Baseball...numbers, stories and analysis

1977...Millionaires, managers, expansion and a massacre

1977 was the second season played after the implementation of re-entry free agency. The 1975 ruling that players were allowed to not sign a contract for their upcoming season (long term contracts were a rarity) opened the door for players to try their hand at the free market, to attempt to be paid ‘fair market value’ for their services. Which, in this case, meant their talent and worth at playing the game of baseball.

Players who did not sign a contract, but continued to play for their team, had their contract automatically renewed for that season, but at the team’s option in regards to salary considerations. Well, to a degree. Teams could cut a player’s salary for the season, but by no more than twenty percent.

Some teams, aware of the possibility of not being able to afford their star players had to weigh whether or not they should gamble on making a pennant run with the status quo, or trade their players who had ‘played out their option’ to a team willing to take the bigger gamble, and trade back some other, possibly younger, maybe even cheaper talent to acquire these stars.

This process began in 1976, mainly by Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley, who traded superstar Reggie Jackson to the Baltimore Orioles after a very contentious hold-out/contract negotiation. Reggie, pitcher Ken Holtzman and minor leaguer Bill VanBommel went to Baltimore in exchange for Mike Torrez, Don Baylor and Paul Mitchell. Holtzman, still unhappy with the contract negotiations with Baltimore, so he was subsequently traded to the Yankees in June of that year, as part of a ten player deal.

Reggie became a ‘rental’ player, staying in Baltimore for just that one season, and netting the A’s approximately $200,000 in salary savings in 1976. The Orioles managed a second place finish, and lost Reggie to the Yankees that following off-season.

Following the earlier theme, in mid-1976, Charlie Finley tried to sell three other upcoming free agents. He had agreed to sell Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers to the Boston Red Sox for $1,000,000 each, and pitcher Vida Blue to the Yankees for $1,500,000. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn stopped the sale, citing the ‘best interest of baseball’ as his reasoning, and that the sales would ‘disrupt the competitive balance’ of the league. Finley would sue Major League Baseball, and Kuhn, and would lose.

That being said, the financial picture of baseball was beginning to change dramatically. Never more-so

than in 1977. The average major league salary jumped an incredible 44.8% from 1976. The two teams with the highest player salaries were the Phillies and the Yankees. Both topped the $3 million dollar mark.

The twenty-four re-entry draft free agents hit the somewhat open market prior to the 1977 season, and would pave the way for the second wave of eighty-nine players would hit the market at the conclusion of the season. This would lead to several higher paid, bigger name players being traded, both before and during the season. The most notable of these trades was the trade between the Cubs and the Giants, where disgruntled batting champion Bill Madlock was sent to San Francisco for disgruntled All-Star Bobby Murcer. Both men wanted to renegotiate their contracts to take advantage of the loosened purse strings that the owners were now using, and neither team would budge. According to reports, both players were offered the same contracts by both teams.

Many other players were upset at their contract situations, and some felt that players of lesser talent were being paid much more than their worth, while established players were being ‘short-changed’ by the free-wheeling attitude of the owners. Some veterans’ concerns were heard and addressed by their teams, while others deteriorated into toxic acrimonious conditions between owners and players.

Dave Kingman of the Mets was a prime example of this. Kingman, who was known for his prodigious home-runs and high strikeout rates was one of the team’s remaining stars. He asked for the security of a long term contract, reported to be a five year deal worth $3 million. Kingman agreed to a lesser, $2 million deal, while the Mets never went beyond $1.2 million over a six year term. Kingman made known his intentions to play out his option, and become a free agent at the end of the year, at which point, the Mets renewed his 1977 contract, instituting the maximum cut in pay allowed, which dropped his salary to the $70,000 range.

Kingman demanded a trade, and the Mets obliged, sending him to San Diego on June 15^th, in exchange for pitcher Paul Siebert and infielder (and future Mets manager) Bobby Valentine.

The Padres, also unable to reach an agreement with Kingman, later sold him to the California Angels, who then sold him to the New York Yankees. Kingman became the first player to play in four different divisions in the same year, and the fist to hit a home run for four different teams in a season.

