1975 "IN-ACTION"- HAL McRAE

On the blog today, adding to a series I haven't touched in a long while, a 1975 "In-Action" card for DH extraordinaire Hal McRae:

After a Big League debut in 1968, appearing in 17 with the Cincinnati Reds, he’d be back in the Majors in 1970, where he would stay for the next 18 seasons putting together an excellent career, becoming one of the first true full-time designated hitters once he was traded to the Kansas City Royals before the 1973 campaign.
All McRae would end up doing once in a Royals uniform is put in a 15-year run where he became one of the best hitters in the league, with three All-Star nods, six .300+ batting average seasons, and MVP consideration four times.
By the time he was done, he retired with a career .290 batting average, with 2091 hits, 484 doubles and 1097 runs batted in over 2084 games and 7218 at-bats, making three All-Star teams and finishing top-5 in MVP voting twice (1976 and 1982).

As a kid growing up during that era, I got to appreciate what a solid player McRae was, fearing him up at the plate against "my" New York Yankees, since he always seemed to do damage against them.

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.

EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: 1975 A.L. BATTING

Moving on to the American League this week in my on-going "expanded league leaders" thread, which has us expanding on the 1975 card celebrating the top-3 batters in the Junior Circuit for 1974:

 

Of course we lead off with Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who hit a blistering .364 during the 1974 season, also leading the league in hits with 218 and on-base-percentage with a .433 mark.

It was the fourth batting title for the Minnesota twin, outhitting the second place finisher by 48 points!

Those numbers would get him a seventh-place finish in the MVP voting at season's end, but as we all know, he wasn't nearly done tearing up A.L. pitching, going on to win three more batting titles, including a career-best .388 mark in 1977 when he'd also bring home the MVP Award at last.

Speaking of the second place finisher in the A.L. batting race for 1974, we come to Chicago White Sox second baseman Jorge Orta, a fine batter who put in a very nice season, hitting .316 with 166 hits, 31 doubles, 73 runs scored and 67 RBI's in his first true full season in the Majors.

Orta put in a solid 16 year Big League career between 1972 and 1987, switching to the outfield before becoming a full time DH the last five years of his career.

By the time he was done, he finished with a very respectable .278 batting average, with 1619 hits over 5829 at-bats in 1755 games.

Coming in third hitting at a .310 clip is Kansas City Royals DH-extraordinaire Hal McRae, who reached the .300 mark for the first time in his excellent 19-year career.

He'd reach the .300 mark six more times before he was through, hitting a career-best .332 in 1976, but falling just short of the batting title, losing to teammate George Brett on the last game of the year, under a somewhat controversial situation.

McRae was a workhorse of a hitter, finishing his career with over 2000 hits, 191 home runs, 1097 RBIs and a very nice .290 batting average in 2084 games between 1968 and 1987.

Next week, we move on to the N.L.'s top Home Run hitters for 1974! See you then!

DEDICATED ROOKIE- 1970 HAL McRAE

On the blog today we have my 1970 “dedicated rookie” for all-star designated hitter Hal McRae, who began his career as an infield prospect with the Cincinnati Reds:

McRae didn’t actually play in any Major League games during the 1969 season, but he did make his Big League debut in 1968 with 17 games, hitting .196 with 10 hits over 51 at-bats as a 22-year-old second baseman.
He’d be back in the Majors in 1970, where he would stay for the next 18 seasons putting together an excellent career, becoming one of the first true full-time designated hitters once he was traded to the Kansas City Royals before the 1973 campaign.
All McRae would end up doing once in a Royals uniform is put in a 15-year run where he became one of the best hitters in the league, with three All-Star nods, six .300+ batting average seasons, and MVP consideration four times.
By the time he was done, he retired with a career .290 batting average, with 2091 hits, 484 doubles and 1097 runs batted in over 2084 games and 7218 at-bats, making three All-Star teams and finishing top-5 in MVP voting twice (1976 and 1982).

1973 TRADED: HAL McRAE

I’m sure this one will hurt Cincinnati Reds fans a bit, but today’s blog post has a 1973 “traded” card for All-Star Hal McRae, who went on to have a very nice 19-year Major League career, 15 of those with the Kansas City Royals, where he was traded from the Reds on November 30th of 1972 for Roger Nelson and Richie Scheinblum:

Granted, Nelson was coming off a very surprising season where he posted one of the lowest WHIPs in Major League history along with a sparkling 2.08 earned run average, and McRae was a 26-year-old who didn’t really show all that much so far in parts of four Big League seasons.
But all McRae would end up doing is put in a 15-year run where he became one of the best hitters in the league, with three All-Star nods, six .300+ batting average seasons, and MVP consideration four times.
Definitely one of the more lopsided trades looking back for the era.
But with what the Reds were about to embark on, becoming the “Big Red Machine” juggernaut with the straight championships in 1975/1976, they’re not looking back with too much pain at this one.