Career Year: Wally Bunker

The Baltimore Orioles of the early 1960s were a fountain of young pitching talent, from the likes of Chuck Estrada, Milt Pappas and Steve Barber at the beginning of the decade to later arrivals such as Jim Palmer, for whom the 1960s were a struggle until he matured into the Hall of Fame bound ace of the O’s staff in the 1970s.

Wally Bunker

One of the latest of the Baltimore “Kiddie Corps” was also one of the most immediately successful. Wally Bunker was a right-handed power pitcher who was the ace of the Orioles staff at 19 and then retired from baseball by age 27.

Bunker was signed by the Orioles in 1963 and was a member of the starting rotation a year later. The 1964 season marked his career year, as Bunker was the ace of the Orioles staff, going 19-5 with a 2.69 ERA. He threw 12 complete games, second on the Orioles staff to Pappas. Bunker led the American League with a .792 winning percentage and pitched a pair of one-hitters. He finished second in the balloting for American League Rookie of the Year to the Minnesota Twins outfielder (and league batting champion) Tony Oliva.

In late September of 1964, Bunker felt something give in his right arm and was never the same pitcher, plagued by consistent arm miseries for the rest of his career. He was 10-8 for the Orioles in 1965 and 10-6 for the American League champion O’s in 1966. He was the winning pitcher in the third game of the 1966 World Series, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0 with a 6-hitter and outdueling Dodger lefty Claude Osteen.

Bunker struggled with arm problems over the next 2 seasons, going 3-7 in 1967 and 2-0 in only 18 appearances in 1968. He was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 1968 expansion draft, and was the Opening Day starter, throwing the first pitch in Royals history. At 12-11, he was the team’s winningest pitcher in the Royals’ inaugural season, but was only 2-11 for Kansas City in 1970. He was released by the Royals after 7 appearances in 1971, going 2-3 in his final season.

Bunker pitched for 9 big league seasons, posting a 60-52 record with a career earned run average of 3.51.

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Koufax Turns W’s and K’s into MVP

From This Week in 1960s Baseball …

(October 30, 1963) Sandy Koufax, who unanimously won the Cy Young Award six days ago, today also was named the National League's Most Valuable Player. The Dodger legend out pointed Pittsburgh Pirates' shortstop Dick Groat, 237-190, who had been the National League MVP in 1960.

Sandy Koufax

It marked the second consecutive year that the Most Valuable Player award went to a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Dodger shortstop Maury Wills was named MVP in 1962.

Koufax won 25 games during the regular season and two more during the 1963 World Series. His 25 victories tied him for the most in baseball with Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants.

Koufax led the National League in strikeouts (306), earned run average (1.88) and shutouts (11). He was named Most Valuable Player in the 1963 World Series. He pitched 311 innings and 20 complete games in 1963.

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The Glove Club: Al Kaline

It seemed as though Al Kaline was born to play right field. He played it with a consistent excellence that was not matched by anyone else in the American League during the 1960s.

Al Kaline

Fifteen times an American League All-Star, Kaline won 10 Gold Gloves for his play in right field. Seven of those Gold Gloves were earned in the 1960s, when Kaline dominated that award by winning it from 1961 through 1967. Between 1957 and 1967, the only season when Kaline didn’t win a Gold Glove was 1960, when he spent most of the season as the Detroit Tigers’ center fielder. (During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Gold Glove for center field belonged to Jim Landis of the Chicago White Sox.) When the Tigers acquired Bill Bruton in 1961, Kaline returned to his natural position in right field and resumed his standing as the league’s best.

Kaline was not blessed with blazing speed or a gun-like arm. But he was baseball smart and made the most of his considerable athletic abilities (just as he did in the batter’s box). He was graceful in every aspect of his game. His throwing accuracy was deadly to careless base runners.

Kaline spent all of his 22 major league seasons with the Tigers. In addition to his defensive accomplishments, Kaline had a career batting average of .297, winning the American League batting title by hitting .340 in 1955. At age 20, he remains the youngest batting champion in major league history. He retired with 3,007 hits.

Kaline was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980.

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Chief of Relief

From Player Profiles at 1960s Baseball …

For 11 major league seasons, Ed Roebuck was a stellar relief pitcher for 3 different teams. In 460 big league appearances, he made only 1 start (in 1957).

Ed Roebuck

Roebuck was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgersin 1949. He spent 6 years in the Dodgers’ farm system, finding moderate success as a reliever before pitching as a starter and reliever at the Triple-A level, winning 15 games in 1953 and 18 games in 1954.

