CAREER-CAPPER: 1965 PETE RUNNELS

Up on the blog today, let's delve into the 1960s and give two-time batting champ Pete Runnels a 1965 "Career-Capper" shall we?

Here you go:

Runnels put in what turned out to be the last Major League action of his career in 1964, as a member of the Houston Colt .45s, or Astros as they were making that transition at that time.

Just two years removed from his second batting title in 1962, he hit .196 over 22 games for Houston, with 10 hits over 51 at-bats with three RBIs.

Runnels took home the American League batting title in 1960 and 1962 as a member of the Boston Red Sox, hitting .320 and .326 respectively, topping the .300 mark all of his five years with Boston.

His first seven years in the Big Leagues were with the Washington Senators between 1951 and 1957, where he average about .280 while playing both the infield and outfield, even getting some MVP votes in both 1952 and 1956.

Overall, by the time he retired, he finished with a .291 batting average, with 1854 hits in 6373 at-bats over 1799 games, getting named to five All-Star teams along the way.

Not too shabby a career!

 

WTHBALLS CUSTOM SET SPOTLIGHT: 1960S STARS OF THE GAME: PETE RUNNELS

Good day all.

On the blog today we spotlight my 1960 "Stars of the Game" card of two-time American League batting champ Pete Runnels, from my custom set released in 2018:

Runnel's career began with the Washington Senators in 1951, where he'd play through the 1957 season as a solid infielder who averaged about .2880 while playing mainly shortstop and second base, hitting as high as .310 in 1956.

In January of 1958 he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Albie Pearson and Norm Zauchin, and he would really find his groove, hitting .322 in his first year in Beantown, with a career-best 103 runs scored and 183 hits, finishing tenth in the MVP race by season's end.

In 1960 and 1962 he would go on to take home batting titles, hitting .320 and .326 respectively, making the All-Star team(s) each season while transitioning to first base, though still putting in some time around the infield.

Surprisingly, after that second batting title in 1962 he was traded to the new Houston franchise, then called the Colt .45's, for Roman Mejias, where he would put in a sub-par year, hitting .253 over 124 games.

The 1964 year would turn out to be his last, getting released by Houston in May after a dreadful .196 start after 22 games, with only 10 hits and three RBIs in 51 at-bats.

Nevertheless he'd finish his Big League tenure with a very nice .291 career average, with 1854 hits in 6373 at-bats, scoring 876 runs while driving in 630, with those two batting titles to cement his name in baseball history.