Speaking of June 15^th...it is a date that Mets fans of a certain age know and remember all too well...The Franchise was traded.

George Thomas Seaver was regarded as one of the top pitchers of his era. His three Cy Young Awards, numerous strikeout and ERA championships as well as his reputation as one of the most intelligent competitors all cemented his reputation.

Many things led to the June 15^th trade deadline deal, or as we Mets fans call it, “The Midnight Massacre”. The massacre involved the Dave Kingman trade, mentioned above, and a lesser deal sending shortstop Mike Phillips to the Cardinals for Joel Youngblood. But the one that tore our hearts out was the trade that sent Tom “Terrific” Seaver to the Reds in exchange for four players: infielder Doug Flynn, outfielder Steve Henderson, outfielder Dan Norman and pitcher Pat Zachry.

Seaver, already one of the highest paid pitchers in the game. His contract issue was not one of impending free agency. In fact, he had signed a three year deal prior to the 1976 season, which paid him a base salary of $225,000 per year, plus incentives. Initial reports coming out of one of the New York newspapers said that Seaver wished to renegotiate the last two years of his contract, which Seaver claims was not the case. Seaver said that he wished to add an additional three year extension onto the existing contract.

Mets General manager, M. Donald Grant, who had been placed in charge of the negotiations by the family of their late owner, Joan Payson, refused to budge, and essentially stonewalled Seaver. Things came to a head in early June when Seaver asked to be traded. Following several meetings, including some with Mrs. Payson’s daughter, Mrs. Lorinda de Roulet, who now had a controlling interest in the club, there was an agreement reached on June 14^th that would satisfy Seaver and put the issue to rest. Mrs.de Roulet would have to ‘run it by the board’, but didn’t foresee any issues in approving the new deal.

That next morning, an article written by Hall of Fame baseball writer Dick Young appeared in the New York Daily News. The article said, “Nolan Ryan (of the California Angels) is getting more money than Tom Seaver and that galls Tom because Nancy Seaver and Ruth Ryan are very friendly and Tom Seaver has long treated Ryan like a little brother”

Seaver was incensed, and took the article as an attack on his family, at which point Seaver stated that all deals were off the table, and he demanded to be traded. Seaver continues to this day to point to that article as the reason for his demanding a trade, saying that Young had been his harshest critic, and that Young had been on the Mets management side since they hired his son-in-law.

Young, who was regarded as the most influential baseball writer of his time, was quoted in the Los Angeles Times, saying, “What it comes down to is Seaver wanted more money. Everything else is extraneous...If he says he told them it was all off because of my mentioning his wife and Ruth Ryan--all because of that one sentence--well, I find that pretty hard to believe...”

Grant, in an interview with the Village Vice later that summer said that Seaver never expressed unhappiness with his salary until after the first re-entry draft.

“I have a simple way of explaining it. In duplicate-bridge tournaments, it boils down to how many tricks you will make in a hand.Seaver played his hand at four spades and just made the bid. But another player played five spades and just beat him out by a little bit and won the big prize, and he said “Oh, my God, can I replay my hand?” It’s as simple as that.”

Seaver, who joined the “Big Red Machine” in Montreal, won his first start for the Reds, a 6-0 shutout, wound up winning twenty-one games on the season, fourteen of those for Cincinnati. Reds president Bob Howsam informed Seaver that the team didn’t plan to renegotiate the terms of his contract, news which Seaver took ‘without complaint’.

In other intriguing news, there were two instances of managers for a day. The first happened in Arlington, where a beleaguered Frank Lucchesi was relieved of duty on June 21, after leading the team to a mediocre 31-31 record. During Spring Training, Lucchesi was assaulted by Rangers second baseman Lenny Randle, and punched three times, fracturing his eye socket. Randle was fined, suspended and traded to the Mets, but Lucchesi’ misfortunes followed until his dismissal.

