Fresh
off of giving Mike Hargrove an “In-Action” card in my ongoing 1975
sub-set, I just had to include him in my long-running “Nicknames of the
1970’s” set as well, with his awesome “Human Rain Delay” tag:
Hargrove was just hilarious with every single at-bat, and as a kid I was
in awe of the man for being able to do such a routine after every
single pitch.
Granted, nowadays it’d seem almost normal with the way things are, but
back then it was a riot! I was always expecting a pitcher to hit him
with the next pitch out of frustration.
By the time 1979 rolled around, which is the template I used for his
nickname card, Hargrove was firlmy established as a player who would get
on base consistently, posting on-base-percentages hovering around .400.
Already a two-time league leader in walks by the time this card would
have come out, Hargrove went on to post a brilliant .396 OBP over his
12-year career, with four seasons of 100+ walks along with five .300+
batting average campaigns.
Time
to go and add (at the time) the reigning American League Rookie of the
Year to my running 1975 “In-Action” sub-set, the Texas Rangers’ Mike
Hargrove:
Hargrove was coming off of an excellent freshman campaign, batting .323
with 66 runs batted in and an on-base-percentage hovering near .400 (of
course).
Not yet labeled “The Human Rain Delay” for his approach to an at-bat, he
already gave the Big Leagues a look at what would become a steady
player who’d make it on base 40% of the time through hits and walks.
He would eventually go on to have a very nice 12-year Major League
career that saw him tops 100 walks four times, while leading the league
twice, while also finishing up with a .290 batting average with 1614
hits over 5564 at-bats in 1666 games.
Of course, he would then go on to have a very nice 16-year managerial
career that saw him win two pennants with the Cleveland Indians,
including their incredible 1995 season in which the Indians went 100-44
during the strike-shortened season.
While managing the Indians, Hargrove led them to five straight
first-place finishes between 1995 and 1999, before moving on to manage
the Baltimore Orioles for four years and Seattle Mariners for three.
A baseball lifer for sure.
Next
up in my ongoing awards sub-set through the 1970’s is a 1975 Rookie of
the Year card for the 1974 winners, Bake McBride and Mike Hargrove, two
players who went on to nice Major League careers:
In the National League, McBride played centerfield for the St. Louis
Cardinals, and proceeded to bat .309 in his first big league season with
173 hits and 81 runs scored, 30 stolen bases and 56 runs batted in.
He would go on to bat a career .299 over his 11-year career playing with
the Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians before
retiring after the 1983 season.
In the American League, Hargrove played in 131 games in his first taste
of the Majors, ending up with a .323 batting average based on his 134
hits in 415 at-bats.
He also collected 49 walks, giving him an on-base=percentage of .395
which would be a familiar theme for his 12-year career, as the “Human
Rain Delay” would retire with a very nice career OBP of .396, topping
100 walks four times.
Of course later on he would go into managing, leading the powerhouse
Cleveland Indian teams of the 1990’s, winning two American League
pennants before moving on to the Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners
through the 2007 season.
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