1977 Topps #4 - 1976 Stolen Base Leaders
- Look at all the A's players! Oakland almost managed to keep the string of AL West championships going in 1976 thanks in part to the running offense. The 1976 A's are a fun team to play in Strat-O-Matic.
- Bill North won his second (and last) stolen base title in 1976. He also was caught stealing 29 times, which was also an AL high.
- It was also the second and final stolen base title for Dave Lopes. Lopes had a much better stolen base percentage than North--he was caught stealing only ten times in 1976.
- Lopes must have made the most of his opportunities. He had only a .333 on base percentage in 1976.
- This was the last season in which Lou Brock would steal 50 or more bases. Brock had twelve seasons in a row (1965-1976) with 50 or more stolen bases. He was the NL leader in stolen bases in eight of those seasons.
See, this card is way too interesting to me. I immediately think of a Rickey Henderson connection here. Either the A's organizational philosophy was all about stolen bases at the time or they saw the light about steals... 'cause they drafted Rickey Henderson in '76. On top of that, they traded for Davey Lopes just before Rickey's record breaking 130 steal season. So I feel like this card, foreshadows a time to come. Love it!
ReplyDeleteI love how Lopes' '76 Topps card photo returns for this leaders card. Too much mustache to contain to one card!
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