The Rangers hired former White Sox skipper Eddie Stanky, who had been serving as the coach for the University of South Alabama. Joining the Rangers in Chicago, he piloted the team to a 10-8 victory over the White Sox, but couldn’t sleep after the game, and called his wife at six a.m. to tell her he was coming home. He resigned his position, and was replaced by Ranger coach Connie Ryan, who himself was replaced ten days later by former Orioles coach Billy Hunter.

The Rangers responded very well to Hunter, and played at a .640 clip, going 57-32 along the way to a surprising second place finish behind the Kansas City Royals.

The four managers in a season hadn’t been done since the 1898 Washington Senators of the National League.

Renegade Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner assigned manager Dave Bristol a ten day scouting trip through the Braves’ minor league system. (In reality, Bristol just went to his home in Andrews, NC) Turner then signed himself to a coaching contract, and then named himself the team manager. He managed the Braves in Pittsburgh on May 11^th. The team was entrenched in a fifteen game losing streak, and Turner was frustrated, so he decided that he would ‘lead his troops’. The losing streak then made it to sixteen games.

National League President Chub Feeney notified Turner the next morning to let him know that he was in violation of the rule stating that no player or coach of a team can hold a financial interest in a club by which he is employed, except with the written consent of the Commissioner.

It was the fifth instance of an owner taking the field to manage their team, but the first since 1929, before the rule was added.

Turner was also fined and suspended by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn for tampering. Kuhn also docked the Braves their first round draft choice in the June draft. Turner made comments publicly about his intention to sign outfielder Gary Matthews of the Giants, when Matthews became a Free Agent. Turner told Giants owner Bob Lurie that no matter what Lurie offered Matthews, Turner would offer better. Kuhn considered this to be an unfair statement, causing an unfair balance between the Giants negotiating capabilities, as well as any other team that may wish to pursue Matthews’ services. Turner contested the fine and sued Kuhn and Major League Baseball. Kuhn also docked the Braves their first round draft choice in the June draft.

The decision was a split, with the suspension and fine upheld, but the draft pick was re-instated. (They drafted left-handed pitcher Tim Cole, who never made it to the major leagues.)

The Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals organizations were also fined for tampering but they paid their fines without rebuttal.

Expansion happened in 1977, and the American League welcomed Seattle back into the fold, and added the Toronto. Both teams did well, attendance wise, and they both drafted players with an eye towards youth and continued growth. Raiding players made available to them by each of the American League teams, Ruppert Jones became the first draft choice of the Mariners, while Bob Bailor was the same for the Blue Jays.

In a bit of historical curiosity, the first shutout thrown in Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium, was pitched by Canadian citizen (and Hall of Famer) Ferguson Jenkins. For the first time since 1961, the leagues would be uneven, with fourteen in the American League to the twelve in the National League. That imbalance would remain until 1993, when the Rockies and Marlins entered the National League.

On to various other tidbits from the season at hand...

Alvis Woods of the Blue Jays, a rookie drafted from the Twins organization in the expansion draft, homered in his first at-bat, on the first pitch, in the Blue Jays first game. It’s the only time that has ever happened where a player homered in his first at-bat in a team’s inaugural game. First-baseman Doug Ault of the Jays hit two homers in that first game as well, the first time an expansion player hit two homes in their team’s inaugural game.

Richie Zisk of the visiting White Sox became the first American Leaguer to homer on Canadian soil in the game.

The Blue Jays had a deal in place to trade veteran pitcher Bill Singer to the Yankees for left-handed starter Ron Guidry, but the deal fell through because someone in Toronto realized that Singer was on the cover of all of the team’s media guides. Singer went 2-8 with the Jays, while Guidry went 16-7 with the Yankees.

Willie McCovey, who returned to the Giants, became the first player to hit two homers in an inning twice in his career. He originally accomplished the feat in 1973.

For the first time since the advent of the All-Star Game in 1933, both Chicago teams were in first place at the break. Prior to 1933, the only other time that happened was in 1906.

