Moving on to the National League and their top three Runs Batted In kings of 1974 celebrated on my 1975 "Expanded League Leaders" thread today:
We begin with the top RBI man of the
National League for 1974, Cincinnati Reds legend Johnny Bench, who
topped the league in that category for the third time in five years,
with his 129.
He had yet another wonderful season for the
Reds, scoring a career-best 108 runs, while hitting 33 homers and
leading the league with 315 total bases, all good enough for a fourth
place finish in the MVP race by season's end.
Behind him with
116 RBIs in 1974, the new elite slugger on the scene, Philadelphia
Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt, who made his presence known with
his first home run title to go along with a league-leading .546 slugging
percentage, getting named to his first All-Star team while finishing
sixth in the MVP race.
Of course, we all know now that the man
would go on to top 100+ RBIs eight more times before he was done, along
with eight home run titles, and most importantly three MVP Awards.
Let's
not forget, the man also had some wheels in the beginning of his
career, swiping 23 bases that season, followed by 29 in 1975.
In
third place with 111 RBIs in 1974, the league's MVP, who had himself a
fantastic first full season in the Big Leagues, Los Angeles Dodger first
baseman Steve Garvey.
Garvey had quite a year, helping the
Dodgers reach the World Series, collecting 200 hits, scoring 95 runs,
with 32 doubles, 21 homers and a .312 batting average while making his
first All-Star team and picking up the first of his eventual four Gold
Gloves.
Not too shabby a trip right here!
