OK!
Here's
another of my picks for position player of the 1970's that I am sure
will cause an argument or two: my pick for the American League's top
first baseman for the decade, and here I went with a guy who played the
WHOLE decade at the position, George Scott, aka "Boomer":
Now hear me out.
While
Hall of Famers like Carl Yastrzemski and Rod Carew put in time at the
position during the decade, they certainly did not play the whole decade
there, while Scott not only did, but also took home six Gold Gloves as a
first baseman between 1970 and 1979, while giving the Boston Red Sox
and Milwaukee Brewers serious power, even leading the league with 36
homers and 109 runs batted in in 1975.
This
combination of consistent hitting and fielding for all ten years of the
1970s made this my surprise pick, as I initially thought I'd go with
Yaz.
He put together an excellent career playing for the Red
Sox, Brewers, Royals and Yankees between 1966 and 1979, slamming 271
home runs with 1051 RBI's, 1992 hits and a .268 batting average.
Defensively all he managed to do was take home eight Gold Gloves
for his work at first base, and though he was only named to three
all-star games, he garnered MVP attention in seven seasons, or half his
career!
Not too shabby to say the least...
So what say ye out there, do you agree with this pick or not?
Let me hear it up on Twitter!