Today on the blog we go and add slugger Richie Zisk to my long-running 1977 National League Centennial thread, celebrating the league's 100th anniversary of 1976:
Zisk would make his MLB debut in 1971 with seven games
before coming back in 1972 with 17 appearances for the Pittsburgh
Pirates.
But in 1973 he made quite the impression, hitting a cool .324 over 103 games, giving everyone an idea of what was to come.
But in 1973 he made quite the impression, hitting a cool .324 over 103 games, giving everyone an idea of what was to come.
1974
saw him elevate his game, hitting 17 homers with a .313 average and 100
runs batted in, his first of two such seasons over his career.
He was sent from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the White Sox in the Rich
Gossage deal in 1977, and had one of his best years in the Majors in his only season
there, hitting a career high 30 home runs and 101 runs batted in.
He
was named All-Star for the first time, and was part of the "South Side
Hit Men" lineup that included Oscar Gamble, Eric Soderholm and Chet
Lemon, fan favorites who hit a (then) high 192 homers as a team.
He would end up playing 13 seasons under the Big League sun, for the
Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners between
1971 and 1983, hitting 207 homers, with 792 RBIs and 681 runs scored,
hitting .287 over 1453 games and 5144 at-bats.
