On the blog today, we come to the American League's top firemen of 1973 with my 1974 expanded league leader card:
Leading
the way with his 48 'points" is Detroit Tigers reliever John Hiller,
who had one of the best seasons for a relief pitcher during the 1970's
incredibly after suffering a heart attack in 1971 at only 27 years of
age.
Despite the real threat of having his career over because
of the heart attack, Hiller made his way back and in 1973 dominated,
appearing in a league-leading 68 games, setting a new record with 38
saves, and pitching to a sparkling 1.44 earned run average over 125.1
innings and a record of 10-5.
Those numbers got him a fourth
place finish in both the Cy Young and MVP race at season's end, and set a
standard for saves until guys like Dan Quisenberry and Bruce Sutter
came along in the 1980's.
Behind Hiller with 32 points was New
York Yankees reliever Sparky Lyle, who followed up a tremendous 1972
campaign with another great season, posting 27 saves to go with his five
wins, finishing up with an ERA of 2.51 over 51 appearances, earning him
his first All-Star nod in the process.
In third place with 29
points, future Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers, who helped the Oakland A's
to their second straight championship with his 29 points, 22 saves to
go along with his seven wins over 62 appearances, finishing up with a
very nice 1.92 ERA over 126.2 innings pitched.
Just as with
Lyle, these numbers would also get Fingers his first All-Star nod,
something he would end up doing seven times before his great career
would come to an end in 1985.
There you have it! The full 1974 "expanded league leader" series. Hope you're enjoying the ride!
Next we move on to the 1975 Topps set with a full run of expanded league leader cards.