When Roebuck was promoted to the Dodgers pitching staff in 1955, he began his major league career in relief, going 5-6 with a 4.61 ERA. He appeared in 47 games for the Dodgers, finishing 27 with 12 saves (second in the National League). He pitched in the sixth game of the 1955 World Series, tossing 2 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief. He was 8-2 with a 2.71 ERA in 1957, and was 0-1 with a 3.48 ERA and 5 saves in 1958.

In 1959, Roebuck was sent back to the minors, where he pitched exclusively as a starter at St. Paul in the American Association. He went 13-10 with a 2.98 ERA in 28 starts. Then he found himself back on the Dodgers’ roster in 1960, going 8-3 with a 2.78 ERA in 58 appearances … all in relief. He made only 5 appearances in 1961, but teamed with left-hander Ron Perranoski to form one of the most effective relief tandems in baseball in 1962. As the right-handed half of that pair, Roebuck appeared in 64 games with a 10-2 record and a 3.09 ERA. He finished 22 games and saved 9. Together, Roebuck and Perranoski combined for a 16-8 record with 29 saves.

In 1963, Roebuck opened the season with the Dodgers but was traded at the end of July to the Washington Senators for Marv Breeding. Roebuck was a combined 4-5 with 4 saves and a 3.69 ERA. In April of 1964 he was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies and went 5-3 with a 2.21 ERA and 12 saves for the Phillies. He was 5-3 with 3 saves in 1965, and appeared in 6 games in 1966 before being released by Philadelphia. He caught on with San Diego in the Pacific Coast League for a season and a half before retiring as a player after the 1967 season.

Roebuck finished his major league career at 52-31 for a .627 winning percentage. His career ERA was 3.35 with 62 saves.

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Hats Off to Pirates’ New Manager

From This Week in 1960s Baseball …

(October 19, 1964) The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced that former major league outfielder Harry “The Hat” Walker had been named to replace Danny Murtaugh as Pirates’ manager for the 1965 season.

Murtaugh, who had been the Pirates’ manager for 8 seasons, was leaving the helm for health reasons. Under his guidance, the team finished in sixth place in 1964 with an 80-82 record. Murtaugh was the manager when the team won the 1960 World Series championship, beating the New York Yankees in 7 games.

Harry Walker

This would be Walker’s second tour as a major league manager. He was an interim manager for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1955. The team was 51-67 under Walker’s leadership. He was replaced at the end of the season by Fred Hutchinson.

Walker spent the next 10 years as a coach for the Cardinals and managing in their minor league system. In his first 2 seasons with the Pirates, Walker led the Bucs to consecutive third-place finishes, winning 90 and 92 games respectively. In 1967, with the Pirates in sixth place with a 42-42 record, Walker was dismissed and replaced by Murtaugh. In 1968 he replaced Grady Hatton as manager of the Houston Astros and managed that team for 5 seasons.

Danny Murtaugh

Walker played 11 seasons in the National League. He broke in with the Cardinals in 1940 and won the National League batting title in 1947 with a .363 batting average. He also led the league with 16 triples that season. He also played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubsand Cincinnati Reds, batting .296 for his career.

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The Center of Pirate Success

From Player Profiles at 1960s Baseball …

Bill Virdon was a classy outfielder who patrolled centerfield for the Pittsburgh Pirates for nearly a decade. His game-smarts showed as a player and later as a big league manager, the longer of his baseball careers.

Bill Virdon

Virdon played a necessary role in the Pirates’ World Series championship season of 1960. Yet he was originally signed by the New York Yankees in 1950. He never played in Yankee pinstripes (though he later managed in that uniform). In 1954, the Yankees dealt Virdon and 2 other players to the St. Louis Cardinals for Enos Slaughter. He was Rookie of the Year for the Cardinals in 1965, hitting .281 with 17 home runs and 68 RBIs.

In 1957, Virdon led the majors by appearing in 157 games, accomplished by the fact that he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates one month into the season for Bobby Del Greco and Dick Littlefield. Virdon finished the season batting .319, what would be the highest batting average of his career. Over the next decade, he would hit a combined .259 for the Pirates.

Virdon was a premier defensive outfielder, winning the Gold Glove in 1962. His work in center field was often overshadowed by the spectacular fielding and throwing of his teammate in right field, Roberto Clemente. Virdon also led the National League in triples in 1962 with 10.

