Sunday, July 17, 2022

EXPANDED LEAGUE-LEADERS: 1977 A.L. BATTING

On the blog today, we move on to the American League and their top three hitters for the 1976 season, displayed on a 1977 “expanded league leader” card:
 
 
It was a historic batting race that season, as three players were fighting for the crown down to the last weekend: George Brett, Hal McRae and of course Rod Carew.
By the time the (controversial) dust was settled, the young Kansas City Royals third baseman, Brett came out the victor, taking home the first of what would be three batting titles over his illustrious career, hitting .333 to McRae’s .332, and reigning champ Carew’s .331.
Now, I mentioned “controversy” earlier, because on the very last day of the season, with the Royals playing the Twins, all three players were in the same ballpark vying for the crown, and Brett dropped a hit in front of Twins’ outfielder Steven Brye, whom some folks claim let up too early, allowing Brett to win the title.
There were calls of racism coming in to play here, with Brett beating out teammate McRae on the inside-the-park homer when the pop-up bounced over Frye’s head and rolled to the wall while Brett circled the bases in his last at-bat in the ninth-inning.
Incredibly, the fourth-place finisher in the A.L. batting race was Minnesota twin Lyman Bostock, who finished the year at .323. So heading into that last series of the season, the top FOUR hitters in the league were head-to-head for that crown the final three days of the year.
Just amazing. Wish I could have seen that.