The 1977 Twins were fun to watch, even if they finished 17.5 games behind the Royals. They could hit (team BA 1st) and they couldn't pitch (team ERA 12th) so most of the games were high scoring affairs.
The big draw was Rod Carew spending most of the year batting over .400. He finished the season at .388. In this pre-steroid era, they had six players hit more than 10 home runs, led by Larry Hisle's 28. Even Carew hit 14, in addition to 38 doubles and 16 triples. Carew played in 155 games, scored 128 runs, had 239 hits and amazingly 100 rbis.
Every day at the ball park, Carew was guaranteed to do something amazing. One game against the Brewers, I got seats in the third deck behind homeplate right in front of the radio announcers. Back then, a younger Bob Uecker was doing radio for the Brewers.
Carew went four for five. After Carew's fourth hit, I looked back at Uecker, he had a big grin on his face, looked straight at me and lifted his hands in surrender as if to say 'we can't get him out, not today, not no way.' As a baseball player, Uecker was clearly enjoying, as we all were, one of the greatest players ever to play, in his prime.
Carew moved on to the Angels, where he never matched his success of that magnificent year. His skills declined as he entered his mid 30's. He retired at 39 after batting .280, with a career average of .328.
Many thought Carew kept playing past his prime so he could reach 3,000 hits. He ended his career with 3,053. They were probably right. Although, it needs to be said, not many players hit .280 even in their prime.
In 2011, I'm living in the NYC area, can't afford to go to Yankees or Mets games, but I watch them on HDTV every night (I make my own popcorn).
The big story in NYC this year is Derek Jeter closing in on 3,000 hits. The wags are on his case because he's 37 and not playing like he was, uh, two years ago. At 35, Jeter hit a phenomenal .334 with 18 home runs among his 212 hits. Not many players can do that at 35. This year, the wags are saying Jeter is washed up because he is batting .257.
I've been comparing Derek Jeter and Rod Carew careers. They are remarkably similar. Here's the numbers:
Carew Jeter
AB 9315 9602
R 1424 1725
H 3053 2998
2b 445 480
3b 112 62
HR 92 236
RBI 1015 1157
BA .328 .312
SB 353 330
OPS .822 .832
They were both Rookies of the Year, Carew in 1967, Jeter in 1996. Jeter is the better fielder, winning four gold gloves. As Carew got older, he switched from second base to first base. Jeter continues to play shortstop. Jeter has also shown more power, hitting more home runs, while Carew had more speed, hitting more triples.
The local sports talk radio shows have people calling in giving their thoughts on whether Jeter has had a Hall of Fame career. I think he does. Carew was a class act, so is Jeter. Something Jeter said in the paper recently about the enormity of the task to hit get 3,000 hits made sense.
He said that you had to average 200 hits for 15 years to reach 3,000. That means you have to be very good for a long, long time. For my penny, that means Hall of Fame.
Some day, Jeter will be in the Hall of Fame with the great Rod Carew. And he will deserve it.
