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:
Regular season: .312, 22 HR, 88 RBI, 105 runs in 139 games
AL Championship Series: .300 (6 for 20) in 5 games
1977 Highlights:
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.
Dave Concepcion won his fourth straight Gold Glove in 1977. Dave's offense dropped a bit in 1977, but he was an All Star for the NL for the fourth time. In his career Concepcion would be on the NL All Star team nine times.
1977 Stats: .271, 8 HR, 64 RBI in 156 games
1977 Highlights:
March 14 - Agreed to terms with the Reds on a five-year, $1 million contract. It was the longest contract in team history.
Randy Jones had a big drop-off from his wonderful 1975 and 1976 seasons. Randy had an operation on his arm at the end of the 1976 season. Jones had a sore biceps muscle and missed six weeks from mid-June to late July. There was doubt in early July about whether or not he would pitch again in 1977. Randy's career might have been better served by listening to the Padres team doctor and resting his arm.
1977 Stats: 6-12, 4.58 ERA in 27 games (25 starts)
1977 Highlights:
April 12 - Allowed three runs in eight innings and earned the win in San Diego's home opener. The Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 4-3.
Although his card says second base, Grich played shortstop during the 1977 season.
It took a while for Grich to pay dividends for the Angels. In 1977 Bobby didn't play after June 8. He had surgery for a herniated lumbar disc in his back in July and missed the rest of the season.
If Topps would have done a traded set, they would have had a lot of fun keeping up with Mr. Kingman in 1977. Dave played for four different teams in 1977, one in each division.
On June 15 Kingman was traded from the Mets to the San Diego Padres for Paul Siebert and Bobby Valentine. Dave was waived on September 6 and selected by the California Angels. Kingman was unsigned for 1977 and the Padres wanted to at least get something for him (they ended up getting the waiver price of $20,000). Nine days later Dave was sent to the New York Yankees for Randy Stein and cash.
Pete Rose's cards were probably the ones I looked forward to the most in the 1970s. He was my favorite player, and it took a long time for me to forgive the Reds for letting him go as a free agent after the 1978 season. Some of the luster of Pete's cards was lost when Topps double printed his card in 1978.
Sept 28 - Had two hits as the Reds beat the San Diego Padres 8-0. Pete got his 200th hit and tied Ty Cobb for the most 200-hit seasons (9). Rose would get his tenth 200-hit season in 1979 to pass Cobb.
This was Rusty Staub's first season as a full-time designated hitter. Staub had a good year for the Tigers -- he led the team in doubles and was second in home runs and RBI.
Man I loved it when one of these "All-Stars" showed up in a pack!
May 14 - With the score tied 1-1 in the 8th inning Staub doubled in a run and then scored. His run proved to be the winning run as the Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2.
July 11 - Went 3 for 5 with a home run, a double, and four RBI to help the Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-7.
Even though none of the boys in my little collecting group were Dodger fans, Steve Garvey cards were still considered to be of high value. Steve hit a career-high 33 home runs and hit well in the NL Championship Series and in the World Series. Garvey was an NL All Star for the fourth of eight straight seasons and was the fourth player to receive over 3 million fan votes.
1977 Stats:
Regular season: .297, 33 HR, 115 RBI
NL Championship Series: .308 (4 for 13) in 4 games
This was the last set in which George Foster didn't get a "0" or "5" number. After his monster year in 1977 George got the honored numbers until the end of his career.
I wonder where Foster's 1977 season ranks in terms of the best seasons of the decade. Aside from the great hitting stats, George also led the NL in fielding at left field.
Toby Harrah was an on base machine during this time in his career. Harrah led the AL with 109 walks in 1977. Toby was moved from shortstop to third base to make room for free agent pickup Bert Campaneris.
Mark Fidrych had a magical season in 1976. Although he was unable to duplicate that performance, he holds a special place in the hearts of many.
Fidrych was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 10th round in 1974. Mark made a rapid ascent up the ladder in the Detroit system and was ready for the big leagues by 1976.
At first it wasn't guaranteed that Fidrych would make the Detroit ballclub. Mark made the team as a fifth starter. He made two relief appearances before getting his first start on May 15. Fidrych was impressive -- he pitched a complete game and the Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians 2-1. Mark continued to rack up the complete games (including two that lasted 11 innings) and had a 7-1 record when the New York Yankees came to town for a nationally televised Monday night game on June 28. The Tigers beat the Yankees 5-1 as Mark pitched a complete game and showed the viewers how much fun a baseball game can be.
