Baseball 1977: George Brett

Showing posts with label George Brett. Show all posts

Monday, September 9, 2013

George Brett enjoyed another good season in 1977. He didn't lead the league in any offensive categories, but he was a big part of Kansas City's success.
1977 Stats:

May 5 - Hit two doubles off of his brother Ken. The second double knocked in the eventual winning run as the Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 6-5.
July 6 - Was hospitalized for four days for treatment of an infected left elbow. Brett got out of the hospital on July 6 and hit a pinch RBI single in the 9th inning to lead the Royals to an 8-7 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Oct 9 - Got into a scuffle with Yankee 3B Graig Nettles. Brett hit a triple and they got tangled up as Brett was going into third base.

I liked the "Highlights" and "Record Breaker" subsets. They were good for educating collectors about the game's history.
It's been a while since a Hall of Famer has been featured (although at the time it seemed like Fred Lynn and Vida Blue were on their way to the HOF).
Mr. Brett still holds this record. The players who have come the closest to breaking this record are Magglio Ordonez and Cody Ross in 2008.
Brett was 18 for 26 during this six game streak.
The card doesn't mention it, but Ted Sizemore also had five consecutive 3-hit games in 1970.
Rod Carew was 15 for 18 with 4 HR during his five game streak in 1975.

The 1976 season featured down-to-the-wire batting races in both leagues. Neither championship was decided until the final day of the season.
In the American League three players had a shot at the title on the last day. All three players were on the same field, as the Kansas City Royals hosted the Minnesota Twins.

On the previous day both George Brett and Hal McRae of the Royals sat out the game. Minnesota's Rod Carew went 2 for 4 to raise his batting average to .329. McRae was batting .33078 and Brett was batting .33073.
All three players had a good day on October 3 (the last day of the season). Carew went 2 for 4 to end up at .331. McRae also went 2 for 4 and finished with a .332 average. Brett was 2 for 3 when he came up for his final at bat in the 9th inning. Brett hit a ball that bounced over left fielder Steve Brye's head. It ended up being an inside-the-park home run. Brett won the title with a .333 average and felt bad about the way it turned out. McRae thought Brye had let the ball drop on purpose and went after Twins' manager Gene Mauch after grounding out in the 9th inning.
It was the first time since 1971 that Carew didn't win the AL batting crown.

The National League batting race came down to two players -- Bill Madlock of the Chicago Cubs and Ken Griffey of the Cincinnati Reds.

At the beginning of the day on October 3, Griffey held a 5-point advantage (.338 to .333) over Madlock
It was decided by Reds manager Sparky Anderson (after meeting with Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, and Tony Perez) that Griffey would sit out the final game of the season to preserve his lead.
Madlock went 4 for 4 in his game to raise his average to .339.
When Anderson learned that Madlock had such a good day, he put Griffey into the game. Griffey struck out twice and his average dropped to .336.

This was the second of Madlock's four NL batting titles. Madlock won the title in 1975, 1976, 1981, and 1983.
Brett won three batting titles in his career. He won in 1976 (.333), 1980 (.390), and in 1990 (.329).
If Carew had won in 1976, he would have had a streak of seven straight seasons (1972-1978) with batting titles.
Minnesota's Lyman Bostock had a shot at the AL title as well, but he tailed off in the last couple of weeks and finished with a .323 average.