George Brett was the younger brother of Ken Brett, a super pitching
prospect who debuted with Boston when he was 18 years old. Ken was an All-Star in
1974, which was also George's first full season with Kansas City. Ken's
career never amounted to much; he pitched for 14 years, and won 83 games.
George was never considered to be a great young player, but he worked hard
with hitting coach Charlie Lau on a new hitting style. The results were
wonderful; George became one of the most devastating hitters in baseball
for the next two decades.
Brett won three batting titles in his career,
and had over 3000 lifetime hits. He was a line-drive hitter who hit over
600 career doubles; when he was young he was also fast, and three times
led the American League in triples. He could hit home runs, too, 317 lifetime. He hit
three home runs in a playoff game against the Yankees in 1978; he buried
the Yankees in this year's playoffs with a towering shot off Goose Gossage.
Brett was the best playoff performer of the era; I remember him almost single-handedly
destroying the Blue Jays in 1985, leading the Royals to their first World Series.
There was other stuff, too, like his challenge
of the .400 mark this year. There was also the Pine Tar Game in 1983, when
Brett hit a game-winning home run, but was called out by the umpires, who
ruled that he had too much pine tar on his bat. In one of baseball's most
famous television moments, Brett raged at the unpires in anger, looking as
if he had just sat down on a firecracker. Brett was injury prone and spent
a lot of time on the disabled list, but that was his only weakness. I believe
that him and Mike Schmidt are the two greatest third basemen ever, and there
isn't much to distinguish between them.
Reggie Jackson had perhaps his best season, leading the
Yankees to the best record in the league. It was the only year that
Reggie hit .300. It was also his last great year in a Yankee uniform;
a year later he was dealt to the Angels, whom he helped lead to two
division titles.
Cecil Cooper also had his best year, leading
the league in total bases. Cooper spent six years as a platoon player with
the Red Sox; he was then dealt to the Brewers, who made him their everyday
first baseman. Cooper had five straight big years for the Brewers from 1979-83;
he twice led the league in RBI, and three times topped the 200-hit mark. Cooper
finished his career with Milwaukee; he hammered out over 2000 career hits,
and had 241 lifetime homers.
Willie Wilson set a record for at bats in
a season. He never walked, and had no power, but Wilson pounded out a
lot of hits, played great defense, and was a spectacular base stealer
(he was caught only 10 times). Wilson won a batting title in 1982, then
went into decline; he remained in the game for 19 years, had over 2000
career hits, and over 600 stolen bases. He also hit more triples than
any other player of his generation.
Willie Randolph also had his best year. Randolph
was a key member of the great Yankee teams of the late 70's and early 80's.
Willie could hit for average, draw walks, and steal bases. He was also a
fine defensive player, was durable at second, and was a calm presence in an
often volatile Yankee clubhouse. Randolph had almost no power, but his
ability to get on base and score runs kept him in the league for 19 years.