Manny Sanguillen, catcher for the Oakland A’s who was involved in a trade from the Pirates for manager Chuck Tanner, broke up a no-hitter on two consecutive days. He first victimized Mike Torrez of the Yankees, and then Jim Palmer of the Orioles.

In Texas, third-baseman Toby Harrah (one of baseball’s rare palindromic names) and second baseman Bump Wills hit back-to-back inside-the-park homers, which had never been done, before or since. meanwhile, shortstop Bert “Campy” Campaneris, a re-entry free agent who left the A’s to join the Rangers, led the majors with forty sacrifice hits. He was the first player in over fifty years to get than many sacrifices. (Joe Sewell of the Indians got 41 in 1929) No one has gotten that many since.

In Pittsburgh, outfielder Dave Parker became the second batting champion to amass more than one hundred strikeouts.

In Detroit, speedster Ron LeFlore became the second Tiger to reach 200 hits and 100 strikeouts. The only prior instance of that happening in the American League was Hank Greenburg, also of the Tigers, in 1937. But Jim Rice of the Red Sox also did it. (Dave Parker also reached that dubious milestone in 1977)

In Los Angeles, Tommy John of the Dodgers, soon after the surgery that made him a household name, became a twenty game winner for the first time in his fourteen year career. At the time, that set the record for the longest career before winning twenty for a starting pitcher. That record has since been tied by Jamie Moyer, and eclipsed by Mike Mussina.

Hall of Fame manager Tommy LaSorda began his managerial career, replacing the legendary Walter Alston at the helm. LaSorda becomes one of a select few manager to lead their team to the World Series in their first season as skipper.

Third-baseman Ron “The Penguin” Cey set the National League record (since broken) for the lowest batting average(.241) in a season in which they drove in 100 runs.

In New York, third-baseman Joe Torre of the Mets is hired as a player-manager, replacing Joe Frazier (not that one) at the helm. Torre played in just a few games while managing, but remains the third most recent player-manager. Don Kessinger of the White Sox and Pete Rose of the Reds were the last two.

Torre would go on to have great success as a manager, and as a general manager, and would be voted into the Hall of Fame as a manager. But one remembers that he was a very good player throughout the sixties and early seventies. He holds the dubious record of hitting into four double plays in one game, a record that I’m sure he doesn’t like to be reminded of.

Left-handed pitcher Jerry Koosman struggled through a rough season, losing twenty games. He remains the last pitcher to have won twenty games, and then lose twenty the following season.

Also in New York, left-handed relief specialist Albert “Sparky” Lyle becomes the first relief pitcher to win a Cy Young Award. He became the third Yankee pitcher to win the award, an their way to their first World Series Championship in fifteen years.

Free-agent signee off-handedly mentioned that if he were to play in New York, somebody would name a candy bar after him. They did. the Reggie Bar, a small, disk shaped concoction of nougat and peanuts covered in chocolate appeared that spring, and as a promotional giveaway, they were handed out to all fans attending a Yankee game one evening. As Sparky Lyle noted in his book, “The Bronx Zoo”, it didn’t take long for the Yankee faithful to realize that these disc shaped candy bars could travel great distances when chucked from the upper deck of the stadium. Hundreds of the candy bars, orange wrappers, with Reggie Jackson on the front, were sent sailing onto the field. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the game was delayed for about twenty minutes while the ground crew cleared the field.

In Chicago, infielder Jack Broahmer of the White Sox hit for the cycle, becoming just the second Sox player to accomplish that feat in their seventy-six year history. The other Sox player to hit for the cycle was Hall of Fame catcher Ray Schalk in 1922.

(and how about those snazzy threads)

In Anaheim, the California Angels had the dubious distinction of being no-hit twice during the season. first by Bert Blyleven of the Rangers, and then by Dennis Eckersley of the Indians. Both would later be Hall of Fame inductees. Royals pitcher Jim Colborn also pitched a no-hitter, this one against the Rangers. Umpire Bill Deegan was behind the plate for Colborn’s and Eckersley’s gems.

