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.