Thursday, October 7, 2021

TRADED- 1978 BILL NORTH

On the blog today, a 1978 traded card for former speedster Bill North, who found himself heading South to the Los Angeles Dodgers from the Oakland A's about a month after the 1978 season started:

 
North was traded straight up for Glenn Burke after 5+ seasons with the A's, a tenure that saw him lead the league in stolen bases twice (1974 & 1976), with a high of 75 in 1976.
He would have led the American League in 1973 as well if not for a sprained ankle on September 20th, leaving him one stolen base behind Tommy Harper.
Luckily for him, he was traded from an Oakland team that was free-falling to a team heading to the World Series, where Los Angeles would face the New York Yankees.
Over his 110 games for the Dodgers, North would hit .234 while stealing 27 bases, scoring 54 runs and drawing 65 walks.
At season's end he was declared a Free Agent, and with that he took his legs over to the San Francisco Giants, where he would play what turned out to be the last three years of his career between 1979 and 1981.
All told, North finished his career with a .261 batting average over 11 seasons, stealing 395 bases and scoring 640 runs, winning two titles with the A's in 1973 and 1974, and that N.L. pennant with the Dodgers in 1978.