Where Were You In 1976?
November 11, 2008
Another fellow Sawxhead celebrated a birthday this past weekend and since I don't know what kind of music he likes (and I KNOW he loves baseball) this is for him. I'm glad you were able to have a nap Sunday -as this may be the last Birthday you have the chance to do that for a while! The good news is that as soon as the twins are old enough you will be getting cool birthday baseball/ Red Sox gifts from them like I received from my daughter! This entry was taken from said gift, a book from her entitled: "The Baseball Chronicle-Year by Year History of Major League Baseball" Hope you enjoy this Kip-1976- the year of your birth! (unless of course your fibbing about your age) Happy Belated Birthday!
1976
Jim Palmer Wins Cy Young
Palmer won the third and last of his Cy Young awards as he compiled a record of 22-13 with a 2.51 ERA. He topped the AL with 315 innings that season.
Brett is Breathtaking
George Brett achieved superstar status in the '76 ALCS batting .444 with 5 RBI's for the Royals.
Ryan Collects 327 K's
Nolan Ryan notched 327 strikeouts and allowed just 6.12 hits per game, both bests in the AL. Ryan also lead the majors with seven shutout wins.
Munson Named AL MVP
Thurmon Munson was in his prime in 1976. His 1976 stats, a 302 avg., 17 homeruns, 105 RBI's -earned him the AL MVP.
Joe Morgan is NL MVP, hitting .320 and stealing 60 bases.
The Hall of fame inducts Robin Roberts, Bob Lemon, Roger Conner, Fred Lindstrom, Cal Hubbard and Oscar Charleston.
Cinncinnati Reds roll over the Yanks in the 1976 Worlds Series. Billy Martin's ballclub was blown away in almost every category over the course of the four game tournament. The Reds scored 22 runs, whacked four homeruns and posted a .313 team average. The Yanks scored 8 runs, nailed a single homerun and tallied a .222 average! OUCH!
Rod Carew tops AL in runs produced with 178. He finshed third in batting at .331, making this the closest three-way batting race since 1931.
On Sept 12, 1976 at age 54, Minnie Minoso of the White Sox becomes the oldest player to get a hit in a ML game.
Hank Aaron retires; with 755 homers, 2,297 RBI's and total bases 6,856.
NL wins the All Star game 7-1 in Philadelphia, as Detroit rookie Mark Fidrych startts for AL and takes the loss. Fidrych is AL Rookie of the year winning 19 for Detroit.
Ted Turner buys the Braves.
Mike Schmidt wins the first of TEN Gold Gloves-nine of which were consecutive-at third base.
Only "rainout" in Astrodome history occurs on June 15 when heavy rains prevent fans and umps from getting to the dome.
The minimum player's salary is raised to $19,000; average player makes around $52,000.
Free agency begins in earnest after 1976 season. Yanks sign Reggie Jackson for $3.5 million. And so it began...
-PEACE 14/09
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