He retired after being released by the Pirates in 1965 (though he also tried a 6-game comeback in 1968). Virdon finished his career with 1,596 hits.

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Oh, What a Relief: Tug McGraw

Believin’ with Every Tug of Your Heart

Tug McGraw was the bullpen ace of the 1969 New York Mets, his arm and attitude essential ingredients in that season’s miracle at Flushing Meadows. When he took his arm to Philadelphia in the late 1970s, the inspiration went with him, and more miracles followed.

Tug McGraw

McGraw was signed by the Mets in 1964 and debuted with the club at the beginning of the 1965 season.  He went 2-7 as a starter during his rookie season. His second victory was the franchise’s first ever over Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In 1966, after a 2-9 start to the season, McGraw began a tour of minor league seasoning that carried him through 1968. When he returned to the Mets in 1969, the starting rotation was set with proven aces such as Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. McGraw moved to the bullpen full-time, and excelled there. That season he was 9-3 (8-2 in relief) with a 2.24 ERA and 12 saves.

From that point on McGraw emerged as one of the premier relievers in the National League. He went 11-4 in 1971 with a 1.70 ERA. He posted a 1.70 ERA again in 1972, winning 8 games and saving 27. He saved 25 games for the Mets in 1973. He was outstanding in the 1973 World Series against the Oakland Athletics, winning 1 and saving another game, with 14 strikeouts in 13.2 innings.

Following the 1974 season, McGraw was traded by the New York Mets with Don Hahn and Dave Schneck to the Philadelphia Phillies for Mac Scarce, John Stearns and Del Unser. He spent the next decade in the Phillies’ bullpen, winning 49 games and saving 94. His best season in Philly came in 1980 when he went 5-4 with a 1.46 ERA and 20 saves. In the 1980 World Series against the Kansas City Royals, McGraw appeared in 4 games, going 1-1 with 2 saves and a 1.17 ERA. He finished fifth in the Cy Young voting for that season.

McGraw retired after the 1984 season. His big league career lasted 19 seasons, producing a 96-92 record with 180 saves and a 3.14 career ERA. He was an All-Star twice.

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Buc's Blast Sinks Yankees

From This Week in 1960s Baseball ...

(October 13, 1960) – Today at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski's dramatic bottom of the ninth inning home run off Yankee hurler Ralph Terry broke up a 9-9 tie and ended one of the most exciting seven-game World Series ever played.

Bill Mazeroski

It had been a World Series of improbabilities, played out as no one could have expected or predicted.

On the one hand you had the New York Yankees, the perennial October players, back in the World Series (their tenth appearance in the last 12 years) after a one-year absence. The Yankees earned their World Series berth by sprinting ahead of the rest of the American League in September, winning their last 15 games.

For the Pirates, it was their first World Series appearance since 1927.

In the first 6 games of the 1960 World Series, the Yankees were clearly the dominant team (outscoring the Pirates 46-17), but had only 3 victories to show for it. Whitey Ford pitched shutouts for the Yankees in games 3 and 6. Vern Law, the Pirates’ 20-game winner and the eventual Cy Young Award recipient that year, claimed 2 of the Pirates’ wins, while veteran left-hander Harvey Haddix posted one victory and a save.

Game 7 turned out to be one of the most exciting in World Series history.

Law retired the Yankees in order in the first 2 innings, while the Pirates scored 2 runs in each of the first 2 frames. The Yankees finally scored off Law in the fifth inning as Bill Skowron led off the inning with a solo home run to the right field seats. The Yankees scored 4 more runs in the sixth inning, off the Pirates’ ace reliever Roy Face, who gave up an RBI single to Mickey Mantle and then surrendered Yogi Berra’s 3-run homer.

Ralph Terry

The game stayed 5-4 in favor of the Yankees until the top of the eighth inning, when back-to-back RBI hits by John Blanchard and Clete Boyer raised the Yankees’ lead to 7-4. But in the bottom of the eighth, the Pirates rallied for 5 runs – on singles by Dick Groat and Roberto Clemente and a 3-run homer by Hal Smith – to take a 9-7 lead into the ninth inning.

Bob Friend, an 18-game winner during the regular season, came in to close out the ninth. But he gave up back-to-back singles to Bobby Richardson and Dale Long. So Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh brought in Haddix to pitch to Roger Maris, the American League MVP of 1960. Haddix got Maris to foul out, and then gave up an RBI single to Mantle. Berra grounded out to Rocky Nelson at first, scoring Gil McDougald (pinch running for Long). Skowron grounded out to end the inning with the score tied at 9.

