Ok now!
Today we move on to the American
League in my on-going "expanded league leaders" thread, celebrating the
top-3 hitters of the Junior Circuit for 1973:
Of
course we begin with the great Rod Carew, who obliterated the league
with his .350 batting average, 44 points ahead of the second place
batter!!!
Carew took home his third batting title that year,
aloso leading the league with his 203 hits and 11 triples, while making
his seventh straight All-Star team and finishing fourth in the MVP race
at season's end.
Seriously, the man was just eons ahead of
anyone else at this point as far as hitting, heading straight for the
Hall of Fame and cementing his place as one of the game's greatest
natural hitters.
Surprisingly, the second and third place
finishers in the A.L. batting race, both tied at .306, were a slugger
who posted his career-best average, George Scott, and a man who made a
big comeback, resurrecting his MLB career as a Designated Hitter, former
two-time batting champ Tommy Davis.
For Scott, his .306
average was accompanied by his 24 home runs and 107 runs batted in,
while leading the league with 295 total bases.
He also took home his fifth Gold Glove Award, and would end up with eight such awards before his career was over.
For
Davis, who was the Baltimore Orioles full-time DH in its first year in
existence, he came back to have his best year in the Big Leagues since
1967 when he was a New York Met, giving the "O's" 89 RBIs in addition to
his second place finish in the batting race, garnering a tenth-place
finish in the MVP race.
The 35-year-old found new life as a
DH, and would give Baltimore another solid season the following year
when he'd hit .289 with 84 RBIs with 181 hits, his last truly full
season in the Majors before retiring after 1976.
Next up, we move on to the National League's top home run hitters of 1973. See you next week!
