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- In the mid to late 1970s, getting any Cincinnati Reds player would have been great. They had a lot of great players!
- After several years as an extra outfielder, George Foster had his "breakout" season in 1975.
- George added to his success in 1976.
- Before peak, peak, or after peak? just before his peak --- 1977 was a monster year
- That is a nice looking lifetime batting average. The average would drop as the years went by, but Bill Madlock still retired with a .305 average in a 15-year career
- Bill had a great start to his career. He finished a distant third in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 1974, but he avoided the sophomore jinx by winning the first of four NL batting titles in 1975.
- Madlock had an eventful 1976 season. He made the headlines in early May when he took exception to being hit by a pitch by San Francisco's Jim Barr. Barr had been warned by umpires earlier in the game after some inside pitches to Jose Cardenal. Madlock and Barr brawled and Madlock managed to land a right hook to Barr. Oddly, even after Barr had been warned, he was allowed to stay in the game while Madlock was ejected.
- Bill was in contention for a second straight batting title in 1976, but he was quoted in August as saying his chances weren't very good because there were too many good hitters in the league.
- On the last day of the season Ken Griffey was leading the batting race with a .338 average while Madlock had a .333 average. Griffey was not in the lineup for the final game. After Madlock went 4 for 4, Griffey was inserted into his game but struck out twice. Madlock won the title with a .339 average, three points ahead of Griffey's .336 average.
- Before peak, peak, or after peak? peak
- Bake McBride was off to a fine start. He was the NL Rookie of the Year in 1974.
- McBride was selected as a member of the 1976 NL All Star team. He didn't play in the game.
- Bake had an injury-riddled 1976 season. He missed three weeks in May with an injury and also missed most of the first two weeks of July due to knee problems.
- McBride had knee surgery in early August and missed the rest of the 1976 season.
- Bake played in 72 games and batted .335 in 1976.
- Before peak, peak or after peak? peak
- Bert Campaneris was an AL All Star from 1972-1975.
- Campaneris played out his option in 1976 in order to become a free agent after the season. Oakland owner Charlie Finley cut Bert's salary the maximum 20% (from $90,000 to $72,000).
- In his final season with the A's, Campaneris batted .256 in 149 games and had a pukey .291 slugging percentage. He also stole 54 bases.
- Bert signed a five-year, $950,000 contract with the Texas Rangers after the 1976 season.
- After leaving Oakland, Campaneris had only one more full season (1977). He struggled offensively in 1978 and became a part-time player.
- Before peak, peak, or after peak? after peak or very end of peak
- Reggie Smith was an All Star in three seasons (1972, 1974, 1975) during this five-year run
- Smith led the AL in doubles and in total bases in 1972
- Reggie got off to a slow start in 1976. In the first ten weeks of the season he was batting .281 with eight home runs in 47 games.
- Smith was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Joe Ferguson and two minor leaguers on June 15, 1976
- Reggie was happy to go back to where he was born and raised.
- Smith performed better in Los Angeles, batting .280 with ten home runs. He was out for three weeks with an injury in August.
- Smith felt that baseball had made progress in hiring blacks in management positions, but he said that the sport had a ways to go.
- After the 1976 season Reggie underwent left shoulder surgery. He bounced back to have two good years in 1977 and in 1978.
- In mid-October 1976 Smith made news when his beaded necklace that had been stolen from Dodger Stadium turned up in the home of two Los Angeles youths who were selling stolen merchandise.
- Before peak, peak, or after peak? peak (but 1976 was an off-year)
- Dave Rader finished a distant second to Mets' pitcher Jon Matlack in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 1972
- Dave was the regular Giants catcher from 1972-1974, then he platooned for the next two years
- In 1976 Rader batted .263 in 88 games. He shared time behind the plate with Marc Hill and Mike Sadek.
- After the 1976 season Dave was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals
- I just picked up a bunch of Hostess cards from eBay. They aren't in the best of condition, but they'll do for now. :)
- Vida Blue was one of the best pitchers in baseball in the 1970s. His only bad years were 1972 and 1979. He also had a losing record in 1977, but a lot of that was due to the A's being decimated by trades and free agency.
- Vida's first full season in the majors was a magical one. In 1971 he went 24-8 with a league-leading 1.82 ERA. Blue was the AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner that year.
- Blue was an AL All Star in 1971 and in 1975.
- Vida was the winning pitcher in the 1971 All Star Game in spite of giving up three runs in three innings pitched. He gave up home runs to Hank Aaron and Johnny Bench
- He started the 1975 All Star Game and gave up solo homers to Jimmy Wynn and Steve Garvey
- Vida had another good (and also tumultuous) year in 1976. He had a record of 18-13 and a 2.35 ERA
- Oakland owner Charlie Finley attempted to sell Blue to the New York Yankees in June. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the sale because it was inconsistent with the best interests of baseball.
- On August 28 Blue came within two outs of pitching a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers. Mickey Stanley broke it up with a solo shot in the 9th inning.
- The A's remained in the 1976 AL West chase until the last weekend of the season. On October 1, Blue pitched well against the California Angels but took the loss when Rusty Torres hit a home run in the 12th inning. The Oakland players were very upset with Finley after the game because of his lack of support for the club.
- Finley offered to sell Blue to the Boston Red Sox after the 1976 season, but the Red Sox rejected the offer.
