#338 - All Star Right Fielders

For the final outfield slots we get Reggie in Oakland and Billy Williams in what appears to be Candlestick. They're both digging the facial hair and Billy, like a lot of his NL brethren, is slightly off-center. Reggie was in the midst of his MVP season which would climax with his first Series time since he was hurt for the one in '72. Billy had a huge '72 and early in '73 showed no signs of abating his prior year's pace. Plus he was supposed to be one of the nicest guys in the game. This review will be quick so let's get it going. In the AL we have:

Reggie Jackson - .292 with 23 homers and 81 RBI's
Dave May - .330 with 17 homers and 56 RBI's.

At this point in the season Reggie had the most ribbies of anyone in either league. His numbers up to now were awfully similar to those of Willie Stargell. I add Dave May because he played both center and right in the game. For the NL we also have a pair of guys:

Billy Williams - .278 with 11 homers and 50 RBI's
Bobby Bonds - .306 with 25 homes and 64 RBI's.

Billy had done something of a fade since elected as his average was near .300 back then. Bobby was having one of his bigger seasons and his numbers get more impressive when one realizes they were created almost exclusively from the leadoff spot. I think the nod for this position goes to the AL.


So this is it. While not the final piece, this puzzle back tells us all we need to know about the identity of the All-Star MVP. Now that that little bit of drama is over, let's broaden our horizons with some other news.

In music in '74 a new song took over the top spot in the UK. Suzi Quatro's "Devil Gate Drive" was her second Number One song across the pond. Suzi pulled a Jimi Hendrix in that though she was born in the States, she was much bigger in the UK at the beginning of her career (neither of her two Number Ones got significant chart time over here). She was a sort of prototypical punk rocker and pretty much the first female rock star. Back here she would become known for two things: one was a mellow duet that got significant chart time called "Stumblin' In" later in the Seventies; two was a recurring role on the sitcom "Happy Days" in which she played Leather Tuscadero, whose character fronted a band and was the sister of Fonzie's girlfriend Pinkie. On this same date Suzi was interviewed by a journalist for New Music Express, the UK rag that was pretty much their version of Rolling Stone. The journalist who interviewed her was Chrissy Hynde, later the singer and front person for The Pretenders.

I'll pick up the Watergate stuff in a couple posts.