1990 HEADLINE: George Brett Becomes First Player To Win Batting Titles In Three Straight Decades

1990 HEADLINE: George Brett Becomes First Player To Win Batting Titles In Three Straight Decades

On this day in 1990, George Brett became the first player in major league baseball history to collect batting titles in three different decades.

A true testament to his dedication to the game and excellence as a hitter, George Brett separated himself from some of the game’s greatest hitters with this accomplishment.  To be able to remain at such a high standard for more than 20 seasons and in between three decades shows just how truly great Brett was at the plate.  Let’s not forget that the game changed, and the pitchers Brett faced during that time also changed.

A quick glance at the numbers shows this:

Year	Batting Average
1976	0.333
1980	0.390
1990	0.329

Now how awesome is that?

Congratulations on this magnificent achievement Mr. Brett!!!

Happy Birthday George Brett!!!

Happy Birthday George Brett!!!

George Brett turns 60 years old today!!!

One of the greatest baseball players during the mid-1970’s through the 1980’s and a first-ballot entrant in the Baseball Hall of Fame, George Brett is a baseball superstar. With a career resume that can be envied by all of his peers, Brett offered a complete offensive package for the Kansas City Royals.

Boasting 3,154 hits, 317 home runs, 1,595 RBI, 1,583 runs scored, and a batting average of .305, Brett dazzled baseball fans for 21 years. Amazingly, he also has 205 career stolen bases, and for a third baseman playing in the 70’s and 80’s, that is a rare feat. In his 21 seasons, Brett was a 13-time All-Star, a league MVP, a Gold Glove winner, and a 3-time Silver Slugger winner.

Happy Birthday Mr. Brett!!!

George Brett 1990 Fleer – ‘Players Of The Decade’

George Brett 1990 Fleer – ‘Players Of The Decade’

Talk about a baseball card theme that a collector like me can really get behind – I am not sure that it could be any better than ‘Players Of The Decade’!!!

This subset was part of the 1990 Fleer base set and as you can imagine, it celebrated the top players from the 1980’s.

This is the card of George Brett:

 

I think I just found some inspiration for another subset that I need to collect and share with the card-blogging universe.

Time to do a little homework…

George Brett 1982 Topps A.L. All-Star – Ughhh…

George Brett 1982 Topps A.L. All-Star

Ughhh…  Another 1980’s All-Star card that does very little to show you why the player was selected as one of the best in the league and worthy of All-Star accolades.

Have a look:

 

This card comes from the 1982 Topps baseball card set.  And while it does feature a young, smiling George Brett, I would much rather be seeing something from the 1982 season that shows why Brett was deemed All-Star worthy.

His numbers from 1982 were solid:  .301 batting average, .378 on-base percentage, 166 hits, 32 doubles, 24 home runs, 82 RBI, and 101 runs scored.

Next time, give me that!!

George Brett 1990 Upper Deck

George Brett 1990 Upper Deck

Like many aging superstars that can no longer play the defense that they were once capable of, George Brett made the change to first base.

He did this sooner than most – and it began during the 1987 baseball season, his 13th year in the majors.

In 2,707 career games, Brett played first base in 461 of them.  During that span, he compiled a fielding percentage of .993.  And while he was never awarded a Gold Glove for his defensively ability at 1B, he was a serviceable aid to the Royals defense.

This card from the 1990 Donruss card captures Mr. Brett fielding his new position.

George Brett 1984 Topps – One Of My Brett Favorites!!!

George Brett 1984 Topps

Simply stated, I love this baseball card!!

So many of the cards I have scored for my George Brett collection feature him either at the plate hitting or doing something candid.

Very few of them capture him playing defense.  And this card from the 1984 Topps base set does just that – and it does it very, very well.

Have a look:

 

While his defensive play could never hold a match to the offensive output that Brett offered, he was a solid defender and even won a Gold Glove Award in 1985.

One of the things that I always recall about Brett was that his uniform was often covered in some shade of Orange from the clay on the field.  Surely some of that was picked up from playing ‘D’ at the ‘Hot Corner’.

George Brett 1982 Topps Kansas City Royals Team Leaders Card With Larry Gura

George Brett 1982 Topps Kansas City Royals Team Leaders Card With Larry Gura

As the face of the franchise, George Brett has been featured on numerous ‘team leader’ type cards over the course of his major league career.

And his numbers certainly backed up that position.

This card is from the 1982 Topps set and it celebrates the team leaders on both offense and defense for the Royals from the 1981 baseball season.

Have a look:

As for Brett’s numbers from the 1981 season, they are solid as always…

.314 batting average, .3610 on-base percentage, 109 hits, 27 doubles, 7 triples, 6 home runs, 42 runs scored, 43 RBI, and 14 stolen bases.  In 379 plate appearances during this strike-shortened season, Brett drew 27 walks and struck out just 23 times.

George Brett 1988 Score – I LOVE THIS PHOTO!!!

George Brett 1988 Score

Sometimes you’ve just got to let the card do the talking.

This is one of those times.

Enjoy.

George Brett 1983 Topps A.L. All-Star – WHOA!!!

George Brett 1983 Topps A.L. All-Star

I have to believe that my biggest conundrum around baseball cards issued during the 1980’s is the treatment of the All-Star cards that littered our sets – specifically from Topps.

While I was a huge Topps collector and supporter as a kid, and am again today, I always felt that their All-Star cards were a let-down.

For me, the All-Star card is a chance to show off, to let the player stand out and shine, after all, the player had been chosen as one of the best players from their league.

Instead, we get a lot of cards that look like this:

How this card got past the editor’s desk is beyond me…

Sorry, George.

George Brett 1981 Topps A.L. All-Star

George Brett 1981 Topps A.L. All-Star

Another let down from the 1981 Topps baseball card sets…

Here is George Brett, a baseball superstar and All-Star, on his 1981 Topps baseball card.  And it is far from exciting.

Have a peek:

 

Thankfully, after the 1981 set, Topps decided to honor the sport’s All-Star players with a second card in their base sets.  This allowed for the greatest players in the game to stand out a bit more – and it surely made team and player collectors happy.

Many of the All-Star cards issued after the 1981 set were still pretty awful to look at, but at least Topps made an effort to celebrate the best players!