In San Diego, rookie outfielder Gene Richards of the Padres became the first rookie to get six hits in a game. While not his debut, it is still the first and only time a player has done that during his rookie season.

In Cincinnati, outfielder George Foster won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award, hitting fifty-two homers in the process. It was the first time a National Leaguer has topped the fifty homer plateau since Willie Mays did it in 1965. His fifty-two homers remains the Reds single-season record.

The Montreal Expos christened Olympic Stadium with a bunch of young stars. Future hall of Famer Andre Dawson would win the Rookie of the Year Award, becoming the second Expo to do so. Gary Carter, Warren Cromartie, Steve Rogers and Larry Parrish would be the core that made the Expos serious pennant contenders, even though they never had a post-season run to speak of. They did make the playoffs during the split-season of 1981, where they won the second half division title. The won the Divisional Series against the Phillies, but lost to the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. They had the best record in baseball in 1994 at the time of the strike, but the season was cancelled, and the Expos never got to that post season.

St. Louis Cardinal great Lou Brock stole his 898^th base, breaking Ty Cobb’s all-time record.

The Kansas City Royals and the Philadelphia Phillies both won more than one hundred games, but neither team made it to the World Series. This is the first time that two 100 win teams missed the Series in the same year.

As a point of interest, the last time that two 100 win teams faced each other in the Series was in 1970.

In Minnesota, Twins reliever Tom Johnson became the last pitcher to garner fifteen wins and fifteen saves in the same season.

But the eyes of the baseball world were on second baseman Rodney Cline Carew. Carew, one of the purest left handed hitters of his generation, flirted with .400 all season, finishing with a .388 average. It was the second highest season average since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. (Williams also hit .388 in 1957). Carew became just the second player to bat over .380 with fifteen triples and fifteen stolen bases. George Sisler, in 1922, was the other. Carew also finished with 239 hits, the most hits in the American league since Heinie Manush in 1928. (I just love opportunities to mention Heinie Manush.) And he won the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award.

In the minor leagues, Aurelio Lopez earned thirty saves with nineteen relief wins for the Mexico City Reds of the Mexican league. Slugger Hector Espino of the Tampico Alijadores hit fourteen homers, bringing his career minor league total to 435 in his career. (Sorry Crash Davis). Vic Davalillo of the Aguascalientes Rieleros led the Mexican League in hitting, with a .384 average. the Dodger would sign Davalillo to use in the late season, where he hit .313 in twenty-four games for them

The Modesto A’s did not set a record for stolen bases, surprisingly. The Tom Trebelhorn led California League affiliate of the Oakland A’s did steal 357 bases during 140 games, an average of two and a half per game. Outfield prospect Darrell Woodward, who would hit .282 on the year, stole 90 bases for the A”S. he finished second on the team in steals. Youngster Rickey Henderson would hit .345, placing third in the league (behind Rudy Law and Kelly Snider, both of Lodi) and he would steal 95 bases.

And in Japan, Tokyo Giants legend Sadaharu Oh hit his 756^th home run, which eclipsed Henry Aaron’s record for home runs in a professional league. He would finish his career with 868.

The 1977 playoffs featured the Dodgers playing the Phillies, and the Yankees against the Royals. The Yankees and Dodgers would beet in the Series for the first time since 1963, and the Yankees fared better this go around, winning over the Dodgers in six games.

Game Six featured one of the most memorable feats in World Series history. Yankees right-fielder Reggie Jackson homered three times in the Yankees 8-4 victory in the clincher in the Bronx. Not only did he homer three times, they were in consecutive at bats. And off of three different pitchers. And on three consecutive pitches.

Now, let’s look at the stats, beginning with the Power rankings.

TEAM	FINISH
Royals	1^st in AL WEST
Phillies	1^st in AL EAST
Yankees	1^st in AL EAST, World Series Champs
Dodgers	1^st in NL WEST, NL Champs
Red Sox	3^rd in AL EAST

So now, on to the performances at hand. We will look at the American League pitching first. The pitching across the league gic\ves a 4.42% advantage to the National League, mainly due to the addition of the two expansion teams, which ‘watered down both the pitching and hitting numbers. If we remove the expansion teams performances, the two leagues were close to equal, with the American League pitching having a slight 0.32% advantage over the National League hurlers.

