Wednesday, July 20, 2016

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S: "THE ROADRUNNER" RALPH GARR

Let’s go and give former batting champ Ralph Garr a “Nickname” card since he had the cool alias of “The Road Runner” shall we?


Now, after seeing this photo I HAD to make the card up with Garr as a Chicago White Sox player, even though he had his best seasons while playing for the Atlanta Braves.

Nevertheless,  Garr put together a very nice 13-year career playing for the Braves, White Sox and California Angels, batting .306 with 1562 hits over 5108 at-bats in 1317 games.
Of course the high point of his career would be his batting championship of 1974 when he hit >353 with a league-leading 214 hits and 17 triples while still with the Braves.
But he would also hit .343 in 1971 with a career high 219 hits and 101 runs scored and .325 the following season, as well as having a third 200-hit campaign when he had exactly that total in 1973, making him one of the most effective hitters in the league between 1971 and 1975.
As for “Road Runner”, Garr did steal 172 bases during his career with a high of 35 in 1973, but I’ll guess it was a nom-de-plume that was stuck to him in the minors where he swiped as many as 63 bases in a season, that number happening in 1969 with Richmond of the International League.
Nevertheless a great nickname to add to the roster of aliases for the wild decade that was!

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