Sunday, May 30, 2021

EXPANDED YEARLY LEADER CARDS: 1973 A.L. BATTING LEADERS

Ok now.

Today we move on in my new "Expanded League Leaders" thread to the American League and it's leading batters for the 1972 season on a 1973 card:
 

 
Of course, we start off with Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who won his second of what was to be seven batting titles, hitting .318, the lowest average of any of his titles, but still enough to get the job done.
Following him is a bit of a surprise, which really only goes to show you the impact of having expanded league leaders back then, as the second best hitter in 1972 for the Junior Circuit is "Sweet Lou" Piniella of the Kansas City Royals, who hit .312 while leading the league with 33 doubles, leading to his only All-Star birth.
Coming in third, just ten points of a Triple Crown, was the Wampum Walloper" himself, Dick Allen, who of course wound up with an MVP Award for his monster 1972 campaign when he led the league in homers, RBIs, walks, on-base percentage and slugging in his first season in the South Side.
I believe that if he collected about eight more hits over the course of the season he would have taken the Triple Crown!
Nevertheless, his 1972 season was brilliant, adding the MVP hardware to a Rookie of the Year Award of 1964.
Well, there you have it! Onto the next expanded leage-leader card, what will it be?
Stay tuned...