In the bottom of the ninth, Mazeroski led off for the Pirates. On deck was Dick Stuart, the team’s leading home run hitter.

The Yankees’ pitcher was right-hander Terry, a 10-game winner for New York during the regular season. Terry had recorded the last out of the eighth inning, inducing third baseman Don Hoak to fly out. Hoak would be the last Pirate to make an out in the Series. Mazeroski took a strike on Terry’s first pitch, and sent the second one over the left field wall at Forbes Field for a 10-9 Pirate victory.

Mazeroski scores, Pittsburgh erupts.

It ended the 1960 World Series, and Casey Stengel’s career as New York Yankees manager.

It was the first walk-off home run in World Series history.

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Lights Out: Bob Gibson

Dynasty, Adieu!

When: October 12, 1964

Where:  Yankee Stadium, New York, New York

Game Time: 2:37

Attendance: 65,633

Winning Pitcher: Bob Gibson (1-1)

Losing Pitcher: Pete Mikkelson (0-1)

Game-Winning Hit: Tim McCarver

Future Hall of Famers in the Game: Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Mickey Mantle

As a World Series pitcher, Bob Gibson had no peer in the 1960s.

He definitely had some competition. Whitey Ford won 5 games during the decade’s first 3 World Series and broke Babe Ruth’s record for consecutive scoreless innings. Sandy Koufax won 4 World Series games. And the 3 games won by Mickey Lolich during the 1968 World Series was a rare feat accomplished only through the combination of great pitching and great heart.

Bob Gibson

But none of these fine pitchers could match the greatness of Gibson in October. In 9 starts for the St. Louis Cardinals over 3 World Series, Gibson would go 7-2 with 8 complete games and a 1.89 ERA. In 81 World Series innings, Gibson struck out 92 batters.

His first unforgettable World Series start came in the fifth game of the 1964 World Series, his second start in that Series. The New York Yankees, behind their rookie pitching sensation Mel Stottlemyre, had beaten Gibson 8-3 in the second game of the Series. Though the loser, Gibson pitched better than the score indicated. Through 8 innings, he allowed just 4 runs on 8 hits, striking out 9. He left that game with the score 4-2. The Yankees scored 4 times off the Cardinals’ bullpen to walk away with an easy victory.

Gibson and Stottlemyre squared off again in Game 5 at Yankee Stadium. Both starters threw shutout ball through the first 4 innings, with Gibson striking out 5 Yankees. In the top of the fifth, Gibson singled with one out, and the next batter, Curt Flood, was safe on an error by second baseman Bobby Richardson, with Gibson advancing to second base. Lou Brock singled to right field, scoring Gibson and sending Flood to third. Bill White hit a ground ball to Richardson, who flipped the ball to shortstop Phil Linz, forcing Brock out at second but allowing Flood to score on the fielder’s choice.  Gibson and the Cardinals now led 2-0.

Tim McCarver

Gibson continued to dominate the Yankees’ hitters. He struck out 2 batters in the fifth, 2 more in the sixth and another in the seventh, his tenth in the game. Gibson went into the bottom of the ninth with his shutout intact.

Then the Yankees came back. Mickey Mantle was safe on an error by Cardinals’ shortstop Dick Groat. Gibson struck out Elston Howard and got Joe Pepitone to ground out to White at first. With 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth, Tom Treshlaunched a Gibson fastball to the seats in right-center field, tying the score and sending the game into extra innings.

Mel Stottlemyre

Stottlemyre had pitched the first 7 innings for the Yankees, and pitched brilliantly, allowing only those 2 runs (one earned) in the fifth inning. He was replaced by Hal Reniff and then Pete Mikkelsen, who came out to face the Cardinals in the top of the tenth.

White led off the inning for the Cardinals with a walk. Ken Boyer bunted toward third and beat out Mikkelsen’s throw to first. White stole third. Groat grounded to Linz at short, forcing Boyer at second while White was held at third. The next batter, Tim McCarver, worked Mikkelsen to a 3-1 count and then homered to deep right to put the Cardinals up 5-2.

Gibson wasn’t going to lose 2 leads in one day. He struck out Mike Hegan – his thirteenth strikeout of the game – and got Linz to hit a pop fly to Boyer. Bobby Richardson singled – one of a record 13 hits Richardson would get for the Series – and then Roger Maris popped up. Boyer caught it in foul territory to end the game.

It was the last Yankee at-bat in a World Series in the 1960s. It would be more than a decade until the Yankees made it back to the October classic.

