Friday, April 28, 2023

1971 "MINOR LEAGUE DAYS" SERIES TWO CHECKLIST INSERT: BOBBY GRICH

Good day everyone!

On the blog today, we have my 1971 "Minor League Days" special checklist insert card celebrating the 1971 Minor League Player of the Year, Bobby Grich, from my recently released set:


As for Grich himself, before carving out an excellent Major League career, he had a monster 1971 season playing for the Orioles' Triple-A farm club in Rochester.
In 130 games as a shortstop, Grich POUNDED the International League, hitting .336 while smashing 32 homers with 83 runs batted in and 124 runs scored with 299 total bases.
These were NOT middle infielder numbers you often saw during the 1960's and 1970's!
And it was for those numbers that Grich was a solid pick for Minor League Player of the Year.
Once he jumped to the Majors for good in 1972, he became one of the best second baseman in the game for the rest of the decade, considered one of the best fielders at his position, winning four Gold Gloves as well as leading the league in putouts, double-plays and assists multiple times.
But he was no slouch at the plate, as he retired with almost 2000 hits, 224 homers, 1000+ runs scored and 864 runs batted in after seven years in Baltimore and ten years in California as a member of the Angels before hanging them up after the 1986 season.

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