Williams slammed his way to the award in the National League, clubbing 33 home runs while driving in 87 and batting .260 while doing something very uncommon, playing 72 games as catcher along with another 42 at third base and 31 at first base. Something you definitely do not see often!
He would follow that season up with another solid year in 1972 when he added 28 homers while equaling his RBI total of 87 and again playing the same three positions.
He would move on to Baltimore in 1973 before returning to Atlanta in 1975 for a year and a half, splitting time with the Montreal Expos in 1976.
He’d end up playing eight years in the Majors, finishing up with the Oakland A’s in 1977 before moving on to the Mexican League for a couple of years.
I never realized that he lived in the very town I moved to, Somerset, NJ and passed away just a few years ago at the age of 64.
Over in the American League we have the Indians’ Chris Chambliss, who had a very productive freshman season in the Majors when he batted .275 with nine homers and 48 runs batted in in only 111 games and 458 plate appearances.
The career 1st baseman would turn out to have a very nice 17-year career in the Major Leagues, winning two championships with the New York Yankees in 1977 and 1978, of course also having his finest moment in the big leagues when he homered to clinch the American League pennant for the Yankees in the Bronx, culminating in one of the iconic sports moments of the decade as he raced around the bases trying to avoid the rushing fans who poured onto the field in celebration (can you imagine that now!?).
He would finish his career with over 2000 hits, a .279 average and 185 home runs with just under 1000 runs batted in calling it a career after one single at-bat for the Yankees in 1988.
