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.
