appearances and was hitting an even .200.
Nelson spent the rest of the 1984 season at Triple-A Salt Lake City, then spent most of the next two summers at the same level (though in Calgary those years). He made it into just 16 more big league games before Seattle traded him to the Mets in December 1986 for Eye Chart (Doug Gwosdz).
Even though Nelson never made it back to the majors after 1986, he was involved in yet another trade, when the Mets sent him to the Indians in May of 1987 in exchange for Don Schulze.
Nelson played out 1987 in the minors and then hung up his spikes at age 28.
Overall, Nelson appeared in 123 major league games, batting .247 with six homers, 39 RBI, and eight stolen bases.
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