It was Bob Gibson’s first World Series victory. He would win six more in his postseason career before suffering another defeat.

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Career Year: Frank Robinson - 1966

Frank Robinson was not only a great baseball talent. He was also someone you didn’t want to make angry.

That’s what Cincinnati Reds general manager Bill DeWitt did when he justified the 1966 trade of Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles by referring to the slugger an “old 30.”

The Orioles should be forever grateful to DeWitt for not only shipping the 1961 National League Most Valuable Player to Baltimore, but also for stoking Robbie’s competitive fire with the “old” comment.

Robinson tore through American League pitching from Opening Day on (he hit a home run in each of the first 3 games). At the All-Star break, he was hitting .312 with 21 home runs and 56 RBIs, and he hit even better in the season’s second half, finishing 1966 as the American League Triple Crown winner with a .316 batting average, 49 home runs and 122 RBIs.

Frank Robinson

Offensively, the 1966 season produced a career-best for Robinson only in the home run category. He had had better seasons in terms of hits, doubles, runs batted in, runs scored and batting average. And in his 21-year career, he was the league leader only once each in home runs, RBIs and batting average  – all in 1966.

In a game on September 21, 1966, Robinson’s performance was not only outstanding, but mostly typical for his 1966 productivity. The Kansas City Athletics had built a 6-1 lead through the fifth inning. In the top of the seventh, Robinson cut the lead to 3 runs with a 2-run homer off the A’s ace reliever Jack Aker. In the top of the eighth, the Orioles chased Aker and the 4 Kansas City relievers who followed him with 7 runs, capped by Robinson’s second 2-run homer of the game.

The victory clinched the American League for Baltimore … and, for all intents and purposes, it cemented Robbie as the American League’s MVP, the first player to win that award in each league.

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Just Wild About that Fastball

From Player Profiles at 1960s Baseball …

A hard-throwing right-handed hurler, Joe Sparma came to the major leagues with great pitching tools and great expectations. He also had a personality that tended to defy authority, and a fastball that tended to defy the strike zone. That combination led to some dazzling

Joe Sparma

performances, and a major league pitching career whose longevity fell short of its potential.

An Ohio native, Sparma played quarterback for The Ohio State University Buckeyes in 1961 and 1962. He was a passing quarterback on a Woody Hayes team that preferred the run to the pass, and after 2 seasons he signed with the Detroit Tigers.

In the minors, Sparma was known for strikeouts and walks … a high ratio of both for 9 innings pitched. He continued that trend when he reached the major leagues in 1964, going 5-6 with a 3.00 ERA in 21 appearances. In 84 innings, Sparma struck out 71 batters and walked 45. In 1965, as a member of the Tigers’ starting rotation, Sparma went 13-8 with a 3.18 ERA.

A spring training injury to his index finger derailed Sparma’s 1966 season, which finished 2-7 with a 5.30 ERA. He bounced back in 1967 with his best season, going 16-9 with a 3.76 earned run average. He also posted career highs in games started (37), complete games (11), shutouts (5), innings pitched (217.2) and strikeouts (153).

But Sparma ran into personal problems with Tigers manager Mayo Smith, who began using the right-hander less and less. Plus his wildness, once seemingly under control, had re-emerged with a vengeance and was seriously limiting his effectiveness as a pitcher. Sparma went 10-10 with the Tigers in 1968 and was only 6-8 (in 23 appearances) in 1969. He was traded to the Montreal Expos following the 1969 season, and went 0-4 in 6 starts with Montreal before being sent down to the minors. He never pitched in the major leagues again, and retired from baseball at age 29.

In 7 major league seasons, Sparma posted a 52-52 record with a 3.94 career ERA. 

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Dodgers Broom Sweeps Yankees Done

From This Week in 1960s Baseball …

(October 6, 1963) The Los Angeles Dodgers today completed a 4-game World Series sweep of the New York Yankeesas Sandy Koufax won his second game of the Series, 2-1.

Sandy Koufax

Koufax, who was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the 1963 World Series, allowed one run on 6 hit with 8 strikeouts. For the Series, Koufax struck out 23 Yankee batters in 18 innings pitched.

In Game 4, Frank Howard led the Dodger offense with a home run and a single, the only two hits Whitey Ford gave up. The Dodgers scored the decisive run in the seventh inning when New York first baseman Joe Pepitone lost a thrown ball in the white-shirted crowd. Junior Gilliam scored on the error.

