Rolling along in my on-going "expanded league leaders" card series, we move on to the 1972 American League stolen base leaders:
We
begging with the top base thief in the Junior Circuit, Oakland A's
speedster Bert Campaneris, who led the league with his 52 stolen bases,
the sixth and final time during his career he would take that crown.
"Campy"
would end his 19-year Big League career with 649 steals, topping 50+
steals seven times, with a high of 62 in both 1968 and 1969.
Next
up in the stolen base race, falling just one short of the lead is Dave
Nelson of the Texas Rangers, whose 51 steals were easily his
career-high.
Nelson played the first full season of his career
in 1972, the first in Texas for the relocated Rangers (formerly
Washington Senators), and though he'd hit only .226 he made it count,
also walking 67 times.
He would steal 43 bases the following
season while hitting a career-high .286, making his only All-Star team,
but would be out of baseball by 1977 after to abbreviated seasons with
the Kansas City Royals.
Speaking of the Royals, the third
place finisher in stolen bases that year would be Freddie Patek, who
swiped 33 bases after stealing 49 the year before.
Patek would
eventually be a league-leader himself in 1977, stealing a career-best
53 to help Kansas City come in first in the West, while finishing up his
career with 385 between 1968 and 1981.
There it is folks! The
top three stolen base leaders in the American league during the 1972
season, shown in all their glory on an expanded 1973 league-leader card.
Hope you're enjoying this so far!
