Given the palm trees in the
background this must be a spring training shot. But from the look on Bobby
Tolan’s face it could be taken from last September. Bobby had about the worst
year of anyone in this set – given his past achievements – in ’73 this side of
Steve Blass. After his pretty huge comeback in ’72 he began ’73 strongly enough
and was still north of his ’72 average in early May. But then came a big swoon which
may or may not have been instigated by more leg issues and by late June he was
down to Mendoza
levels. It was also around then that he was moved to right field in a switch
with Cesar Geronimo. He then began to lose at bats as he got pinch hit for late
in games and did a bit of that himself so new guys Ken Griffey and Ed
Armbrister could get some looks. In August he got into a shouting match with
the director of player personnel over Bobby’s facial hair and as a result he
was banned from the team for a bunch of games. Then in mid-September he was
suspended by the team for the rest of the year, thereby missing the
post-season. Marvin Miller filed a grievance on his behalf but Bobby was sent
packing to the Padres for Clay Kirby. So Bobby had lots of reasons to look the
way he does in this photo. Having a glow-in-the-dark air-brushed hat to boot
just seals the deal.
Bobby Tolan grew up in LA
where he went to Fremont High and was teammates with Bob Watson and Willie
Crawford. Signed by the Pirates his senior year he hit .271 as a first baseman
that summer in A ball. He was then selected by the Cards that winter in the
first year draft who moved Bobby to the outfield and Double A. He had a nice
season in ’64, hitting .297 with a .369 OBA with 68 RBI’s and 34 stolen bases.
In ’65 he moved to Triple A and the top spot of the order, hitting .290 with 45
stolen bases. He also made his St.
Louis debut that September. In ’66 he hit .333 to
start the year in Triple A, got some mid-season time in St. Louis, missed some time for military
service – as he would the next couple years – and finished the season in Triple
A. In ’67 and ’68 he worked around his military time to be the club’s fourth
outfielder behind Lou Brock, Roger Maris, and Curt Flood. While he was a bit
frustrated for a lack of playing time, he did get to go to two Series and won a
ring in ’67. After that second year the Cards were looking for a veteran to
replace the retired Maris and they traded Bobby and Wayne Granger to the Reds
for Vada Pinson.
Tolan began the ’69 season as
the everyday guy in right field and by about midway through he moved to center.
The deal worked out quite well for Cincinnati
as Bobby hit .305 with 26 stolen bases and got his power groove on with
lifetime highs in homers and RBI’s. In ’70 he moved to the top of the order
again and finished that year with lifetime highs in average, OBA (.384), and
stolen bases, with an NL-leading 57. He returned to the post-season this time
as a starter and got on base at about a .385 clip. After that season the Reds
put together a barnstorming basketball team – Pete Rose, Lee May, and Wayne
Simpson were also on it – of which Bobby was the star. At least he was until he
ruptured his Achilles tendon. That injury kept him out of baseball for all of
’71 and was the biggest contributor to the Reds big bust that year. By spring
training of ’72 he was mostly healed and he would have an excellent return,
hitting .283 with 42 steals and 82 RBI’s to again help lead the Reds to the
playoffs. That year he was a big RBI guy as he put up ten in 12 games and also
stole five bases. After the misery of ’73 he was traded to San Diego in November with Dave Tomlin for
Clay Kirby.
When Tolan got to San Diego he moved to
right field since the Padres had young guy Johnny Grubb in center. That first
year Bobby was a soothing presence for fellow new Padre Derrell Thomas and
though his speed was clearly compromised – indicated by a severe decline in
steals and lending more credence to his leg being hurt in ’73 – he had a bit of
an offensive recovery, pulling his average up 60 points and hitting more
doubles and scoring more runs even though his at bats were lighter by about
100. That happened because in July he had to have knee surgery after messing it
up on a catch in foul territory. In ’75 he returned and was moved to left field
in a switch with Dave Winfield. That year he made it through the season
relatively unscathed and hit .255. He was released after the season and signed
with the Phillies. He had returned to first base a bit during the ’75 season
and in ’76 he got most of his field time there, splitting time with Dick Allen.
He turned in a decent season, hitting .261 with 35 RBI’s in 272 at bats. In ’77
the Phillies picked up Richie Hebner to play first and Bobby, after a few at
bats, got released and then signed by Pittsburgh,
for whom he pinch hit the rest of the year. In ’78 he went to Japan to play for the Nankai Hawks
for a season where he joined Carlos May. He then returned to the States and in
’79 hit .284 for the Puerto Rico team of the
short-lived Inter-American League. He then re-signed with San Diego where he finished up the season and
his career as a pinch hitter. Bobby finished with a .265 average with 86
homers, 497 RBI’s, and 193 stolen bases. In the post-season he hit .253 with 13
RBI’s and seven stolen bases in 27 games.
Tolan immediately began a
coaching career following his playing one, beginning by coaching third base for
the Padres in 1980. He moved to first base and hitting coach where he remained
through ’83 and then managed two seasons in the minors. In ’86 he moved to the Seattle system as a hitting instructor: in the minors that
year and in Seattle
in ’87. In ’88 and ’89 he managed in the Baltimore system and then moved on to
manage in the Senior Leagues, winning the only title that league ever had. He
then shows up sporadically in managing and coaching gigs: in ’99 he managed the
Nashua Pride; in 2005 he coached the Bristol Sox and in 2006 managed the Great
Falls Sox. In 2008 he reappeared in headlines when his son Robbie, a draftee of
the Washington Nationals, was shot in his driveway in Texas after being mistaken for a car thief.
There was lots of controversy around the event with the Tolans claiming racial
profiling led to an overly aggressive use of force. Robbie’s career ended
shortly thereafter and the cop was acquitted but a civil suit is still on.
Bobby still does card shows and has begun an eponymous local league that has
its own site. As a manager he has gone 309-309.
That first star bullet is
interesting because Bobby did not
make the MLB All-Star team and was not part of the game roster in 1970. However
he was named to The Sporting News NL
All-Star team at the end of the season. In ’72 he also won the Hutch Award.
Eddie Tolan has been variously listed as Bobby’s cousin or uncle. He won both
the 100 and 200 sprints in the ’32 Olympics after setting both high school and
college records while going to school in and around Detroit. Initially he wanted to be a doctor
but funds were hard to come by for his schooling during the Depression. He won some
professional meets in Australia
in ’35 and worked for various municipalities until he passed away in ’67 at 59
from a heart ailment. Eddie was described as “bulky” when he was a runner: he
topped out at about 135.
These guys missed each other
on the Phillies by a few years:
1. Tolan and Mike Schmidt ’76
to ’77 Phillies;
2. Schmidt and Eddie Watt ’74
Phillies.
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