So let’s celebrate arguably the greatest all-around hitter of all-time with a 10th anniversary card in the 1970 set of his home run in the final at-bat of his legendary career:
“The Splendid Splinter” was just incredible as a hitter. The last .400 hitter, 521 home runs, a .344 lifetime average with SIX batting titles, and the man missed MULTIPLE years in his prime due to war and his service in the military.
I remember as a kid (nerd alert) I used to love averaging out the three seasons before and after his missed seasons and then factoring them into his final career numbers, and they were insane!
If I remember correctly (‘cause I ain’t doing it now) he would have had somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 home runs, 3500 hits, 2000+ runs scored and runs batted in along with the slugging and on-base percentages that would have made his already monster career just other-worldly!
So yes, having his Hall of Fame career end with a home run, the 29th of his final season, makes total sense to me.
On a side note, David Ortiz is currently putting together what can be the greatest “final season” in baseball history, and it is just awesome to watch it all unfold.
The numbers he’s on pace to finish with are staggering for someone (who still) states that he is retiring at the end of the year.