First, the overall numbers, the top performers were:

PITCHER	TEAM	W-L	ERA	SAVES	AWARD VOTES
Frank Tanana	Angels	15-9	2.54	0	9^th Cy Young
Ron Guidry	Yankees	16-7	2.82	1	7^th Cy Young, 18^th MVP
Dennis Leonard	Royals	20-12	3.04	1	4^th Cy Young
Jim Palmer	Orioles	20-11	2.91	0	2^nd Cy Young, 19^th MVP
Bert Blyleven	Rangers	14-12	2.72	0	no votes
Nolan Ryan	Angels	19-16	2.77	0	3^rd Cy Young, 24^th MVP
Dave Rozema	Tigers	15-7	3.09	0	8^th Cy Young, 4^th Rookie of the Year
Don Gullett	Yankees	14-4	3.58	0	no votes
Dock Ellis	Rangers	12-12	3.63	1	no votes
Sparky Lyle	Yankees	13-5	2.17	26	1^st Cy Young, 6^th MVP

Then looking at how they performed against their team averages:

Dave Rozema	above
Frank Tanana	above
Enrique Romo	Mariners	8-10	2.83	16	no votes
Nolan Ryan	above
Dave Goltz	Twins	20-11	3.36	0	6^th in Cy Young
Dave Lemanczyk	Blue Jays	13-16	4.25	0	no votes
Dennis Eckersley	Indians	14-13	3.53	0	no votes
Jim Palmer	above
Pete Vukovich	Blue Jays	7-7	3.47	8	no votes
Jerry Garvin	Blue Jays	10-18	4.19	0

Which, when all values are factored in, brings our top ten pitching performers to:

Frank Tanana

Dave Rozema

Nolan Ryan

Ron Guidry

Jim Palmer

Bert Blyleven

Dennis Leonard

Don Gullett

Dave Goltz

Dock Ellis

So now, over to the National League, our top overall leaders are:

PITCHER	TEAM	W-L	ERA	SAVES	AWARD VOTES
John Candelaria	Pirates	20-5	2.34	0	5^th Cy Young, 18^th MVP
Tom Seaver	Mets/Reds	21-6	2.58	0	T3^rd Cy Young, T25^th MVP
Steve Carlton	Phillies	23-10	2.64	0	1^st Cy Young, 5^th MVP
Tommy John	Dodgers	20-7	2.78	0	2^nd Cy Young, 12^th MVP
Bruce Sutter	Cubs	7-3	1.34	31	6^th Cy Young, 7^th MVP
Rick Reuschel	Cubs	20-10	2.79	1	T3^rd Cy Young, T21^st MVP
Rich Gossage	Pirates	11-9	1.62	26	no votes
J. R. Richard	Astros	18-12	2.97	0	no votes
Bob Forsch	Cardinals	20-7	3.48	0	no votes
Burt Hooton	Dodgers	12-7	2.62	1	no votes

Then against their teams, we get:

Tom Seaver	above
Bruce Sutter	above
Rick Reuschel	above
John Candelaria	above
Phil Niekro	Braves	16-20	4.03	0	no votes
Steve Carlton	above
Steve Rogers	Expos	17-16	3.1	0	no votes
Bob Forsch	above
J. R. Richard	above
Rollie Fingers	Padres	8-9	2.99	35	14^th MVP

And that brings our top performers to this:

Tom Seaver

John Candelaria

Steve Carlton

Bruce Sutter

Tommy John

Rick Reuschel

Rich Gossage

J. R. Richard

Bob Forsch

Steve Rogers

Now we’ll look at the offense. where the American League trended 2.37% better than the National League, but again, removing the expansion team numbers, that number would increase to a 5.27% advantage. Four our table below, I have added the Runs Produced per Game state, just for comparison’s sake.

