Up next in my new 1978 sub-set celebrating the "thumpers" of 1977, "The Bull" Greg Luzinski's membership card in the "30-Home Run Club", finishing third in the Major Leagues for 1977 with his 39 taters:
Luzinski was in his prime when this card would have seen the light of day, coming off another second-place finish for N.L. MVP while driving in a career best 130 runs with those 39 homers and a nifty .309 batting average.
1978
would be more of the same, with 35 homers to go with 101 RBIs, 85 runs
scored and 32 doubles, this time garnering him a seventh-place finish in
the MVP race, along with his fourth straight All-Star nod.
Think about this: Luzinski retired after the 1984 season with 307
homers, 1128 runs batted in, and 1795 hits, and he was STILL only 33 years of
age.
It’s easy to forget that he really put up great numbers while retiring at a relatively young age, even if he played for parts of 15 seasons between 1970 and 1984.
It’s easy to forget that he really put up great numbers while retiring at a relatively young age, even if he played for parts of 15 seasons between 1970 and 1984.