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!