Our top American League hitters by raw numbers are:

PLAYER	TEAM	HR	RBI	AVG	SB	RP/G	AWARD VOTES
Rod Carew	Twins	14	100	.388	23	1.38	1^st MVP
Carlton Fisk	Red Sox	26	102	.315	7	1.20	T8^th MVP
Larry Hisle	Twins	28	119	.302	21	1.32	12^th MVP
George Brett	Royals	22	88	.312	14	1.23	13^th MVP
Thurman Munson	Yankees	18	100	.308	5	1.12	7^th MVP
Reggie Jackson	Yankees	32	110	.286	17	1.17	T8^th MVP
Jim Rice	Red Sox	39	114	.320	5	1.12	4^th MVP
Lyman Bostock	Twins	14	90	.336	16	1.18	T27^th MVP
Carl Yastrzemski	Red Sox	28	102	.296	11	1.15	17^th MVP
Al Cowens	Royal	23	112	.312	16	1.15	2^nd in MVP

Ten, against their teams, we get:

Mitchell Page	A’s	21	75	.307	42	0.96	2^nd Rookie of the Year
Bobby Bonds	Angels	37	115	.264	41	1.15	16^th in MVP
Ken Singleton	Orioles	24	99	.328	0	1.09	3^rd in MVP
Leroy Stanton	Mariners	27	90	.275	0	0.89	no votes
Carlton Fisk	above
Don Money	Brewers	25	83	.279	8	0.95	no votes
Rod carew	above
Dan Meyer	Mariners	22	90	.273	11	0.90	no votes
Ron Fairly	Blue Jays	19	64	.279	0	0.80	no votes
otto Velez	Blue Jays	16	62	.256	4	0.80	no votes

That brings our rankings for the top ten offensive performances to this:

Rod Carew

Carlton Fisk

Larry Hisle

George Brett

Bobby Bonds

Thurman Munson

Ken Singleton

Riggie Jackson

Jim Rice

Mitchell Page

And then for the National League, note that while Steve Henderson didn’t play the full season with the Mets, he did have ample opportunities, and while he wouldn’t qualify for a batting title, his other numbers merit his being a part of this list. The top overall offensive rankings were:

PLAYER	TEAM	HR	RBI	AVG	SB	RP/G	AWARD VOTES
George Foster	Reds	52	149	.320	6	1.40	1^st MVP
Greg Luzinski	Phillies	39	130	.309	3	1.28	2^nd MVP
Ted Simmons	Cardinals	21	95	.318	2	1.04	9^th MVP
Mike Schmidt	Phillies	38	101	.274	15	1.15	10^th MVP
Johnny Bench	Reds	31	109	.275	2	1.02	T21^st MVP
Reggie Smith	Dodgers	32	87	.301	7	1.07	4^th MVP
Steve Henderson	Mets	12	65	.297	6	1.21	2^nd Rookie of the Year
Dave Parker	Pirates	21	88	.338	17	1.09	3^rd MVP
Joe Morgan	Reds	22	78	.288	49	1.10	no votes
Bill Robinson	Pirates	26	104	.304	12	1.11	11^th in MVP

And then against their team’s average performances, we have:

Steve Henderson	above
George Foster	above
Gary Carter	Expos	31	84	.284	5	0.90	no votes
Jeff Burroughs	Braves	41	114	.271	4	1.06	T16^th MVP
Ted Simmons	above
Bob Watson	Astros	22	110	.289	5	1.09	no votes
John Stearns	Mets	12	55	.251	9	0.68	no votes
Tony Perez	Expos	19	91	.283	4	0.93	no votes
Reggie Smith	above
Dave Parker	above

So our National League top hitting performers were:

George Foster

Steve Henderson

Greg Luzinski

Ted Simmons

Reggie Smith

Johnny Bench

Mike Schmidt

Gary Carter

Dave Parker

Jeff Burroughs

So now, if I were to vote my top five players in each league, for player of the year, the American League top five would be the same as the offensive performances above, namely: