1976 Topps #417 - Gene Clines

• Gene Clines played for four teams from 1970-1979. Clines was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1966. In his five seasons (1966-1970) in the minors Gene stole 130 bases, including 63 in 1969 for AA York. Clines played in 31 games for the Pirates in 1970 and batted .405 in 37 at  bats.

• Clines was a fourth outfielder for most of his career and played all three OF positions. In 1971 Gene played in 97 games and batted .308 in 273 at bats. He  batted .333 (1 for 3) in the NLCS and .091 in 11 at bats in the World Series.

• Gene's best season was in 1972 when he batted .334 in 311 at bats. Clines was 0 for 2 with a run scored in the 1972 NLCS. In 1973 Clines batted .263 in 304 at bats. Gene's offense really dropped off in 1974 as he batted .225 in 276 at bats. He was 0 for 1 with a run scored in the 1974 NLCS. After the 1974 season Clines was traded to the New York Mets for Duffy Dyer.

• Clines batted .227 in 203 at bats for the Mets in 1975. After the 1975 season he was traded to the Texas Rangers for Joe Lovitto. Clines got the most at  bats (446) of his career in 1976 and batted .276. After the 1976 season Gene moved on again. He was traded (along with some cash) to the Chicago Cubs for Darold Knowles.

• Gene batted .293 in 239 at bats for the Cubs in 1977. He batted .258 in 229 at bats in 1978. Clines batted .200 (2 for 10) as  a pinch hitter in 1979 before being released by the Cubs on May 11.

• After his release as a player Clines became the Cubs' first base coach. He continuted to coach first for the Cubs until 1981 and then moved on to the Houston Astros where he was a roving minor league instructor through 1987. Gene was Houston's hitting coach in 1988 and then was the hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners (1989-1992) and the Milwaukee Brewers (1993-1994). He spent eight years (1995-2002) with the San Francisco Giants as a hitting coach and outfield coach. FOX had Gene miked during the World Series and he screamed, "OH MY GOD!!!" when Barry Bonds hit his first World Series homer. Clines went back to the Cubs to coach from 2003-2006 and is now the outfield and base running coordinator in the Los Angeles Dodgers system.
• Gene Clines reflects on the 1971 Pirates.

• Liked to face: Ken Reynolds (.500 in 16 AB); Carl Morton (.471 in 17 AB); Doug Rau/Mike Marshall (.438 in 16 AB)
• Hated to face: Don Sutton (.071 in 14 AB); Tug McGraw (.111 in 18 AB); Larry Dierker/Tommy John (.118 in 17 AB)