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American Heroes
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Kicking it up to a higher level... 1985 Review
Some guys are intense competitors, and hate to lose. While other guys are satisfied with the status quo

Go the route... here's a short list of All-Star players who also were fans favorites...

The year was 1985.

Player Bios:

* George Brett, Kansas City Royals Third Baseman - one of major league baseball's all-time greats... he lined a 3-run inside the park homer in leading the Royals to a 4-0 win against the Angels on 10/2/1985 and got 4-hits in 4 at-bats, with two power-shot homers in the 3rd game of the AL Championship Series on 10/11,1985. A member of the Hall of Fame, Brett was 2nd in the AL in batting with .335 in '85, lined 38 doubles, 5Ts, 30 HRs, scored 108 runs, 112 RBIs and collected 184 hits in 550 at-bats.

* Tim Wallach, Montreal Expos Third Baseman - lined two home runs against the Cubs at Wrigley Gum Field in Chicago on 8/12/85... selected for the 1985 All-Star game. Wallach was 4th in the NL in doubles with 36 and led all NL third baseman in putouts with 148, in double plays with 34, and in assists with 383 in '85 and won his first of three Gold Gloves... 1985 season stats: .260 BA, 36Ds, 3Ts, 22 HRs, 70 Runs, 81 RBIs, 79Ks, 38 Walks.

* Dale Murphy, Atlanta Braves Center-fielder - he had a red-hot start in 1985, crashing 5 home runs in first 27 at-bats... the 6-ft, 5-inch, 205-pounder was one of the premier sluggers of the 1980s. In '85, he batted an even .300, led the NL with 37 homers, and was 2nd in the league with 111 RBIs. An all-around athlete, Murphy won 5 Gold Gloves and was voted the Most Valuable Player in two successive seasons - 1982-1983.

* Dave Winfield, New York Yankees Outfielder - a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, he hit three game winning homers in '85, including two in a single game in Milwaukee on 6/7/1985. Winfield hit .343 for the month of June, score his 1,000 career run on July 26, and stole home on September 7 against Oakland. In '85, the 6-ft, 6-inch, 220-pounder hit .275, with 34Ds, 6Ts, 26 HRs, 105 Runs, 114 RBIs, and stole 19 bases... won seven career Gold Gloves.

Days of Glory - 1985 Review
Oh Man! Some of these guys were super athletes - Reviewing baseball teams

A list of special players that had their days of major league glory... and are proud of it, as well as they should be... The year was 1985:

* Tony Gywnn, San Diego Padres Right-fielder, Left-handed - one of the best all-around players in baseball history, he could do it all - and better than most everyone... a mid-season wrist injury limited his games played time in '85, including just one at-bat in the 1985 All-Star game. When he returned to full health, Gywnn batted a robust .349 from August 1 thru the end of the season. He still managed to collect 197 hits, lead all NL players with 63 multiple hit games and finished 4th in the league in batting with .317. Tony Gwynn won five career Gold Gloves - 1986-87, 1989-91.

* Willie McGee, St Louis Cardinals Center-fielder, Switch-hitter, T RH - one of baseball's top ballhawks, he had a fabulous 1985 - winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award... he led the National League with a .353 batting mark, led with 216 hits and led with 18 triples, and stole 56 bases. McGee was the NL Player of the Week for June 3-9 with a red-hot .556 batting average and Player of the Month for August. His exciting play helped the Cardinals win the 1985 pennant... and he won his second of three career Gold Gloves - 1984-86.

* Don Mattingly, New York Yankees First Baseman, Left-handed - he put up some really big-numbers again in '85, and was voted the American League Most Valuable Player... he led the majors with 48 doubles and with 145 RBIs, the most by a Yankees since Joe DiMaggio drove in 155 back in '48, and was 2nd in the league with 211 hits, the most by a Yankee since Red Rolfe rang-up 213 in '39. Mattingly scored 107 times, collected 56 walks and struck out just 41 times in 652 at-bats, and led the AL with 86 extra base hits - 48Ds, 3Ts, 35 HRs.

* Willie Wilson, Kansas City Royals Outfielder, Switch-hitter, T RH - one of the fastest runners in baseball history... his all-around play helped the Royals win the pennant and in post-season play he batted .339 in 14 games, including a .310 average, with a homer off Toronto's Jimmy Key in Game 2 in the ALCS. In the 1985 World Series, the popular player hit a robust .367, and stole three bases to helped Kansas City beat cross-state rival St Louis. In the regular '85 season Willie Wilson hit .278, with 25 doubles and his 21 triples led the majors. He stole 43 bases, hit 4 homers and scored 87 runs.

* Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds Infielder, Switch-hitter, T RH - on September 11, 1985, Charley Hustle lined his 4,192 base hit breaking legendary Ty Cobb's all-time career record. Playing in a mind-boggling 3,562 major league games, Rose finished with 4,256 hits in 14,053 at-bats, a .303 batting mark, with 746 doubles, 135 triples, 160 homers, scored 2,165 runs, 1,314 RBIs, and walked more times than he struck out - 1,566 Ws - 1,143 Ks... in a career spanning from 1963-1986.