Frank Howard

The Yankees scored their only run in the top of the seventh inning on Mickey Mantle’s solo home run. It was the fifteenth World Series home run of Mantle’s career, and his only RBI in this Series.

Mickey Mantle

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Lights Out: Larry Jaster

Dodger Destroyer Strikes Again

When: September 28, 1966

Where:  Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Game Time: 2:27

Attendance: 16,146

Pitcher Larry Jaster won 35 games during his 7-year major league career. Five of those victories came in a single season, against a single team: the team that would claim the National League pennant.

Larry Jaster

The left-handed Jaster was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1962 and made his debut with the Cardinals in 1965, pitching a scoreless inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a game St. Louis lost 3-2.

Jaster made 3 starts after that initial appearance, going 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA. The Dodgers were the only team Jaster faced but didn’t beat in 1965. That would be rectified – repeatedly – in 1966.

Jaster was 1-1 when he first faced the Dodgers in 1966, beating them 2-0 on a 7-hit shutout, striking out 7 batters and walking none. He faced the Dodgers again on July 3, and shut them out again on 3 hits.

On July 29, Jaster faced the Dodgers again and pitched another shutout, winning 4-0 on a 5-hitter. Now firmly entrenched in the Cardinals’ starting rotation, winning his eighth game of the season with a 5-hit, 4-0 shutout.

When Jaster faced the Dodgers for the fifth time that season, they were still fighting off the Pittsburgh Pirates for the National League pennant. The Dodgers started 12-game winner Don Sutton against the Cardinals and Jaster, who was 10-5 coming into his final start on the season. Both teams were scoreless after 3 innings. Jaster retired the first 11 Los Angelesbatters.

In the bottom of the fourth, Curt Flood reached base on an error and Tim McCarver walked. Two outs later, both runners scored on Ed Spiezo’s double. Jaster retired the Dodgers in order in the fifth and sixth innings. In the top of the seventh, Jaster gave up 2 singles, but struck out Al Ferrara to notch another scoreless inning. In the top of the eighth, Jaster gave up a walk but no runs. In the top of the ninth he retired the Dodgers in order.

Jaster’s 4-hitter was his fifth shutout of the Dodgers that season: 5 starts, 45 innings, no runs. Over the rest of his career, which would last only 5 more seasons, Jaster would be 4-5 with a 4.21 ERA against the Dodgers.

The 1966 Dodgers survived Jaster to win the National League pennant by 1.5 games over the San Francisco Giants. 

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Terror in Red

From Player Profiles at 1960s Baseball …

At the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, Bobby Tolan terrorized National League pitchers with a slashing hitting style and the speed to make him a scoring threat from anywhere on the base paths. His best years came in red uniforms, for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds.

Bobby Tolan

Tolan was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1963 and was selected by the Cardinals in December of that year through the first-year player draft. He made his debut in St. Louis at the end of the 1965 season and made the Cardinals’ roster for keeps in 1967, batting .253 with 6 home runs and 32 RBIs as a rookie reserve outfielder for the World Champion Cardinals. He never made the starting lineup in St. Louis, batting .230 as a reserve in 1968, and was traded with Wayne Granger to the Cincinnati Reds for Vada Pinson.

In Cincinnati, Tolan took full advantage of his elevation to full-time playing status. He batted .305 in 1969 with 21 home runs and 93 RBIs. He finished fourth in the National League in hits (194), third in triples (10) and fifth in stolen bases (26). He followed up in 1970 by batting .316 with 34 doubles, 16 home runs and 80 RBIs. He led the National League with 57 stolen bases.

An injury to his Achilles tendon kept Tolan out of baseball in 1971. In fact, he was never quite the same player after that injury. He batted .283 in 1972 with 8 home runs and 82 RBIs. His 42 stolen bases in 1972 were fifth best in the National League. Tolan had a disastrous season in 1973, batting .206 with 9 home runs and 51 RBIs, and was traded after that season to the San Diego Padres for pitcher Clay Kirby. He hit .266 for the Padres in 1974; it would be his highest batting average for the rest of his career.

Tolan’s last season as a full-time player came in 1975, when he batted .255 for the Padres with 5 home runs and 43 RBIs. He also managed 11 stolen bases that season. He was released by the Padres in 1976 and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, batting .261. He split the 1977 season between the Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates, hitting a combined .189 as a reserve outfielder. He played 22 games for the Padres in 1979 and then retired.

Tolan finished his 13-year major league career with 1,121 hits and a .265 batting average. 

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