It’s easy to forget that the man put together a string of solid seasons for the Astros in the first part of the 1970’s, with the five straight Gold Gloves between 1970 and 1974, as well as three 20+ home run seasons and four 80+ RBI seasons.
As a matter of fact, I really would love to know why he hung up the cleats after the 1977 season at the age of only 32, considering he hit 18 homers while driving in 67 runs with a .251 average split between the San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays.
Seems he could have had a few more productive years left in the tank, no?
Nevertheless, he retired with a batting average of .251, along with 155 homers and 722 RBIs over 11 years and 1465 Big League games before moving into coaching and them managing, which he did for the Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox (for two games in 1986), and California Angels between 1983 and 1991.