Mark ended up with a 19-9 record and an ERA of 2.34. He completed a league-leading 24 games (out of 29 starts) and was the easy choice for AL Rookie of the Year.
It looked like The Bird was back when the 1978 season started. He pitched complete game victories in his first two starts of the year. In his third start on April 17 Mark left after the fourth inning. He was upset about being removed from the game, but manager Ralph Houk didn't want to take any chances after Fidrych told him he couldn't get loose. Mark was scratched from his next start and eventually was placed on the disabled list. It was his last game of the 1978 season. Mark was 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three starts. Fidrych also made four starts for Class A Lakeland toward the end of the season (1-1, 3.46 ERA).
Mark struggled in 1980 as well. Fidrych got into a war of words with manager Sparky Anderson about his demotion to the minors. He started the season pitching for AAA Evansville but his future was in doubt after starting the season 0-2 with a 9.39 ERA in four starts. Fidrych stuck with it and ended up 6-7 with a 3.92 ERA in 24 games (18 starts) for Evansville. Mark was brought up in August. He made nine starts for the Tigers and was 2-3 with a 5.68 ERA.
In 1985 Fidrych was examined by Dr. James Andrews. Dr. Andrews discovered a torn rotator cuff. An operation was performed, but it was too late to save Mark's career.
After his playing career Fidrych worked on his 107 acre farm in Northborough, Massachusetts. Mark died in an accident on his farm on April 13, 2009. He was working under a truck when his clothing became caught in a power take-off shaft. Fidrych died of suffocation.
I moved this post up a bit since today (June 16) is Ron LeFlore's birthday.
Ron LeFlore was in double figures in doubles (30), triples (10), and home runs (16) in 1977. He didn't make the All Star team in 1977, but he still had a great year.
Fred Lynn struggled in 1977 and had his worst season until the 1981 strike season. Fred injured his left ankle during spring training and didn't play in his first game until May 13.
Lynn was still an AL All Star - he was 0 for 1 with a walk and a run scored.
The 1977 season was the last one in which Thurman Munson would be in double figures in home runs. Munson had good batting averages in the last two seasons of his shortened career, but he didn't hit for as much power. Munson played in 140 or more games in seven straight seasons (1972-1978).
After the 1977 season Thurman asked to be traded to the Cleveland Indians in order to be close to his home. The Yankees and the Indians were unable to work out a deal and Munson stayed with the Yankees.
When looking at the back of this card, it's hard to believe Rod Carew's best season was yet to come. He had a monster year in 1977. Rod led the AL in eight offensive categories -- batting average, runs, hits, triples, on base percentage, OPS, and intentional walks. Rod won the AL MVP award in 1977.
This was another highly sought-after card for us.
Trivia: Rod Carew was an AL All Star every year of his career except his final year (1985). He was selected or voted on to the AL All Star team for 18 years (1967-1984).
Joe Morgan's cards during this era looked impressive. Those "N.L. All Star" things always enhanced the cards. I prefer the "star" ones that the 1975 and 1976 cards had.
Joe had a good year in 1977. He was still an NL All Star for two more years (1978 and 1979), but his numbers started to decline after the 1977 season.
Joe won his fifth straight Gold Glove in 1977. It was his last one.
Sept 17 - Reds manager Sparky Anderson replaced Joe with Rick Auerbach in the middle of the game. Morgan was in a slump at the time. Joe left the park before the end of the game and was not happy with Sparky. Morgan didn't play in the following game but was back in the lineup on September 20.
A guy who found Johnny's checkbook on the sunroof of a car and who had written several fraudulent checks in Johnny's name was arrested in February 1977.
About a week ago I asked if Manny Sanguillen was the most blogged about player. In terms of different years of cards, I think Mr. Bench has Manny (and Oscar Gamble) beat.
Aug 16 - Was quoted as saying that the team's struggles in 1977 were due in large part to the team being "pooped" after five years of tough play.
Aug 27 - Dan Driessen and Mr. Bench hit back to back solo home runs with two out in the bottom of the 9th off of Tug McGraw to help the Reds to a 6-5 comeback win over the Philadelphia Phillies