1985 Batting Leaders
Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox kicked it up to high gear and won the major league batting title with a sparkling .368 mark... Willie McGee of St Louis led the NL with .353

Batting Leaders 1985:

American League:

Wade Boggs, Red Sox .368... George Brett, Kansas City Royals .335... Don Mattingly, NY Yankees .324...

Rickey Henderson, Yankees .314... Brett Butler, Indians .311... Harold Baines, White Sox .309... Phil Bradley, Seattle Mariners .300... Bill Buckner, Red Sox .299... Paul Molitor, Milwaukee Brewers .297... Eddie Murray, Baltimore Orioles .297...

Rich Gedman, Red Sox .295... Cecil Cooper, Brewers .293... Lee Lacy, Orioles .293... Jim Rice, Red Sox .291... Jesse Barfield, Toronto Blue Jays .289... Tony Fernandez, Blue Jays .289... Kirby Puckett, Minnesota Twins .288... Alvin Davis, Mariners .287... Mike Davis, Athletics .287... Kirk Gibson, Detroit Tigers .287... Gary Ward, Texas Rangers .287... Damaso Garcia, Blue Jays .282... Rod Carew, California Angels .280... Lou Whitaker, Tigers .279... Kent Hrbek, Twins .278... Willie Wilson, Royals .278...

National League:

Willie McGee, St Louis Cardinals .353... Pedro Guerrero, Los Angeles Dodgers .320... Tim Raines, Montreal Expos .320...

Tony Gwynn, San Diego Padres .317... Dave Parker, Cincinnati Reds .312... Keith Hernandez, New York Mets .309... Keith Moreland, Chicago Cubs .307... Ryne Sandberg, Cubs .305... Tom Herr, Cardinals .302... Jose Cruz, Houston Astros .300... Dale Murphy, Atlanta Braves .300...

Mike Scioscia, LA Dodgers .296... Ron Oester, Cincinnati Red Stockings .295... Mike Marshall, LA Dodgers .293... Bill Doran, Houston Astros .287... Leon Durham, Cubs .282... Garry Templeton, San Diego Padres .281... Gary Carter, New York Mets .281... Jack Clark, Cardinals .281... Steve Garvey, Padres .281... Steve Sax, LA Dodgers .279... Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies .277

Robin Roberts' Sliding Fast Ball

Hall of Famer Robin Roberts was born in Springfield, Illinois on September 30, 1926. He was the son of a coal miner and at an early age excelled in several sports. He was offered a scholarship from Michigan State, but spent 1944 and 1945 in the military when World War II started. After being discharged he enrolled at Michigan St., started pitching for the school's baseball team, and at 6' 190lbs was a star basketball player. Robin Roberts hurled two no-hitters for the Big Ten college, including one against arch-rival Michigan.

During the summer months he pitched for a semi-pro team in Montpelier, Vermont, a league consisting mainly of college players who wanted to attract the attention of major league scouts. Within two years, Robin Roberts with his exploding fastball, was pursued by six major league teams.

The Philadelphis Phillies and the Boston Braves were the two highest bidders and even though the Braves won the National League pennant in 1948 and the Phillies were one of baseball's most consistently bad team, Roberts signed with Philadelphia. They had not won a pennant since 1915 and had seldom ended in the first division, but offered Roberts a $25,000 signing bonus. This was a considerable sum of money at the time, more than but the best of major leaguers were paid in a season.

Phillies' President Robert M. Carpenter, Jr. had been slowly building a strong farm system consisting mainly of college stars since the end of the war and Robin Roberts fit right in with these budding stars.

In his' first season in 1949, Roberts was 15-15 and helped the team move up to third place in the National League. (during this era there were only 8 teams in the NL). The team was called 'the Whiz Kids' because of the many college bonus babies that Pres. Carpenter had been signing.

The Phillies jumped out to a fast start in 1950 and won the National League's pennant. Robin Roberts paced the team's starting pitchers and won 20 games, including a complete game, 2-1 - 10 inning win over the Brooklyn Dodgers in the final game of the season; both clubs were tied for first place before the game. It was the first pennant the Philadelphia Phillies won in 35 years and Roberts was their first 20-game winner since 1917.

Starting in 1950, Robin Roberts posted six consecutive 20-win seasons, including a 28-7 record in 1952. He won 286 lifetime games.

Robin Roberts developed a pitching wind up that he carried out with every pitch. He would hitch his belt, pull on his left pants leg, tug his cap, wipe his forehead and then go into an easy windup, and - flash - his fastball was across home plate. His slow moving routine was mesmerizing in itself and made his fastball seem that much quicker and harder to hit. Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst said it best when he once described Roberts' fastball delivery and his' pinpoint control, "The ball seemed to skid across the strike zone as though it were on a piece of ice." Baseballhistorian.com Archives

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